From: news@alderson.users.panix.com
cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) writes:
> In article ,
> Rich Alderson wrote:
>> cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) writes:
>>> [Sun's] initial success was because they built the computer that
>>> they themselves wanted to use, and came up with a computer a
>>> bunch of other people wanted to use, too. It was a joy to use a
>>> Sun workstation at the time. But then they stopped doing that.
>> Remember that the original SUN-1 board was designed by Andy Bechtolsheim
>> from a specification given to him by Ralph Gorin, director of the Stanford
>> academic computing facility (LOTS), who envisioned a 4M system (1M memory,
>> 1MIPS, 1M pixels on the screen, 1Mbps network, based on the first Ethernet
>> at PARC).
>> SUN stood for "Stanford University Network"...
>> The same board was used in the original routers and terminal interface
>> processors (TIPs) on the Stanford network, designed by Len Bosack of Cisco
>> and XKL fame.
>> Khosla and Bechtolsheim, et al., didn't "build the computer they wanted to
>> use", they built the one they thought would make money when they took the
>> design from Stanford.
> Khosla was out within what, 4 or 5 years? And he wasn't an engineer.
Indeed. He was Andy's friend from the Graduate school of Business, and
probably the one who said "this thing could make money!!!!" and started the
search that led to Scott McNealy. Andy would be the one to bring in Bill Joy.
> The "building the computer they wanted to use" bit comes first-hand from
> engineers with single-digit Sun employee numbers. It wasn't just the
> hardware, but the software as well, of course.
That's probably what they were told, but that's not what the VCs were told.
--
Rich Alderson news@alderson.users.panix.com
Audendum est, et veritas investiganda; quam etiamsi non assequamur,
omnino tamen proprius, quam nunc sumus, ad eam perveniemus.
--Galen
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
|
