Artifact Details

Title

Zilog Z8000 microprocessor oral history panel

Catalog Number

102658075

Type

Document

Description

Key members of Zilog's management and the design team for the Z8000 microprocessor discuss the efforts to design, produce, and market the device in the second half of the 1970s and early 1980s. The Z8000 microprocessor embodied at a very early stage many design features and approaches that later became widely adopted in microprocessor technology, and the oral history panel discusses these in detail. The panel also chronicles the competition between the Z8000, the Motorola 68000, and the Intel 8086 microprocessors, covering technical comparisons and business realities. Discussed in particular depth is the competitive stance that Zilog's backing firm, Exxon Enterprises, took toward IBM in this period, the effect of this stance on IBM's selection of a microprocessor for its IBM PC, and the consequences of that selection on the competitive success of the Z8000. Throughout the discussion, the panel offers information and insight into the corporate history of Zilog, including its strategy, growth, constraints, and role in the development of microprocessor technology.

Date

2007-04-27

Contributor

Brock, David C., Editor
Faggin, Federico, Interviewee
Peuto, Bernard L., Interviewee
Shima, Masatoshi, Interviewee
Slater, Michael, Moderator
Ungermann, Ralph, Interviewee

Publisher

Computer History Museum

Place of Publication

Mountain View, California

Extent

27 p.

Category

Transcription

Subject

semiconductor history; Zilog, Inc.; Faggin, Federico; Peuto, Bernard; Shima, Masatoshi; Ungermann, Ralph; Zilog Z8000; Zilog Z80; Zilog Z8; Microprocessors; Microcontrollers; IBM; Motorola Inc.; Intel; Olivetti; Microprocessor architecture; Logic design; Exxon; AMD

Collection Title

Oral history collection

Lot Number

X4022.2007