Cray thanks Uncle Sam for juiced revenues
Supercomputer maker Cray pulled some big bucks from the US government in the fourth quarter, nearly tripling sales. But after writing down a few assets, the company posted a loss for the quarter - and for the year. Cray booked $155.4m in sales in the fourth quarter, including $100m for a portion of the "Jaguar" petaflops …
And don't call me Shirley
Surely they could eke out a small amount of extra revenue by selling replicas of the original Cray 1, as furniture; at least a few years ago I knew people who might have paid good money for a stylish leather couch that resembled a vintage supercomputer. Also, they could sell miniature versions of the same as footstools. I mean, the design has already been paid for, and it can't cost all that much to knock up a few copies. The possibilities are almost endless - a Cray case for your games PC; a Cray drinks fridge, a Cray sandwich toaster etc. For that matter the design would presumably scale upwards, and I would be very disappointed to find out that Cray's headquarters building does not look like a giant Cray 1. Stuff the substance, what matters is how it looks, and it looks wonderful.
