retroelectro
history of microprocessors. He feels that the legendary Intel 4004 (1971) and 8008 (1972) aren’t actually the first true microprocessors. While he appreciated the contributions of those earlier chips, he saw them more as calculator chips. Instead, Chuck believes the title of the first real microprocessor belongs to Tom Bennett’s 8-bit Motorola 6800 (1974). Armed with these customer surveys, the team started working on another microprocessor, one far less capable than the 6800 but an order of magnitude cheaper. He found that the customer needs were simple and didn’t require most of the instruction set the 6800 had. This low-cost, slim-down version would be an easy sale, but Motorola had a lot invested in the 6800, and it needed to be successful. Motorola shut down the project and decided to move the team to Austin, Texas. Chuck Peddle, being a very smart businessman, took this opportunity to claim ownership of the intellectual property for their low-cost microprocessors. In an interview he tells the story as: “So, they sent me a formal letter from the attorneys saying that ‘You have to stop working and selling the concept of a low-cost computer. We are going to only do this (the 6800)’. I wrote to them and said, ‘As of this moment, I will not work on any micro-processor for you again because I’m going to go do that micro-processor and you just did what is called in our industry
‘product abandonment, and so now you can’t patent it. You can’t claim it as yours.’ We then went off and found a company (to join) in Pennsylvania.” Several of the team had little interest in moving to Texas, but still wanted to develop this low-cost concept. Of the twenty or so team members that worked on the 6800, eight jumped ship with Peddle. These eight include: ■ Chuck Peddle – Program Manager ■ Bill Mensch – Key Designer ■ Rod Orgill – Layout Designer ■ Harry Bawcom – Layout and Manufacturing Engineer ■ Wil Mathys – Design Engineer ■ Terry Holdt – Project Manager ■ Ray Hirt – Design Engineer ■ Mike Janes – Sales and Marketing
The market was flooded with calculators. Desktop, scientific, pocket, battery-operated, etc. At the root of this market boom were the core chips sold by Texas Instruments. In the mid-1970s, Texas Instruments realized they could sell complete calculators directly to consumers and cut ‘the middleman’ out. Texas Instruments could manufacture a working marketable calculator cheaper than they were selling the chips to manufacturers like Commodore,
Royal, Casio, Rockwell, and others.
MOS technology MOS Technology was a pivotal player in microprocessor history. It was founded in 1969 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania by former General Instrument executives with the original goal of producing affordable calculator chips. Its name, an acronym for Metal Oxide Semiconductor, reflected its focus on innovation in semiconductor manufacturing. The early years were characterized by survival in a volatile market. The calculator industry faced disruption due to Texas Instruments’ aggressive pricing, compelling MOS Technology to diversify its offerings. The company’s trajectory shifted in 1974 when Chuck Peddle, and his team of engineers left Motorola to join MOS Technology.
The low-cost microprocessor
This market upheaval, caused by TI’s shrewd decisions, brought dozens of companies to their knees. Many of those companies perished, but a few overcame this by switching to computers. MOS Technology had luck getting the contract to make the custom ICs for Atari’s new Pong system, which created the video game market shortly before Peddle and Co. joined.
Going all the way back to his days at General Electric, he knew what he wanted. He understood what it would take to make this work. He had been working on this idea since before Intelligent Terminal Systems. Until now, the problem had always been that he couldn’t convince the people with the money because he didn’t have the market research to really show it. Nobody
After leaving Motorola, they knew they needed to find a
Calculator wars The team’s departure from Motorola coincided with the Great Calculator Wars of the
manufacturing partner if they were going to get off the ground with their low-cost microprocessor concept. They tried to get in with several companies and found they worked best with a small calculator chip manufacturer in Pennsylvania, MOS Technology (pronounced M-O-S Technology).
mid-seventies. Before the proper microprocessor, the market had ‘calculator chips.’ The electronic desk calculator wasn’t just a status symbol, it was necessary for the workers of the day to keep up with the increasing pace of business.
‘You have to stop working and selling the concept of a low-cost computer. We are going to only do this (the 6800)’
Figure 5. Pong
we get technical
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