IBM HALTS SHIPPING OF PENTIUM

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

[ I am sending this out because it raises several "fun"
issues. Remember last year the tax software error and years
ago the HP calculator error. In both cases they stone
walled for a long time responsibility for replacing units
with the error and maybe even did not for most folk. Will
this Pentium error shift the responsibility of chip errors
to the manufacturers and just how far will that go. Also
how about software errors. Will MS and Apple be able to
stone wall gross errors in their system releases? Just
asking djf]


IBM Cracks Down on Defective Pentium Chip


    SOMERS, N.Y. (Reuter) - IBM Corp. said Monday it was halting shipments
of Pentium-based personal computers because the risk of errors in the
machines' Intel Corp. chips is worse than previously described.
    IBM said the errors in the high-speed computer chips could occur in
relatively normal speadsheet calculations, despite Intel's insistence that
the flaw would affect only advanced mathematical calculations.
....
    IBM, the largest computer maker in the world, said it was replacing
flawed Pentium chips at no cost to customers.