For details on how Intel was fixated on 16-pin chips, see the Oral History of Federico Faggin [1]. He describes how 16-pin packages were a completely silly requ

For details on how Intel was fixated on 16-pin chips, see the Oral History of Federico Faggin [1]. He describes how 16-pin packages were a completely silly requirement, but the "God-given 16 pins" was like a religion at Intel. He hated this requirement because it was throwing away performance. When Intel was forced to 18 pins by the 1103 memory chip, it "was like the sky had dropped from heaven" and he had "never seen so many long faces at Intel." [1] pages 55-56 of http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_History/Faggin_Federico/Faggin_Federico_1_2_3.oral_history.2004.102658025.pdf http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_Histo...