jac@paul.rutgers.edu (Jonathan A. Chandross) (07/21/89)
jac@paul.rutgers.edu (Jonathan A. Chandross) writes: > Intel killed it [iAPX-432] off very quietly, just like the bubble memories. > [more deleted] thatcher@claris.com (Jon Thatcher) > Intel ALMOST killed off their bubble memories. They sold that division > to a company called MemTech (?), which rehired many ex-Intel engineers > and scientists. They're still developing and selling bubble memories. So they managed to sell the division. Interesting. This brings up an related question: does anyone still use bubbles? (Well, I imagine the military does since they still use cores and vacuum tubes. :-) ) How about manufacture? The Japanese (I think) and TI, got out of the bubble business years ago as well. When the bubble was in its prime of life, I recall TI selling Silent-700's equipped with bubbles (128K bytes worth) for use by reporters at sporting events. You type the whole thing in as the game happens, then upload it to your newspaper over a phone line at 300 baud. (I still have the bubble units for one of these in my basement, somewhere.) It would seem that the only market left would be very rough environments where you can't use a ruggedized hard disk. And those applications might be better served by CMOS and battery backup. So the real question is: can I make zillions of dollars by founding a bubble memory startup for IBM PCs? Jonathan A. Chandross Internet: jac@paul.rutgers.edu UUCP: rutgers!paul.rutgers.edu!jac