[Info-vax] Dave Cutler, Prism, DEC, Microsoft, etc.

[JF Mezei]

Neil Rieck wrote:

> ...indicates to me that "either the semiconductor group was not
> notified that PRISM was dead" or "the semiconductor group ignored the
> order to stop working on it" or "the semiconductor group was so far
> along that DEC management told them to finish their current
> activities".


Dead is dead, long live dec is a book that analyses much of what was
wrong at DEC. Fairly depressing read.

>From what I remember in that book, it wasn't quite like that.

At the same time, DEC has multiple projects going on, including the VAX
9000, prism and the nvax project (CMOS).  Olsen rationalised it and
focused on the 9000. When the 9000 turned out to be an expensive dud
they took thge bits and pieces they had thrown in the trash can and
started the formal nvax and the alpha projects.


The VAX 9000 was a good personification of DEC's problem: Trying to
build mainframes to compete against IBM while ignoring the fact that the
world was moving towards smaller, faster and cheaper machines.