Difference between revisions of "Symbolics"
From Computer History Wiki
(Not very extensive, but checks off another one) |
m (→External links: +Bogodyne Metatechnics) |
||
Line 18: | Line 18: | ||
** [https://smbx.org/symbolics-hardware/ Symbolics Hardware] | ** [https://smbx.org/symbolics-hardware/ Symbolics Hardware] | ||
** [https://smbx.org/symbolics-technical-summary/ Symbolics Technical Summary] | ** [https://smbx.org/symbolics-technical-summary/ Symbolics Technical Summary] | ||
+ | * [https://www.bogodyne.com/ Bogodyne Metatechnics] - hard to describe; go look | ||
[[Category: Manufacturers]] | [[Category: Manufacturers]] |
Revision as of 01:37, 17 July 2022
Symbolics was a start-up spinoff of the MIT AI Lab founded in 1980, whose goal was to build and sell LISP machines. It had a moderately successful run, but after internal dissension and some poor business decisions, it went bankrupt in 1996.
During its lifetime, Symbolics produced 4 generations of hardware:
- the LM-2, a slightly improved and repackaged CADR, intended as an interim product
- the L-Machines (models 3600, 3670, 3640, 3675 and 3645); built out of stock TTL
- the G-machines (models 3650, 3620, 3630, 3619); built from custom gate arrays
- the I-machines (standalone: XL400, XL1200, XL1201 and NXP1000; Sun: UX400, UX1200; Macintosh: MacIvory I, II, III); custom ICs
Technically, what doomed specialized LISP machines was the fact that stock microprocessors sped up to such a degree that even the specialized support available in the low-production-volume custom CPU of the LISP machine (tagged data types; garbage collection) left them unable to keep up.
External links
- Symbolics - documentation at Bitsavers
- Symbolics Lisp Machine Museum
- Bogodyne Metatechnics - hard to describe; go look