[TUHS] Why did PDPs become so popular?

[Theodore Ts'o]

On Thu, Dec 28, 2017 at 08:08:11AM -0800, Larry McVoy wrote:
> > I think you're right.  The disinterest in marketing and advertising
> > (Ken Olsen, and therefore DEC, had a "build it and they will come"
> > mentality) was one aspect of the corporate culture.  An example of its
> > negative impact:  When the Alpha EV5 came out, it was several times
> > faster than anything else around.  
> 
> Got a reference for that performance claim?  Wasn't that mid 1990's?
> If so, I was heavily into benchmarking and performance work during
> that period.  If there was a processor that was 2x faster, let alone
> several times faster, I would have noticed.
> 
> http://www.bitmover.com/lmbench/lmbench-usenix.pdf

"Digital's 21164 Reaches 500 MHz: Alpha Regains Performance Lead,
Leaves Pentium Pro in Dust" -- Microprocessor Report July 8, 1996.

http://noel.feld.cvut.cz/vyu/scs/alpha/164_500.pdf

Looks to me from the article that Alpha was certain participating in
the clock speed wars, though.

					- Ted