NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #1/NN_1993_1.iso/spool/comp/sys/dec/6696

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-05 | 1.8 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!caen!lsa.umich.edu!amadeus.stat.lsa.umich.edu!william
From: [e-mail] (William Pietri)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec,umich.unix
Subject: DEC puts first marketroid on the moon
Date: 5 Jan 1993 18:12:21 GMT
Organization: Department of Statistics, University of Michigan
Lines: 34
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
NNTP-Posting-Host: amadeus.stat.lsa.umich.edu
Keywords: DEC INFOSHARE Alpha lunacy

In the Fall 1992 issue of DEC's publication INFOSHARE (a brightly-
colored newsletter that sings the praises of DEC service), I came
across the following text under a graphic of a shattered vinyl album:

-------

RECORD BREAKING COMPUTER CHIP

A new computer chip no bigger than a human finger nail, yet as powerful
as the room-size supercomputers of ten years ago, is named as the
world's fastest computer chip in the latest issue of the Guinness Book
of Records.  The new chip, called the Alpha AXP(TM), is almost as quick
as the speed of light and now joins the ranks of some of the world's
most incredible achievements including the first man on the moon and
the splitting of the atom.

-------

And this is only the first Alpha generation!  I'm eager to see what
they'll compare forthcoming products with.  Assuming that computing
power continues to double every year or two, with soon-to-be-announced
DEC hardware you'll be able to duplicate the Great Pyramids, reduce the
Earth's axial tilt, and raise the dead, all in less than three seconds
of CPU time.

(And some marketroids still wonder why some folks are suspicious of
their claims.  "The first man on the moon," indeed!)

William
--
William Pietri            | Email: [e-mail]
Stat. Dept. Sysadmin and    |    or: [e-mail]
   ITD/CSS Consultant        |    or: [e-mail]
University of Michigan        | Phone: [phone]