'There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.'
- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp.1977
One good engineering type computer that DEC made was the PDP-10, which was a 36 bit computer. At one time, it was said "If you are not playing with 36 bits, you are not playing with a full DEC".
Ahh, here it is on the net.
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36bit.org
If it doesn't have 36 bits,
you're not playing with a full DEC!
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DEC phased it out and went to the VAX line of computers. There still is some interest in 36 bits. Two groups still make them. You realize, of course, that Bill Gates and Paul Allen used a PDP 10.
scgroup.com
inwap.com
We had a few Data General computers, Some Eclipse, and Novas, replaced by the Mil Spec Rolm. Almost every room had one or more DEC computers, any thing from a card cage with a few boards, PDP 11/XXs, Vax by the dozens and some PDP-10 (KL-10) 36 bitters. Stanford College had lots of PDP-10s as well as MIT. When it was WAY PAST TIME to replace our KLs, the powers that be, bless their pointy little heads, would not consider a KL clone but insisted on DEC computers, since they wanted some one that would be around when they needed support. By the time the VAXs were installed and working DEC was long gone, the clone maker still there. Oh well, win some. lose some. Clones would have been a "drop in", no software changes.
One clone vendor would give us the machine for the power savings over 3 years. The clone plugged into a standard 120 outlet, the KLs had a three phase power cable to the CPU about 3 inches in diameter. The memory was in several other big boxes with many more power supplies. Disk drives the size of washing machines, if not level, would dance over the floor until the cable was tight and held them from moving more.
Many man years were spent developing the software for the KLs and a clone would have been a "drop in". Many more man years of programming was spent getting the new DEC VAXs working. DEC was very good at scre, err, optimizing the income from their clients. The day the contract for the replacement computers was signed, a new DEC system was announced. Twice the power, half the price but we could not change to that system. By the time the new DEC system was programmed and working, DEC had gone from 120,000 employees to about 60,000 and shortly to about 3,000 working for Compaq. The demand for VAX computers went to near zero in one or two years. The local sales office, with 35 or so people, suddenly went to two. The older salesmen, read white middle aged, who used to shadow anyone who might buy a DEC system, were gone overnight. To new opportunities, it was explained to us. There were just two nice young ladies left, read, most likely, low pay, trying to sell anything DEC made. The only thing they seemed to have to sell that was useful was the Alpha CPU, something someone in the back room had been working on, just like the computer using the Alpha and several gigs of memory known as AltaVista.
DEC had built a large semi fab to support the "large" requirement they expected for the CMOS Vax. Only a small part was actually used to make the Alpha. Intel joking said they could not improve their CPUs anymore, since there was nothing left to steal. DEC's new boss decided that something must have been stolen from the Alpha and sued Intel. After a year or two of eyeballing each other, Intel bought the Fab and was the sole source of the Alpha. Now gone, theregister.co.uk
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Also a problem for Ericy, since they are using the Alpha in basestations.
This was prompted by your post of the link for the Clayton Christensen talk. Many of the things he talked about seemed to be right on. May be very close on Nokia also, key indicator is certain posters going wild, burning out the bearings on their keyboards. Spinco is one more item that seems close to home causing keyboard bearing burnout.
On your question on Nokia making all new CDMA phones on 1xRTT, I would look at their track record. The statement by the Nokia guy that they have solved the 5185i problem kind of, sort of, maybe. Seems that they are hoping the CDMA spec will be changed to match what ever they hacked out.(fat chance) Not too likely, and poor plan for the future. What ever we make, change the spec so we meet it.
Interesting article on 4G.
csdmag.com
Will the Nokia Ultra snip snap little circuit card, to this? Seems to me that the Ultra is just a rack with a card cage and connectors, labels for what ever you want. Something my cat and I could make in my garage in my spare time. Still need the radios, xmiters and rcvrs for whatever RF standard is used plus what ever is required to connect to the land based stuff. |
