Digital pregnancy tests are just as powerful as the original IBM PC

Pregnancy tests allow you to use very simple sticks, but the move to digital versions has transformed them into powerful portable computers just like the original IBM PC. Twitter users inspired by the digital age of pregnancy testing Phone And xtoff Excluded examples from Walmart and Clearblue to reveal what was actually going on inside.

Each test, which costs less than Test 5, includes a processor, RAM, a button cell battery and a small LCD screen to display the result. The processor is an 8-bit Holdech microcontroller with 64 bytes of RAM, capable of operating at 4 MHz or 8 MHz depending on the battery configuration. It may seem very basic, but the chip is surprisingly complex.

“You might think it’s very limited because it only has 64 bytes of RAM, but it actually uses a tube embedded configuration to operate on 1 instruction per cycle, which gives good performance for a 4 MHz CPU.” Fun explains In an attractive Twitter thread.

Fun speculates that the device will “be faster in number reduction and basic I / O than the CPU used in the original IBM system.” IBM’s original PC was based on Intel’s 8088 microprocessor, which ran on an 8-bit chip at 5 MHz. The difference here is that you can do a pregnancy test and then throw it away.

You may think that adding an LCD screen and processor to digitalize this pregnancy test improves accuracy or modernizes how the test works, but it certainly is not. This digital pregnancy test still has a piece of paper to measure the chemical reaction you create while urinating.

The piece of paper inside acts like a wig, so when it gets wet it activates the battery and activates the device. The device then reads the lines on the strip of paper using three LEDs and two photosensors, which usually provide a pregnancy test result. The processor, RAM, battery and LCD display are usually used to read a piece of paper and improve the clarity of the test by displaying “pregnant” or “not pregnant” on the display instead of the usual lines that are difficult to read.

Unfortunately the chip inside is not programmable, so there is no possible way for people to get it Disaster Run these digital pregnancy tests. I recommend reading foone’s full twitter thread It was a spectacular tear. Although these digital pregnancy tests may seem like an incredible waste of plastic and electronics, I am grateful that humanity has moved on. Frogs urinate To check for pregnancies.