July 23rd, 2008 
billy 
I can’t believe I missed this! Apparently, last week (on the 18th to be exact), Intel turned 40 years old! At the forefront of microprocessor technology since 1968, Intel has been responsible for some pretty cool stuff: who can forget the old P3 “blue man group” ads, or when Apple dropped PowerPC and went with Intel hardware? Taking a look through the Integrated Electronics Corporation‘s rich history, I was surprised to find some other fancy tidbits…
Starting with it’s inception in 1968…
- Intel’s first released product wasn’t a microprocessor at all. It was actually a form of memory called shift register memory, which was followed by dynamic and static RAM modules.
- While Texas Instruments was “patently” recognized as the inventor of the microprocessor in 1973, Intel and TI both released working single-chip systems within two months of each other in September and November 1971. (TI’s TMS1802NC came in September, and Intel’s 4004 was released in November)
- With competitors like AMD and other less-known chip manufacturers (such as IBM and TI), it’s hard to believe that at one point in the 1990s, Intel was responsible for 85% of all 32-bit microprocessors in existence.
- Intel is also responsible for PC hardware improvements like the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus system, PCIe bus system, and Bluetooth and USB.
- In late 1994, it was revealed by Professor Thomas Nicely of Lynchburg College that the Pentium floating-point division module for x86 processors was flawed, and floating-point divison calculations performed on certain chipsets were flawed. While the calculation itself was rare (1 in 9 billion floating-point calculations would manifest the inaccuracy), this event, and the subsequent Intel actions, are viewed as a major turning point in Intel’s relationship with the PC manufacturing sector. Check out a few pages on the Pentium FDIV bug…
- Who can forget seeing the Blue Man Group running around doing advertisements for the Pentium 3 chipset?
- I believe my first post as a writer here involved an experimental 80-core microprocessor architecture Intel was working with.
- Apple’s breakup of the Apple-IBM-Motorola partnership by moving from PowerPC chips to Intel chips was, as you could say, legendary.
While I wasn’t even born for half of this news; Intel has had a lot of stuff going for it throughout it’s history. Not being one to rest on it’s laurels, the celebration is in full swing over at the World Mural Project, an Intel initiative. It’s probably also worth noting that Q2 2008 was the company’s most lucrative quarter yet (PDF pops). Wow, a lot has been going on!
Here’s to another 40 years!
Picture courtesy of: Intel Corporation;
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