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486 Turns 15 Years Old

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the looking-back dept.

wooby writes "The 486 processor , introduced in 1989 at 25 and 33MHz clock speeds, is now 15 years old. Intel's simultaneous launch of both the 486, a CISC chip, and the i860, a RISC chip, was a gamble. Remarks Intel's former CEO, Andy Grove: 'our equivocation caused our customers to wonder what Intel really stood for, the 486 or i860?'"

3 of 495 comments (clear)

  1. Re:jup by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Hehe . . . yeah, the i860. Sure did a lot of crazy stuff. Some random pictures http://i860.sourceforge.net/gallery/

    Including some AVS stuff and an i860 workstation. Man, was it ever a sucky processor.

  2. Re:jup by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The old cane-waving cynic in me says everyone who uses a computer nowadays should have a 486 level machine (or something near to it) to do some common task. Give people a real appreciation of what hardware is capable of & where their systems today relate.

    Young kids now think 1GHz isn't enough to browse web & email. That's not just wrong, it ends up wasteful

    *returns to cane waving*

  3. Re:jup by nycsubway · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Young kids now think 1GHz isn't enough to browse web & email. That's not just wrong, it ends up wasteful

    It is wasteful, for two reasons: 1) the newer processors consume more power plus the multitude of fans needed to cool the thing. 2) there are millions of 386 and 486 machines still functioning out there. its wasteful to build a new 2GHz machine when a 486 can do the same task.

    Plus those 'old' computers are a lot more durable than ones made today. The old XT keyboards were made from steel. Even into the late 1980s, IBM keyboards still had a steel plate underneath. The IBM PS/2s had steel cases, you could use the case in place of cinder blocks to raise up your car.

    My parents had a Hayes1200 modem that they discarded. It had a milled aluminum case. Being a 10 year old at the time, I decided to break the thing. I took a sledge hammer to it, threw it around the back yard by the cord. It still maintained its shape, I couldn't dent it. Try that today with any new equipment.

    These are same reasons they still have the original elevator motors in the Empire State Building. "They simply dont make motors as durable as these anymore. They've been running continuously since 1933."

    --
    http://github.com/gbook/nidb