Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!know!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!cica!iuvax!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!m.cs.uiuc.edu!gillies
From: gillies@m.cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: AMD vs. Intel Arbitration
Message-ID: <3300198@m.cs.uiuc.edu>
Date: 20 Oct 90 19:33:00 GMT
References: <214112@<1990Oct11>
Lines: 19
Nf-ID: #R:<1990Oct11:214112:m.cs.uiuc.edu:3300198:000:881
Nf-From: m.cs.uiuc.edu!gillies    Oct 20 14:33:00 1990


> pardon me for being naive, but what has intel gained
> from this partnership?  Improved design, does intel get
> all the improvements AMD may have made? 

In the old days, fab lines would go down so easily that no american
OEM was willing to design with a part offered by only one supplier.
There are many stories of start-ups or even large companies getting
burned when their single-source choked (either financially, or because
an employee lit a cigarette in the clean room).

I don't know what has happened to this tradition?  How does Intel
guarantee not to choke?  Do they have so many fab lines producing
'386s that they are guaranteed not to encounter problems?

Frankly, I think Intel's conduct in the '386 matter rivals IBM's
heinous attempt to corner the computer market in the 1960's.  AMD's
suit strikes a blow for the american way of life, in the computer
industry.