My memory of the 80's was most stuff was fast but power hungry NMOS. People were pushing things like GA, ECL, Silicon on Sapphire as the next thing to replace i

My memory of the 80's was most stuff was fast but power hungry NMOS. People were pushing things like GA, ECL, Silicon on Sapphire as the next thing to replace it. I might be biased but the company I worked for in the 80's switched to CMOS early[1]. I think the high end guys were ignoring CMOS despite it closing the gap relentlessly. Worse for all the other technologies as integration increased heat became a relentlessly and eventually unsolvable problem. I remember seeing ECL datasheets for simple chips that would draw a half watt. Notable volume production of CMOS grew and grew while ECL, GA didn't really. So yes, ECL for new business after 1985 was dumb. [1] CEO realized enclosures, power supplies, and fans were a large fraction of the bom.