De este libro la primera vez que oí hablar de él fue en un artículo de Ars Technica. Nada más leerlo ya tenía el libro encargado (ahí fue cuando me di cuenta de la dura realidad que no se iba a editar hasta el mes de febrero). Hoy me ha llegado a casa, y como tengo un par de viajes en avión próximamente, pronto lo tendré leído, o eso creo…
La historia de como los chips para la Playstation y la Xbox 360 fueron diseñados. Lo gracioso es que fueron diseñados por el mismo equipo de ingenieros en IBM, simplemente Sony no sabía que lo que ellos estaban pagando beneficiaba a uno de sus máximos competidores.
Descripción
My team and I had worked tirelessly at IBM for two and half years, brathing life into the Sony PlayStation 3 «Cell» central processing chip. We ordered our lives around the idea of beating Microsoft to market with a Christmas launch.
Now Chekid Arout, IBM’s senior vice president responsible for the PlayStation’s chip team, told me another customer wanted our secret-weapon, record-smashing PowerPC microprocessor core. It was Microsoft.
«How did this happle?» I grumbled through gritted teeth.
«Let’s just say it was a blockbuster, an offer IBM couldn’t refuse,» he answered. Over a billion dollars were involved, spanning the entire spectrum from development to chip manufacturing.
«There’s more,» Akrout said. «Microsoft wants something very similar to what you designed for Sony but with some unique enhancements, and they want it on the same schedule.» He then described the design changes Microsoft needed for a super-aggressive, market-shaking Christmas launch.
Akrout didn’t blink. It took me a second, but I got the message.
My goals vere very clear when I joined IBM in the mid 1980s. I wanted cutting-edge microprocessor design projects that really pushed the state of the art. I wanted to lead design teams and leave my mark on the industry. This vision was the focal point of my whole career. Akrout handed me one of the top technology leadershop positions in the entire industry and at that moment, I saw the top of the mountain, eveyrthing I wanted. Would I have to stake my claim by screing Sony and extending Microsoft’s dominance of digital life? Or could I help them both to succeed?
Página web del libro: raceforxbox360ps3.com.
