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> They used his name without permission for a codename, he asked them to stop There's some additional context that makes me more sympathetic to Sagan here too.
by Lammy 5y ago
> They used his name without permission for a codename, he asked them to stop
There's some additional context that makes me more sympathetic to Sagan here too. The "Carl Sagan"/"BHA" machine (Power Macintosh 7100) was introduced alongside two other machines whose codenames reference fraudulent/unproven science:
- The 6100 is "Piltdown Man" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Macintosh_6100 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Macintosh_6100 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man
- The 8100 is "Cold Fusion" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Macintosh_8100 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Macintosh_8100 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion
- majormajor 5y agoTo further muddle it, though, those were very much a set of good/better/best machines! (Or arguably "bleh/good/best" re: that 6100.) At the time, I saaw Cold Fusion as an aspirational codename for the best of the first-gen PowerPC boxes. Sagan's inclusion is still weird, though, as the others are things, not people.
- msgilligan 5y agoIf I remember correctly, it might have had something to do with Carl Sagan's catchphrase "billons and billions". The machine had "billions and billions" of something (bytes, MIPs?)