3M computer
Encyclopedia
3M was a goal first proposed in the early 1980s by Raj Reddy
and his colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University
(CMU) as a minimum specification for academic/technical workstation
s: at least a megabyte
of memory, a megapixel display and a million instructions per second
(MIPS) processing power. It was also often said that it should cost no more than a "megapenny" ($10,000). This was in contrast to the personal computer
s of that period, such as the IBM Personal Computer which might have 64KB memory, a 320×200 pixel display (64000 pixels), and 30 kiloFLOPS floating point performance.
The concept was inspired by the Xerox Alto
which had been designed in the 1970s at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. Several Altos were donated to CMU, Stanford, and MIT in 1979.
An early 3M computer was the PERQ
Workstation made by Three Rivers Computer Corporation
. The PERQ had a 1 million P-codes (Pascal
instructions) per second processor, 256 KB of RAM (upgradeable to 1 MB), and a 768×1024 pixel display on a 15 inches (38.1 cm) display. While not quite a true 3M machine, it was used as the initial 3M machine for the CMU Scientific Personal Integrated Computing Environment (SPICE) workstation project.
The Stanford University Network
SUN workstation
, designed by Andy Bechtolsheim
in 1980, is another example. It was then commercialized by Sun Microsystems
in 1982. Apollo Computer
(in the Route 128 region) announced the Apollo/Domain
computer in 1981.
The first "megapenny" 3M workstation was the Sun-2/50
diskless desktop workstation
with a list price of $8,900 in 1986.
The original NeXT Computer
was introduced in 1988 as a 3M machine by Steve Jobs
, who first heard this term at Brown University
. Its so-called "MegaPixel" display had just over 930,000 pixels with four shades of gray. However, floating point performance was only about .25 megaflops.
Raj Reddy
Dabbala Rajagopal "Raj" Reddy , a Turing Award winner, is one of the early pioneers in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence and has served on the faculty of Stanford and Carnegie Mellon University for over 40 years. He was the founding Director of the Robotics Institute at CMU...
and his colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
(CMU) as a minimum specification for academic/technical workstation
Workstation
A workstation is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems...
s: at least a megabyte
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
of memory, a megapixel display and a million instructions per second
Instructions per second
Instructions per second is a measure of a computer's processor speed. Many reported IPS values have represented "peak" execution rates on artificial instruction sequences with few branches, whereas realistic workloads typically lead to significantly lower IPS values...
(MIPS) processing power. It was also often said that it should cost no more than a "megapenny" ($10,000). This was in contrast to the personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s of that period, such as the IBM Personal Computer which might have 64KB memory, a 320×200 pixel display (64000 pixels), and 30 kiloFLOPS floating point performance.
The concept was inspired by the Xerox Alto
Xerox Alto
The Xerox Alto was one of the first computers designed for individual use , making it arguably what is now called a personal computer. It was developed at Xerox PARC in 1973...
which had been designed in the 1970s at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. Several Altos were donated to CMU, Stanford, and MIT in 1979.
An early 3M computer was the PERQ
PERQ
The PERQ, also referred to as the Three Rivers PERQ or ICL PERQ, was a pioneering workstation computer produced in the early 1980s....
Workstation made by Three Rivers Computer Corporation
Three Rivers Computer Corporation
The Three Rivers Computer Corporation was a spinoff of the Computer Science department at Carnegie-Mellon University, and was founded in 1974 by Brian Rosen, James Teter, Bill Broadley, Stan Kriz, Raj Reddy and Paul Newbury. The company was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The company's...
. The PERQ had a 1 million P-codes (Pascal
Pascal (programming language)
Pascal is an influential imperative and procedural programming language, designed in 1968/9 and published in 1970 by Niklaus Wirth as a small and efficient language intended to encourage good programming practices using structured programming and data structuring.A derivative known as Object Pascal...
instructions) per second processor, 256 KB of RAM (upgradeable to 1 MB), and a 768×1024 pixel display on a 15 inches (38.1 cm) display. While not quite a true 3M machine, it was used as the initial 3M machine for the CMU Scientific Personal Integrated Computing Environment (SPICE) workstation project.
The Stanford University Network
Stanford University Network
The Stanford University Network, also known as SUN, SUNet or SU-Net is the campus computer network for Stanford University.-History:Stanford Research Institute, formerly part of Stanford but on a separate campus, was the site of one of the four original ARPANET nodes...
SUN workstation
SUN workstation
The original SUN workstation was a modular computer system designed at Stanford University in the early 1980s.-History:The project name was derived from Stanford University Network, the campus network within Stanford....
, designed by Andy Bechtolsheim
Andy Bechtolsheim
Andreas von Bechtolsheim is an electrical engineer who co-founded Sun Microsystems in 1982 and was its chief hardware designer....
in 1980, is another example. It was then commercialized by Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
in 1982. Apollo Computer
Apollo Computer
Apollo Computer, Inc., founded 1980 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts by William Poduska and others, developed and produced Apollo/Domain workstations in the 1980s. Along with Symbolics and Sun Microsystems, Apollo was one of the first vendors of graphical workstations in the 1980s...
(in the Route 128 region) announced the Apollo/Domain
Apollo/Domain
Apollo/Domain was a range of workstations developed and produced by Apollo Computer from circa 1980 to 1989. The machines were built around the Motorola 68k family of processors, except for the DN10000, which had from one to four of Apollo's RISC processors, named PRISM.-Operating system:The...
computer in 1981.
The first "megapenny" 3M workstation was the Sun-2/50
Sun-2
The Sun-2 series of UNIX workstations and servers was launched by Sun Microsystems in November 1983. As the name suggests, the Sun-2 represented the second generation of Sun systems, superseding the original Sun-1 series...
diskless desktop workstation
Diskless workstation
A diskless node is a workstation or personal computer without disk drives, which employs network booting to load its operating system from a server...
with a list price of $8,900 in 1986.
The original NeXT Computer
NeXT Computer
The NeXT Computer was a high-end workstation computer developed, manufactured and sold by Steve Jobs' company NeXT from 1988 until 1990. It ran the Unix-based NeXTSTEP operating system. The NeXT Computer was packaged in a 1-foot die-cast magnesium cube-shaped case, which led to the machine being...
was introduced in 1988 as a 3M machine by Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs was an American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc...
, who first heard this term at Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
. Its so-called "MegaPixel" display had just over 930,000 pixels with four shades of gray. However, floating point performance was only about .25 megaflops.