Is NVIDIA the new IBM? In 1970s, a cheap $25 microprocessor running open software took down monolithic mainframe giants. Today, history is repeating itself. Jim Keller’s open-source RISC-V Wormhole architecture is stripping the power away from proprietary hardware and handing it back to software. The era of the GPU monopoly might be closer to its end than anyone realizes.
Intel 4004
The single biggest revolution to completely change the computer industry began in 1971 with the introduction of the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004. Before it, tech giants like IBM, DEC, and Cray ruled the world. Their computers were monolithic beasts built out of massive, expensive, hardwired electronic circuitry running proprietary, specialized software. Specialized hardware was king. They were the NVIDIAs of their era.
Gary Kildall created the world's first operating system for microprocessors, CP/M, altering the course of computing history forever.
The tiny Intel 4004 CPU, built for a lowly calculator, shattered that entire industry. It led to Gary Kildall inventing CP/M, the world’s first operating system for microprocessors. Kildall also invented the BIOS, a software abstraction layer for hardware, and pioneered the open architecture that allowed generic software to replace specialized hardware circuits and closed mainframe code. Kildall's architecture and operating system set the exact blueprint for Microsoft's and IBM's commercialization of the modern PC.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak using Chuck Peddle's $25 MOS 6502 CPU to take on the entire corporate establishment and, tech titan IBM
This shift from specialized hardware to software led to cheap microprocessors like the MOS 6502, sparking the home computer revolution. Computers were suddenly in the hands of common people, not just corporations. At the time, it was unfathomable that anyone could beat a tech giant like IBM (the NVIDIA of its day). Yet, a cheap, toy $25 CPU running open software, in the hands of a tinkering Steve Wozniak, brought those empires to their knees.
Risc-V is the new $25 MOS 6502
Enter stage right: Legendary chip designer Jim Keller's Wormhole architecture and RISC-V CPUs. This is the new Intel 4004 and MOS 6502, the beginning foundation of what could change eventually everything.
With Wormhole, there are no complex hardwired electronics or automated hardware caches like a modern GPU. Instead, there is a grid of tiny RISC-V CPUs and dedicated FPUs. Instead of rigid hardware circuitry, a software compiler choreographs the dataflow across the grid on the fly, giving it the flexibility of an FPGA entirely through software.
The mic drop? It's all open source and completely programmable through general software. Just like in the 1970s, when CPUs running general software and open operating systems ended up replacing highly specialized mainframe hardware, software-defined architectures are poised to win again.
"I didn't know enough to know it was impossible." - Steve Wozniak
Back in 1971, the dominant tech giants were deemed invincible. But unknown oddballs playing with what were considered cheap toys in garages started a software revolution that ended the tech empires of that time.
Possibly , the next Kildalls, Wozniaks are hidden somewhere now, envisioning a future that others see impossible, going against the bloat of mainstream trends.
"Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too." - Marcus Aurelius
If history repeats, the tech juggernaut of proprietary, hardwired GPU dominance will only be a chapter in a history book, barely remembered by the next generation. Who would've thought in 1971 that a simple Intel 4004 CPU for a small calculator would lead to the ultimate dethroning of tech giants like IBM, DEC, and Cray?
...Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony...that RISC-V targets plain old languages like C, C++ and open dataflow frameworks, not proprietary lock ins like CUDA
but that is another story for another time.
www.linkedin.com
"If you want to know the future, look at the past."
Albert Einstein
Intel 4004
The single biggest revolution to completely change the computer industry began in 1971 with the introduction of the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004. Before it, tech giants like IBM, DEC, and Cray ruled the world. Their computers were monolithic beasts built out of massive, expensive, hardwired electronic circuitry running proprietary, specialized software. Specialized hardware was king. They were the NVIDIAs of their era.
Gary Kildall created the world's first operating system for microprocessors, CP/M, altering the course of computing history forever.
The tiny Intel 4004 CPU, built for a lowly calculator, shattered that entire industry. It led to Gary Kildall inventing CP/M, the world’s first operating system for microprocessors. Kildall also invented the BIOS, a software abstraction layer for hardware, and pioneered the open architecture that allowed generic software to replace specialized hardware circuits and closed mainframe code. Kildall's architecture and operating system set the exact blueprint for Microsoft's and IBM's commercialization of the modern PC.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak using Chuck Peddle's $25 MOS 6502 CPU to take on the entire corporate establishment and, tech titan IBM
This shift from specialized hardware to software led to cheap microprocessors like the MOS 6502, sparking the home computer revolution. Computers were suddenly in the hands of common people, not just corporations. At the time, it was unfathomable that anyone could beat a tech giant like IBM (the NVIDIA of its day). Yet, a cheap, toy $25 CPU running open software, in the hands of a tinkering Steve Wozniak, brought those empires to their knees.
History is repeating right now:
- RISC-V is the new MOS 6502
- NVIDIA is the new IBM
Risc-V is the new $25 MOS 6502
Enter stage right: Legendary chip designer Jim Keller's Wormhole architecture and RISC-V CPUs. This is the new Intel 4004 and MOS 6502, the beginning foundation of what could change eventually everything.
With Wormhole, there are no complex hardwired electronics or automated hardware caches like a modern GPU. Instead, there is a grid of tiny RISC-V CPUs and dedicated FPUs. Instead of rigid hardware circuitry, a software compiler choreographs the dataflow across the grid on the fly, giving it the flexibility of an FPGA entirely through software.
The mic drop? It's all open source and completely programmable through general software. Just like in the 1970s, when CPUs running general software and open operating systems ended up replacing highly specialized mainframe hardware, software-defined architectures are poised to win again.
"I didn't know enough to know it was impossible." - Steve Wozniak
Back in 1971, the dominant tech giants were deemed invincible. But unknown oddballs playing with what were considered cheap toys in garages started a software revolution that ended the tech empires of that time.
Possibly , the next Kildalls, Wozniaks are hidden somewhere now, envisioning a future that others see impossible, going against the bloat of mainstream trends.
As Alan Kay famously said: "The computer revolution hasn't happened yet."
"Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too." - Marcus Aurelius
If history repeats, the tech juggernaut of proprietary, hardwired GPU dominance will only be a chapter in a history book, barely remembered by the next generation. Who would've thought in 1971 that a simple Intel 4004 CPU for a small calculator would lead to the ultimate dethroning of tech giants like IBM, DEC, and Cray?
...Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony...that RISC-V targets plain old languages like C, C++ and open dataflow frameworks, not proprietary lock ins like CUDA
but that is another story for another time.
The beginning of the end of NVIDIA? And nobody is paying attention.
Is NVIDIA the new IBM? In 1970s, a cheap $25 microprocessor running open software took down monolithic mainframe giants. Today, history is repeating itself.
www.linkedin.com
