27 Nov
2022
27 Nov
'22
10:43 a.m.
Larry McVoy wrote:
I read the Wikipedia page on the 9000. It's sad
that the 9000
wasn't cancelled when they had better alternatives.
In an oral history Bob Supnik described Ken Olsen couldn't get his
head around the fact that the NVAX chip could equal the 9000:
@2:59:45 in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3tcCBHRIfU
In part 2, Bob described how then DEC VP Gordon Bell having earlier
predicted when the microprocessor performance curve would cross over
minis and mainframes:
@1:51:45 in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3tcCBHRIfU
He also talks about how the company couldn't command the bsame gross
margins as it did in the VAX era.