Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!mailrus!cwjcc!hal!nic.MR.NET!shamash!raspail!fjp
From: fjp@raspail.UUCP (Frank Politano)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: A Recently Heard Story About Seymour Cray
Summary: Is any of this hard to believe?
Keywords: Cray,Mackintosh,Mac,Design
Message-ID: <1091@raspail.UUCP>
Date: 12 Dec 88 18:13:37 GMT
References: <90@stanton.TCC.COM> <2054@vu-vlsi.Villanova.EDU>
Organization: Control Data Corporation, Arden Hills, MN
Lines: 36

In article <2054@vu-vlsi.Villanova.EDU>, nlp@vu-vlsi.Villanova.EDU (Nick Pine) writes:
> In article <90@stanton.TCC.COM> donegan@stanton.TCC.COM (Steven P. Donegan) writes:
> >
> >Seymour Cray called Apple and noted that he had heard Apple was using a Cray
> >to design future Mackintosh systems.
 
[stuff about SC using a Mac to design Crays not included]

Sure, why not? Not that he called Apple (who cares?) but that he might 
use a Mac in his design work.  Ditto for Apple using a Cray.  I'm sure they
both use their own machines too for appropriate design tasks: a Mac for 
design notes with combined text and graphics, and a Cray for simulation
(although this seems a tad extreme...)

> Well, I don't know. By the way, can you confirm or deny these:
>
>1. SC designed the 160A in a weekend.

Not so hard to imagine - depends on what level of abstraction you're
talking about (ie. define "designed"). High level conceptual - no problem;
register-transfer - quite possibly; gate/transistor level along with
power & mechanical - not too likely (IMHO).

>3. SC visited a beta site for a large (6600?) computer which was having
>   problems, listened to descriptions of those problems, which had
>   plagued everyone for weeks, ordered everyone out of the computer
>   room, sat for 2 hours and 21 minutes, called everyone back in, and
>   said "change THIS wire," pointing to a schematic, and went back to
>   Chippewa Falls. The change was made, and the problem was solved.

This really isn't anything that the principle designer of any system
shouldn't be able to do for the system he/she designed.
The only thing I can't understand is why it should have taken so long :-).
-----------------
Dave Christie, Control Data Canada
"Any opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of CDC."