Intel gets (more) famous overnight... late 1994


Q & A session: the Pendium FDIV bug

Q: How many Pentium designers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: 1.99904274017, but that's close enough for non-technical people.

Q: What do you get when you cross a Pentium PC with a research grant?
A: A mad scientist.

Q: What's another name for the "Intel Inside" sticker on the Pentium-equipped PC?
A: The warning label.

Q: What do you call a series of FDIV instructions on a Pentium?
A: Successive approximation.

Q: Complete the following word analogy test: Add is to Subtract as Multipy is to...

  1. Divide
  2. ROUND
  3. RANDOM
  4. all of the above
A: If you're using a Pentium, #4 is the right answer.

Q: What algorithm did Intel use in the Pentium FDIV implementation?
A: "Life is like a box of chocolates." (-- F. Gump, Intel engineer)

Q: Why didn't Intel call the Pentium the 586?
A: Because they added 486 and 100 on the first Pentium off the line and got 585.999983605 .

Q: According to Intel, the Pentium conforms to the IEEE standards 754 and 854 for floating point arithmetic. If you're flying an aircraft designed using a Pentium, what's the correct pronunciation of IEEE?
A: Aaaaaaaiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeee!


Top Ten New Corporate Slogans for the Pentium Project

9.9999973521 : It's a FLAW Dammit, Not a Bug
8.9999163362 : It's Close Enough -- We Say So
7.9999414610 : Nearly 300 Correct Opcodes
6.9999831538 : You Don't Need to Know What's Inside
5.9999835137 : Redefining the PC -- And Mathematics as Well
4.9999999021 : We Fixed It... Really
3.9998245917 : Division Considered Harmful
2.9991523619 : Why Do You Think We Call it "Floating" Point?
1.9999103517 : We're Looking for a Few Good Flaws
0.9999999998 : The Errata Inside