[Info-vax] HP wins Oracle Itanium case

[Michael Kraemer]

David Froble schrieb:

> When DEC stopped the N-VAX production line, they claimed they had build 
> a stockpile designed to last at least 5 years.  Didn't come close.  
> Where did all those CPUs go?  The only place I can figure is customer 
> demand.  When they were gone, that was the end of VAX sales.

huh?
The end of VAX sales came 2000, during the Compaq era.

> The question that occurs to me, and I doubt it can be answered, is how 
> long could DEC continue to mfg and sell N-VAX CPUs?  No more R&D, just 
> keep the line running.  It's called a "cash cow".  Instead of milking 
> it, they butchered it.

No, it was a natural EOL,
http://web.archive.org/web/20000815201016/http://www.compaq.com/alphaserver/vax/vax_letter_final.html

> Don't get me wrong, Alpha was great, maybe the best there has ever been. 
> Another great question is how would Alpha perform with a 32 nm die size? 
> Multiple cores per chip.  Low voltage.  Cooler temps.  Though I have 
> heard of problems getting it to run correctly on smaller die sizes.  
> You'd want to think that such problems could be solved.  Some people 
> didn't want to pay to solve them.

And who would have manufactured those fantasy Alphas beyond EV7z?
Intel couldn't or wouldn't
(weren't they obliged due to the 1997 deal ?),
Samsung dito, and even IBM, who produced
the EV7z, couldn't do the EV79, at least according to HP.