[ale] [Fwd: End of the line for Alpha?]

[sglewis at mindspring.com (Stephen G Lewis)]

I just saw a report on CNet's news.com entitled 'Digital to license, not
sell, Alpha' (at http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,15000,00.html?latest).
Apparently, Digital wants Intel to run their fabrication plant.

-Steve

Eric Ayers wrote:
>
>Digital has a LOT of investment in the Alpha. If they throw away the
>alpha chip, there are no more Digital servers, no more Digital Unix.
>That is, unless they are getting out of the general computing business
>altogether (who knows?)  I wouldn't be TOO hasty to judge.  It is a
>rumour, abliet a well PUBLICIZED rumour.  
>
>-Eric.
>
>Ken Seefried writes:
> > > > Now, my crystal ball is pretty hazy, and I have no idea what they're
> > >
> > > > thinking at both DEC and Intel, but I wonder if this isn't the death
> > >
> > > > knell for the Alpha platform.
> > 
> > It is.
> > 
> > Intel has no reason, in any market, to promote or enhance Alpha, and
> > every reason to kill it off.
> > 
> > Even if Intel doesn't buy it, the fact that Digital has publicly made an
> > 
> > effort to shed the buisiness will likely doom the chip.  It will be
> > practically
> > impossible to make a sale of this architecture when the developer and
> > primary backer of the architecture has given it a vote of no confidence.
> > 
> > I've already had two clients who I've convenced to go Alpha call me
> > and ask what I'd done to them.  Grrr.
> > 
> > - Ken
> > 
>