Title
Intel 386 Microprocessor oral history panel : design and developmentCatalog Number
102702019Type
DocumentDescription
The internal battles over which of several Intel microprocessor architectures under consideration would make it to the market were finally resolved with the launch and eventual market success of the 386. However, the three years leading up to the launch of the 386 were filled with lengthy and often contentious, discussions among the design team members and their internal competitors, the marketing team, and Intel senior executives.Several members of the design team -- John Crawford, Gene Hill, Jill Leukhardt, Jan Prak, Jim Slager -- provide their first person account of those events. They started out with the charter to build a "gap-filler" microprocessor compatible with the x86 architecture-based products already in customers' hands, one that would hold off competitors until one of the proposed alternative architecture-based products would be ready for market. They ended up designing and developing one of the largest selling semiconductor products ever, and, some would argue, enabling Intel to establish its market leadership position in semiconductors, specifically in microprocessors. The team discusses the technical and market / customer challenges it faced and how they overcame them in this videotaped oral history.
Date
2008-12-02Contributor
Crawford, John, Panelist |
Hill, Gene, Panelist |
Jarrett, James, Moderator |
Leukhardt, Jill, Panelist |
Prak, Jan Willem, Panelist |
Remacle, Rosemary, Editor |
Slager, Jim, Panelist |