On Wed, 8 Dec 1999, Richard Erlacher wrote:
> I don't know this for certain, but I was once persuaded that IBM had held
> the patent on 2,7 RLL and let it expire in '83. There were, of course, lots
> of other run-length-limited codes which would also have worked, but the 2,7
> was so well documented and worked so well, that everyone jumped on the
> bandwagon once it became available. Of course, WD came out with a chipset
> that supported RLL almost right away, too.
>
> They lost a lot of customers when they started making disk drives, though
> they're a major player in that realm now. I guess it worked out OK for them
> (WD).
I think that is problematic, Dick, when you look at the recent price of
their stock - now sub $4.
- don
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jeffrey l Kaneko <jeff.kaneko_at_juno.com>
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
> <classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu>
> Date: Wednesday, December 08, 1999 10:47 AM
> Subject: Re: Free NCR tower in Miami FL.
>
>
> >
> >
> >On Wed, 8 Dec 1999 09:37:24 -0700 "Richard Erlacher" <edick_at_idcomm.com>
> >writes:
> >> >MFM disk controller was made by NCR, but it looks like a 'cookbook'
> >> >design using the WD-100x chipset.
> >> >
> >>
> >> SMILE when you say that, pahdnuh! That cookbook design is what made
> >> the microwinchester drive so simple to include that anyone with two
> >grey
> >> cells and a little PLL knowledge could put together a winchester
> >> interface. That's why they became so cheap. It was the only way to do
> >your own
> >> controller at a competitive price for several years, until SMC brought
> >out
> >> their 9224 chip. Unfortunately, by that time the patent on RLL
> >recording
> >> had expired, so everybody wanted RLL.
> >
> >Well, I merely wanted to state that while NCR 'rolled their own',
> >it really wasn't anything special. The wd-100x chipset certainly
> >was revolutionary, however. That meant almost anyone with a wire-wrap
> >tool and enough parts could interface a winchester to just about
> >anything (like say, a Xerox machine?). That was a major breakthrough
> >in 1981, but by 1984 (when my machine was built), it was pretty standard.
> >
> >Who held the patent on RLL, and (consequently) lost their shirt
> >when it became standard on 'smart' disk drives?
> >
> >
> >Jeff
> >
> >
> >
> >___________________________________________________________________
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>
Received on Wed Dec 08 1999 - 15:43:09 GMT