What was once considered a bad business venture, the 8008’s lasting legacy went on to drive the technological world we live in today.
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Richard Platt
onto Internet of Things - Technology focus June 4, 2025 2:45 AM
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Computer Terminal Corporation (now defunct Datapoint) launched the DataPoint 3300 computer terminal in 1969 as a platform to replace teleprinters, or the precursors to fax machines. The machine was implemented using TTL logic in a mix of small- and medium-scale integrated circuits (ICs), which could produce an enormous amount of heat during operation. When the terminal was announced in 1967, RAM was extremely expensive (and heavy). To address the excessive heat and other issues, CTC co-founder Austin Roche looked to Intel to help with the endeavor, as the company was well known for being a primary vendor of RAM chips at the time. Intel had found promise with the production of its 1st programmable microprocessor—the 4-bit 4004. Roche took his processor design, reportedly drawn on tablecloths in a private club, and met with Intel founder Bob Noyce. Roche presented his design as a potentially revolutionary development and suggested Intel could develop the chip at its own expense and sell it to the companies that would surely come knocking, including CTC. Noyce expressed his concern with the processor concept, saying that it was an intriguing idea and Intel could definitely manufacture the processor, but it would be a dumb move. Noyce thought that if you had a computer chip, you could ONLY sell one chip per computer, but with memory, you could sell 100s of chips per computer. Noyce was also concerned about his existing customer base. Intel was already selling a healthy amount of RAM chips to computer manufacturers. If the company started making CPUs, would those existing customers look at Intel as competition and go elsewhere for RAM?