First, it is crazy that these chips could go that fast. Second, it is even crazier that IBM would would expend effort to manufacture such a part that could not be sold on the open market. I can only guess that some specialized military contract called for such a device.
- dfarquhar 394 days agoI'm of two minds on that one... When IBM started building these chips they may have had zero interest in selling them and may have intended just to use all of them themselves. Using its own CPU rather than buying Intel CPUs could allow them to hit a lower price point or improve profit margins. On the other hand, the loophole was that IBM could sell the chips on a PCB, whether as an upgrade for an existing PC, or a motherboard. IBM's ill fated Ambra side project used Blue Lightning chips, and a fair number of inexpensive clones ended up with IBM-made 486SLC2 motherboards in them. I used to love getting surplus IBM 5160 and 5170 cases in the 90s and dropping these boards in them.