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> back then it seemed IP/patents was less of an issue than it is today, so there was a lot more competition Maybe it was rather because IBM required second sou
by formerly_proven 3y ago
> back then it seemed IP/patents was less of an issue than it is today, so there was a lot more competition
Maybe it was rather because IBM required second sources, so Intel wouldn't have gotten the x86 win without licensing it to other manufacturers.
- bombcar 3y agoIt was also surprisingly easy [1] to switch entire CPU architectures back in the "olden days" and it wasn't a given that x86 would even be a long-term architecture the way it ended up. [1] for a value of easy that was something between "we made all the software and so recompiling on a new processor isn't customer painful" to "the thing is programmed entirely manually anyway so who cares".
- flenserboy 3y agoI'd be curious to see the timeline where IBM went with the 68000 instead, with a similar resulting proliferation of chipmakers and chips. Making Motorola compete, as well as having to push the envelope, could have led to some special designs.