Lisp Machines, Inc.

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Lisp Machines, Inc. was a company formed by Richard Greenblatt of MIT's famous artificial intelligence lab. The people at the lab came together, and together created the vision of a true hacker machine, the so-called Lisp Machine. When it came time to move on, and spread the gospel beyond the walls of the lab, the hackers at the lab differed wildly in how they wanted the company run.

Greenblatt insisted that the company remain true to the hacker spirit, in that it should bow to no one, and focus solely on the creation of a good product. Some other hackers felt that this was not the way to lead a company. If this was done, it would never grow, and truly spread the word of the hacker ethic. Furthermore, Greenblatt demanded control ovet the company, to ensure that his vision was carried forth. Others (including Bill Gosper and Tom Knight) felt that to be under the rule of Greenblatt was unacceptable.

Greenblatt formed his own company, Lisp Machines Incorporated (LMI). The other hackers spun off the famous Symbolics. True enough, LMI remained relatively unknown.

Categories: Wikipedia cleanup | Defunct computer companies of the United States