197.

The Tyranny of numbers was a problem faced in the 1960s by electronics engineers. Engineers were unable to increase the performance of their designs due to the huge number of components involved. In theory, every component needed to be wired to every other one, and were typically strung and soldered by hand. In order to improve performance, more components would be needed, and it seemed that future designs would consist almost entirely of wiring.

Since each module was relatively custom, modules were assembled and soldered by hand or with limited automation. As a result, they suffered major reliability problems. Even a single bad component or solder joint could render the entire module inoperative. Even with properly working modules, the mass of wiring connecting them together was another source of construction and reliability problems. As computers grew in complexity, and the number of modules increased, the complexity of making a machine actually work grew more and more difficult. This was the "tyranny of numbers".

Now, what was the solution proposed to this problem which has made incredible wonders in this field?