LISP machine
From Computer History Wiki
LISP machines were a series of custom microcoded workstations intended to run large LISP programs. Among other capabilities, they provided hardware support for things like garbage collection. The first two generations (the sole prototype, the CONS machine; and the later somewhat volume CADR) were built at MIT.
Direct descendants of these were produced and sold by Symbolics and LISP Machines Inc; others were produced by other vendors, such as Texas Instruments, Xerox, and others. Eventually, the additional performance of the custom hardware (which could not evolve, in a way which was economical, as fast as general-purpose machines did) was not enough to make the extra cost worth while, and they disappeared.
External links
- Lisp Machines - emulators
- TI Explorer Lisp Machine Source Code
