On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 05:56:35 -0600, Elardus Engelbrecht wrote:

>Mike Schwab wrote:
>
>>http://www.chipsetc.com/computer-memorabilia-collectors.html
>>Cray Y-MP C90 supercomputer listed on eBay in September 2000; it sold to a 
>>private individual for $45,000, down from the original list price of $35 
>>million.
>
>Interesting, what is more interesting, here is a snippet from your link about 
>NASA which reminds me of that hunting for vintage programmers so Voyager can 
>still be tracked until 2020:
>
><quote>
>When the first shuttle roared into space that year, the 8086 played a critical 
>role, at the heart of diagnostic equipment that made sure the shuttle's twin 
>booster rockets were safe for blastoff.
>
>Today, more than two decades later, booster testing still uses 8086 chips, 
>which are increasingly scarce. NASA plans to create a $20 million automated 
>checking system, with all new hardware and software. In the meantime, it is 
>hoarding 8086's so that a failed one does not ground the nation's fleet of 
>aging spaceships.
><end-quote>
> 
    http://xkcd.com/1337/

(Fact checking is left to the interested reader.)

-- gil

----------------------------------------------------------------------
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Reply via email to