10 Jan
2013
10 Jan
'13
6:11 p.m.
From: Richard <legalize at xmission.com>
Date: Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:01:44 -0700
Subject: Re: looking for supercomputers, Ardent, Stardent, Titan or Portable Graphics
Mainframe
In article <BLU002-W211CABDFBFAD39F8F9562C7BA240 at phx.gbl>,
Randy Dawson <rdawson16 at hotmail.com> writes:
The RICM has one...
https://sites.google.com/a/ricomputermuseum.org/home/Home/equipment/ardent-…
--
Michael Thompson
Any of these lying around? I ask every year or
so...
I have had ebay searches running for 10+ years and have never turned
up anything. I think these things are extremely scarce to
non-existent at this point. I don't recall hearing of any in the
hands of collectors anywhere, but of course, as soon as I say this,
someone will pop up and say "I have 3". :-) 
10 Jan
10 Jan
9:25 p.m.
On Jan 10, 2013, at 1:11 PM, Michael Thompson wrote:
I recognize that the terms are rather arbitrary, but what qualifies
this as a supercomputer rather than just a large, graphics-specific
mini? Or is it more to do with advertising copy? There were quite
a few large minis with vector units, after all.
I ask with trepidation, of course, because "supercomputer" is such
a nebulous term to begin with, but this doesn't even seem like it
would have reached the classification of "mainframe" in its time.
Perhaps I'm misjudging it?
- Dave
From: Richard
<legalize at xmission.com>
Date: Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:01:44 -0700
Subject: Re: looking for supercomputers, Ardent, Stardent, Titan or Portable Graphics
Mainframe
In article <BLU002-W211CABDFBFAD39F8F9562C7BA240 at phx.gbl>,
Randy Dawson <rdawson16 at hotmail.com> writes:
The RICM has one...
https://sites.google.com/a/ricomputermuseum.org/home/Home/equipment/ardent-… Any of these lying around? I ask every year or
so...
I have had ebay searches running for 10+ years and have never turned
up anything. I think these things are extremely scarce to
non-existent at this point. I don't recall hearing of any in the
hands of collectors anywhere, but of course, as soon as I say this,
someone will pop up and say "I have 3". :-) 
11 Jan
11 Jan
1:32 a.m.
On 10/01/13 4:25 PM, David Riley wrote:
On Jan 10, 2013, at 1:11 PM, Michael Thompson wrote:
I recognize that the terms are rather arbitrary, but what qualifies
this as a supercomputer rather than just a large, graphics-specific
mini? Or is it more to do with advertising copy? There were quite
a few large minis with vector units, after all.
I ask with trepidation, of course, because "supercomputer" is such
a nebulous term to begin with, but this doesn't even seem like it
would have reached the classification of "mainframe" in its time.
Perhaps I'm misjudging it?
It definitely wasn't a mainframe. I saw one circa 1989 at AUUG in
Sydney, Australia (iirc). What I remember from its demo was
impressive-for-the-time real time simulation (a waving flag? what would
be a trivial javascript hack today) and graphics - very likely the most
powerful machine at the show - and a pretty desirable tool for
engineering/CAD/etc.
This was around the same vintage as Apollo DN10000 and similar... when
real time visualisation was a hot topic and the market was highly
heterogeneous.
The Titan could have been considered something like a "deskside
supercomputer", a style of marketing that was revived by Steve Jobs for
the Mac G5 (and G4?) I think, on the basis of Altivec performance
mainly. (Thanks ckaiser for helping Altivec reach its potential - a
decade later!)
--Toby
From:
Richard<legalize at xmission.com>
Date: Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:01:44 -0700
Subject: Re: looking for supercomputers, Ardent, Stardent, Titan or Portable Graphics
Mainframe
In article<BLU002-W211CABDFBFAD39F8F9562C7BA240 at phx.gbl>,
Randy Dawson<rdawson16 at hotmail.com> writes:
The RICM has one...
https://sites.google.com/a/ricomputermuseum.org/home/Home/equipment/ardent-… Any of these lying around? I ask every year or
so...
I have had ebay searches running for 10+ years and have never turned
up anything. I think these things are extremely scarce to
non-existent at this point. I don't recall hearing of any in the
hands of collectors anywhere, but of course, as soon as I say this,
someone will pop up and say "I have 3". :-)
- Dave
4370
days inactive
4371
days old
2 comments
3 participants
participants (3)
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fraveydank＠gmail.com -
michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com -
toby＠telegraphics.com.au