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From: Del Cecchi on 15 Mar 2010 10:47

<kenney(a)cix.compulink.co.uk> wrote in message
news:cf2dnTKB7IJwJADWnZ2dnUVZ7vGdnZ2d(a)giganews.com...
> In article <hnhiqf$gap$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>,
> SFuld(a)alumni.cmu.edu.invalid (Stephen Fuld) wrote:
>
>> The reason they gave
>> was that system cost would have been too high with a 15 bit bus.
>
> The development of 16 bit I/O and buffer chips had badly lagged
> processor development. Using an 8 bit data bus meant that existing
> and
> much cheaper of the shelf components could be used. IIRC the only
> new
> chip in the PC was the 8088 all the others were in common use.
>
> Still there was also the rumour that an 8 bit bus was used to make
> sure
> the machine was slower than IBM mini-computers.
>
> Ken Young

And there was the "should have used the 68xxx chip" as well.

As for the 8bit bus, my money is on cost as the reason. Not that
deliberate crippling would have been unusual, but those guys were off
in the virtual equivilent of a garage someplace. Other decisions they
made, like disclosing everything, show they weren't part of the IBM
mainstream initially.


From: kenney on 15 Mar 2010 11:24
In article <804u0fF75pU1(a)mid.individual.net>, delcecchi(a)gmail.com (Del
Cecchi) wrote:

> as if designers for major companies were ignorant fools
> when they made design decisions.

There are plenty of examples of companies making disastrous design
decisions. However this was usually because the designers lost sight of
the market not out of stupidity. Examples like the Ford Edsel and the
BSA "oil in frame" models were technically competent designs that nobody
wanted to buy. Then there are the cases where the design works fine in
the tool room but mass produced models suck. Napier and some Rolls Royce
aero engines come to mind.

I realise the above examples are not about computing but I am sure
there are parallels.

Ken Young
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