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From: perkins@bnrmtv.UUCP (Henry Perkins)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Cray Research Cancels Chen's Project
Message-ID: <2495@bnrmtv.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 4-Sep-87 16:32:21 EDT
Article-I.D.: bnrmtv.2495
Posted: Fri Sep  4 16:32:21 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 6-Sep-87 01:57:14 EDT
References: <568@zycad.UUCP>
Organization: BNR Inc., Mountain View, California
Lines: 26
Summary: Steve Chen was working on the Cray MP project.

In article <568@zycad.UUCP>, kjb@zycad.UUCP (Kevin Buchs) writes:
> It was just announced today that Cray Research Cancelled the
> project Steve Chen was working on and he consequently
> resigned.  Does anyone know what the project he was working
> on was?  Y-MP?, or is that already completed?

Chen was working on the Cray MP project.  This was supposed to be
a "Massively Parallel" machine, with 64 or 128 processors as
compared to current Cray machines with 2 or 4 processors.  The
project cost estimates had increased dramatically (over the $100
million mark), so Cray pulled the plug -- they figured they didn't
have enough R & D money to support Chen's project for the
mid-1990s and still work on short-term enhancements to their
existing line of computers.

For what it's worth, I think Cray made the right decision.  Since
the MP project required several fundamental breakthroughs the cost
estimates were largely guesswork.  It's pretty useless to be 90%
done with your R & D and have your company go broke before you can
finish.  I hope Chen can continue elsewhere, but there are few
computer companies with enough money to finance that project.
-- 
{hplabs,amdahl,ames}!bnrmtv!perkins         --Henry Perkins

It is better never to have been born.  But who among us has such luck?
One in a million, perhaps.