The first ram I used was a TI 64-bit TTL part, used to make a 4-deep subroutine return stack for the only CPU I ever designed. Then we moved on the the AMI 1-k dynamic ram, for a color video display. That was a cool chip: an analog mux tree fed a pair of pins directly to the drains of a cross-coupled fet pair that was the memory cell. The user had to provide the sense amps and regererate refresh back into the cell.
Especially on quality.
John
No, I've been around a lot longer than 64K memories. Drop the 'K' and you're closer. ;-)
They bought into Intel because Intel was in risk of going under. IBM couldn't afford for that to happen (one of the unintended consequences of the 8088 vs. 68K decision).
I remember the local (Poughkeepsie NY) Intel rep being quite happy one day. He'd never done any real business with IBM, but Intel desperately wanted to so they set his commission at 1% and set up an office in P'ok (IBM's purchasing engineering group was in P'ok). One day IBM dropped a memory order on his desk for $100M. Intel wanted to renegotiate his contract. "No problem, you can do anything you like, next year with whomever is here."
The memory (2102s, IIRC) never saw the light of day and everyone (articles in EETimes, and such) wondered where it all went. Simple answer; internal machines were stripped of IBM memory and that ETNed and shipped to customers. It was decreed that if the Intel memory were somehow inferior it would be the internal systems that suffered. It wasn't.
64K, in '81? The PC (5150) shipped with 16K DRAMs in '81.
Maybe in some alternate universe. Not in this one. They both use
32-bit registers and have a program counter, but there's not a lot of similarity in any of the details beyond that.The National Semiconductor 32000 series (originally 16000 series) is much more VAX-like than the Motorola 68000, but is also nowhere close to being an exact copy.
joseph2k writes:
The MOS Technology MCS6501 and MCS6502 came a year later than the Motorola MC6800. 1975 vs. 1974.
There was in fact a lawsuit. MOS Technology dropped the MCS6501 (which was pin-compatible with the MC6800) as a result.
As you say, the instruction sets were rather different; there were only minor superficial similarities.
If you're claiming that the Microchannel bus was not a market failure, by all means please show us some examples of its success.
Seems to me that all the latest computers are using PCI Express, PCI-X, PCI, and AGP for their slots, not anything derived from Microchannel.
On Sat, 17 Jun 2006 16:07:43 +0000 (UTC), snipped-for-privacy@green.rahul.net (Ken Smith) Gave us:
We have one. It's called rent a f****ng car that you are familiar with.
RS6000, PS/2, FWIT zSeries, not to mention about 40 other companies that used it at one time or another. It was certainly more of a success than that hunk-o-junk that was designed to compete against it; EISA.
Hmm, No air force uses P51s anymore either. They weren't a success?
Oh, *that's* why you drive Hot Wheels.
P51s were very successful once. in addition, their technological advances carried forward into other aircraft.
Now tell us about Microchannel.
My first modem design (~1977) was an acoustic coupler type at 1200 Baud.
But I cheated. To get good outbound distortion I didn't use acoustic drive to the carbon microphone, I drove the earpiece magnetically.
First try I did a loopback test from Phoenix to Louisville and back. Worked great!
...Jim Thompson
have
You had an acoustic coupler? We had to whistle each bit into the telephone and keep track of the framing in our heads.
Best regards, Spehro Pefhany
IBM was still using microchannel on the RS/6000 products long after the PS/2 products went away. It was just not a consumer, low cost product. Structured system customers still loved it because you didn't get in those IRQ wars and products didn't stomp over each other like PC stuff strill does.
Hello Hertz? I want a 1993 VW Golf, manual transmission, starting next Tuesday. Pickup 9 AM in Riverton, Wyoming. Oh, it has to be red.
John
The trick in that era was to intentionally add some third harmonic that cancelled out the carbon microphone distortion.
I like red, also, but it won't do over 100MPH, I tried one on the autobahn ;-)
...Jim Thompson
-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | |
On Sat, 17 Jun 2006 18:04:28 -0400, Spehro Pefhany Gave us:
usually
have
passed
highly-capable
Ha ha ha... very funny. You probably didn't know what a packet was.
usually
have
passed
highly-capable
You were framed? We didn't get too many PHBs until the '80s.
On Sat, 17 Jun 2006 23:12:15 -0400, krw Gave us:
usually
have
passed
highly-capable
I was framed, Your Honor...
Otoh non-MS users can benefit the performance machines must have to keep up with MS software ;)
I had no option of doing that. The Ford Exploder was needed because of the large boxes we had to carry.
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