Dynabook hw cost
tim Rowledge
tim at rowledge.org
Fri May 25 05:32:27 UTC 2007
On 24-May-07, at 8:49 PM, subbukk wrote:
>
> The fixed costs in hardware is so high now that it is economical
> only if
> manufactured in large numbers. Therefore it is important to get 'it
> right the
> first time'.
Not if you do it right and build highly programmable hardware. The
only thing you have to fear then is someone discovering the secret of
the Halt and Catch Fire instruction[1]
tim
[1] I worked with a chap at IBM who used a pair of 29116 bitslice
cpus in a project. It was entirely possible to cause a tri-state bus
contention that really would execute the HCF instruction. Amusing but
expensive. Possibly a useful anti-theft mechanism?
--
tim Rowledge; tim at rowledge.org; http://www.rowledge.org/tim
Useful Latin Phrases:- Fac me cocleario vomere! = Gag me with a spoon!
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