Magnuson Computer Systems was a manufacturer of
plug-compatible computers compatible with
IBM mainframe
IBM mainframes are large computer systems produced by IBM since 1952. During the 1960s and 1970s, IBM dominated the large computer market. Current mainframe computers in IBM's line of business computers are developments of the basic design of th ...
s. The
Magnuson M80 range was available from the late 1970s and was successful when IBM struggled to ship machines. The company declared bankruptcy in March 1983 after IBM introduced new models and reduced prices.
The Magnuson processors were aimed at the lower end of IBM's product line. They had a number of unique design features. Perhaps the most notable was the voting logic on each processor card. All of the slots in the main chassis were interchangeable. All slots were filled on only the high end model.
Carlton Amdahl, son of
Gene Amdahl
Gene Myron Amdahl (November 16, 1922 – November 10, 2015) was an American computer architect and high-tech entrepreneur, chiefly known for his work on mainframe computers at IBM and later his own companies, especially Amdahl Corporation ...
, was Vice President of Engineering at Magnuson. He went on to work with his father at
Trilogy Systems. There the "tell me three times" logic was incorporated into their chip designs at the level of individual gates and flip-flops.
See also
*
Amdahl Corporation
Amdahl Corporation was an information technology company which specialized in IBM mainframe-compatible computer products, some of which were regarded as supercomputers competing with those from Cray Research. Founded in 1970 by Gene Amdahl, a for ...
*
Trilogy Systems
References
{{Computer-company-stub
American companies established in 1977
American companies disestablished in 1983
Computer companies established in 1977
Computer companies disestablished in 1983
Defunct computer hardware companies
Defunct computer companies of the United States