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From: ggarb@apple.com (Gordon Garb)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.super
Subject: Re: Supercomputer ROI
Message-ID: <8117@goofy.Apple.COM>
Date: 8 May 90 03:14:03 GMT
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References:<201@csinc.UUCP> <253@garth.UUCP> <202@csinc.UUCP> <5944@amelia.nas.nasa.gov> <48880@ames.arc.nasa.gov>

In article <48880@ames.arc.nasa.gov> lamaster@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Hugh 
LaMaster) writes:
> Miya) writes:
> >Minor factoids:
> >The X-MP was introduced in 1982/3 (not 1984, a papers yes that year) 
> >Ames got SN 103 I think, Hugh LaMaster probably knows the specific date.
> 
> I don't remember which SN, though it was a very low number one.  Was it the
> first X-MP/2X that went to Digital Productions, Inc, even before DoE got one?
> I seem to recall some DoE annoyance that one of Cray's machine went to 
> another customer first...

Digital Productions was SUPPOSED to get the first X-MP in the field;  we 
actually got serial number 108.  We were supposedly first when we placed 
our order, but our financial situation (which was never very good) at the 
time of scheduled delivery for the X-MP was pretty lousy.  We couldn't 
afford to buy the X-MP from Cray, so we asked them if they'd like to lease 
it to us instead.  This was all towards the end of 1983, and Cray very 
much wanted cash sales (not leases) to make the year-end financials look 
good.  Add to this the fact that DP was probably in behind on lease 
payments on our Cray 1 (s/n20) and on maintenance charges.  Cray found 
another buyer for our machine while they renegotiated the financial terms 
of our eventual X-MP acquisition.  We got an X-MP 22.  We could probably have used more memory, and an SSD, but we couldn't afford them.

I think Nasa Ames actually got the first X-MP in the field.

Gordon Garb
former Operations Manager, Digital Productions

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