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Can Market Dominance Trump Better Technology?. A Case Study. Arani Bhattacharya. Microprocessor Market in the 80s. Electronic industry made rapid progress Complex circuits in processors feasible Processor instructions (instruction set) became more and more complex
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Can Market Dominance Trump Better Technology? A Case Study Arani Bhattacharya
Microprocessor Market in the 80s • Electronic industry made rapid progress • Complex circuits in processors feasible • Processor instructions (instruction set) became more and more complex • Trend widely expected to continue • High Level Language Computer Architecture proposed
Expectations proved to be wrong • More complex instructions naturally had to predict user programs behavior • User programs behaved in unexpected ways • Larger memory allowed large programs • Architects proposed going back to simpler instructions
Simple is Beautiful Overlapping of execution stages made possible
The plight of Intel in the late 80s • Other companies saw an opening • Apple • Motorola • IBM • Sun Microsystems • DEC
Intel Responds • By doing nothing • High market share allowed Intel to carry on • Waited for: • More improvements in electronics • Made it possible to simply instructions internally within the processor • Finally, implemented in 1989
Did high market share allow Intel to ignore superior technology?
Response • Yes: Consensus among architects in academia and industry • No: Intel
Conclusion • Market does not always side with the best technology • Inertia can trump better technology • Industry player with dominant market share can get away with inferior technology