[ethernot]

I can go earlier: I was designing them in the 90s.

[phkahler]

Chip on board has been around since the 1970s or 80s in some consumer stuff. Putting them on a PCB isn't the same and they were wire bonded, but still the idea of connecting directly to the die was there.

[nyeah]

Reliability seems to have improved a lot but yeah.