While expensive in the initial design, they are cheap to produce and extremely durable. technique was used by the Army in WWII worked. After the war, these communities were open to commercial use and continue to evolve into more sophisticated types....

Printed Circuit Board History
Connecting parts of electrical devices by wire laid out on wood has existed since the second half of the 19th century. During the 20th century, this developed into printing conductive circuits with a stencil on a surface.According to the U.S. Patent database, the first patent (2756485) for a printed circuit board was issued July 31, 1956 to M. Abramson, although an Austrian made one in England in 1936.

Printed Circuit Board Features
Printed circuit boards are composed of fiberglass bonded to copper foil. The board is etched according to specifications for the particular product so that unnecessary copper is removed, leaving just the needed circuits.

Printed Circuit Board Benefits
Using printed circuit boards reduces manufacturing costs, allows for standardization, provides the most compact way of wiring circuits in devices and allows more components to be placed in small spaces.