Computers
The Dawn of the Microprocessor
November 15, 1971
An advertisement in the magazine Electronic News announces the Intel 4004, the first commercially available microprocessor. The 4004 was primarily used in calculators, the first being the Busicom 141-PF. In fact, it was Busicom that actually developed the design of what would become the Intel 4004. Busicom approached Intel to help them finalize the design and manufacture their “calculator engine”. Intel’s engineers reduced the 12 integrated circuit design Busicom had come up with to 4 ICs and delivered the finished product in January 1971. Busicom had exclusive rights to that design until later in that year, when Busicom and Intel renegotiated their contract with Intel lowering their prices to Busicom in exchange for rights to the design of the microprocessor.
By offering the first general-purpose programmable processor to the general market, Intel spurred the rapid development of electronic devices in the 1970s, culminating in the development of personal computers during that decade. However, Intel wasn’t the clear leader in the microprocessor market until the IBM PC and clones helped catapult Intel to that title in the 1980’s.
Intel Bugs Out
November 14, 1997
One week after reports surfaced identifying a flaw in certain Pentium processors, Intel releases a software workaround for operating systems to avoid the commonly named “F0 bug“. A very specific invalid operation passed to the affected processors would cause the processor to lock up, causing the computer and any software running on it to freeze. Identified by Intel as the “Invalid Operand with Locked Compare Exchange 8Byte (CMPXCHG8B) Instruction Erratum” (seriously?), the flaw, while potentially a serious problem, was practically little more than a PR headache as the invalid operation that triggered the processor to lock up was never encountered in real-world operations. Additionally, the F0 bug only affected the older Pentium processors, not the Pentium II and Pentium Pro processors Intel was currently shipping at the time. However, the workaround was necessary as malicious software could have exploited the flaw and caused serious problems for PCs and servers using the affected processors.
Ethernet is Born
Robert Metcalfe’s Original Ethernet Concept
November 11, 1973
As invented by Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs, an Ethernet network functions for the first time. From it’s humble beginnings as a research project at Xerox PARC, Ethernet has developed into the de facto standard for business and home networking.
IBM Signs A Deal With The Devil
November 6, 1980
IBM and Microsoft formally sign an contract whereby Microsoft will create an operating system for the in-development IBM PC. During the summer of 1980, IBM was originally interested in licensing the popular CP/M operating system, but the inability to come to an agreement with Digital Research led IBM to ask Microsoft if they could develop an operating system similar to CP/M. Microsoft was already going to work with IBM to deliver their BASIC programming language for the IBM PC, but they did not have an operating system. However, Microsoft knew that a small company named Seattle Computer Products had developed an operating system similar to CP/M called QDOS, for Quick-and-Dirty Operating System. Microsoft suggested to IBM that QDOS could work as the IBM PC’s operating system. IBM asked Microsoft to license and further develop the operating system, which led to the formal contract on November 6, 1980. After the contract was signed, in December 1980 Microsoft would license the QDOS operating system to begin development of the IBM PC version. In July of 1981, just weeks before the IBM PC would ship, Microsoft purchased full rights from SCP for what was now called 86-DOS. IBM PC-DOS was the name of the operating system that would ship on the IBM PC, but it was Microsoft that wholly developed the operating system after acquiring it from SCP.
Microsoft shrewdly included a clause in the agreement that allowed them to sell the operating system to other companies under the name MS-DOS. It was this clause that changed the course of technology history, opening the door for Microsoft to become the dominant technology company of the PC era. Microsoft seemed to understand that by controlling the operating system, the underlying hardware became less relevant. IBM obviously did not consider this concept, nor did they foresee that companies would be able to successfully clone their hardware platform. Once companies were able to clone the hardware, they needed an operating system. Microsoft was more than happy to provide them with that operating system, which by design was completely compatible with IBM’s PC-DOS. Once IBM lost control of the platform they created, power shifted to the one major commonality between the IBM-compatible clones: Microsoft’s operating system. It was IBM’s name that pushed the IBM PC into prominence, but it was the combination of hardware cloning and Microsoft licensing the operating system that created the dominant platform of the PC era, crushing nearly all competing personal computer platforms in the process. Without this seemingly minor clause in this pivotal contract, the history of the PC era could have been quite different than it was.