Motorola 68000 Oral History Panel

Moderated by Dave House, on 2007-07-23 in Austin, Texas, X4145.2008
© Computer History Museum

Panelists:Jack Browne, Murray Goldman, Thomas Gunter, Van Shahan, Billy D. Walker.

Members of the management, design, manufacturing, and marketing teams responsible for Motorola's 68000 family of microprocessors and peripheral products discuss the evolution of their activities from the 1970s through the 1990s. The 68000 microprocessor line was critical to emergence of the workstation class of computer systems as well as to Apple Computer's line of personal computers across the 1980s.

Murray Goldman, the executive who lead this segment of Motorola, describes the background for and strategy surrounding the 68000 effort. Thomas Gunter, who directed the 68000 program, provides a detailed technical accounting of the developments. Jack Browne, who led the marketing function, describes the importance of customer interactions. Bill Walker, who led the manufacturing function, details the hurdles faced in fabricating the 68000 family. Van Shahan, a member of the design team, lends important perspectives on the changes that the 68000 helped bring about from the era of centralized computing to decentralized and personal computing.

Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - http://www.computerhistory.org/collec...

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Lot Number: X4145.2008
Catalog Number: 102658109