11 Apr
2026
11 Apr
'26
1:16 a.m.
Dave McGuire <mcguire(a)neurotica.com> wrote:
It takes two people to move *the power cable* for that machine.
It was ECL (lots and lots of ECL) after all...
The VAX-9000 is arguably the machine that finally killed DEC. They spent
over $1 billion on its development, killed several other architectures in
the process (like Dave Cutler's PRISM - that's why he left for Microsoft),
and only ever shipped a couple dozen machines. And by the time the VAX-9000
actually did ship (around 1990-91, I think) the NVAX chip ran nearly as fast
and was waaayyy cheaper and smaller.
Bob