Slater (Michael) collection on microprocessors, 1977-2000, bulk Bulk, 1987-1999

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Summary

Title:
Michael Slater collection on microprocessors
Dates:
1977-2000, bulk Bulk, 1987-1999
Creators:
Slater, Michael, 1955-
Abstract:
The Michael Slater collection on microprocessors contains conference proceedings and other publications focusing on microprocessor technologies and industry trends. The collection spans 1977 to 2000, with most of the material dating from 1987 to 1999 when Slater founded and led the company MicroDesign Resources (MDR). The collection contains conference material, analyst reports, manuals, and specifications documenting microprocessors and microcomputers in the 1980s and 1990s. An expert in microprocessor equipment, Slater founded the well-known newsletter Microprocessor Report used by engineers and industry professionals. In 1999, Slater left MDR and it was acquired by Cahners, becoming part of the analyst group In-Stat.
Extent:
10.42 Linear feet, 8 record cartons and 1 manuscript box
Language:
Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], [Date], Michael Slater collection on microprocessors, Lot X4062.2007, Box [#], Folder [#], Catalog [#], Computer History Museum.

Background

Scope and content:

The Michael Slater collection on microprocessors contains conference material, analyst reports, manuals, and specifications collected by Michael Slater, primarily during his time as principal analyst at MDR from 1987 to 1999. The collection as a whole spans 1977 to 2000. Topics that are prominent in this collection include microprocessors, microcomputer industry trends, RISC architecture, and transputers. A little over a third of the collection is made up of proceedings from conferences and other events -- especially the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) and COMDEX (Computer Dealers' Exhibition). Many of the events in this part of the collection were organized either by Microsoft or Intel. This collection also contains Slater’s collected newsletters, analyst reports, books, and technical papers. Analyst reports cover computer industry trends and forecasts for various technologies and the newsletter with the largest holdings in this collection is MDR’s Technology Roadmap. The last part of this collection comprises manuals, specifications, and product descriptions for microprocessor-related products, with equipment from Advanced Micro Devices and Intel being especially well-documented.

Biographical / historical:

Michael Slater was born in 1955 in Los Angeles. He attended UC Berkeley, earning his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1977. While at UC Berkeley, Slater developed an interest in microprocessors, and after graduating, he went to work at Hewlett-Packard, where he developed circuit designs for microprocessor-based systems and wrote training manuals. In 1980, Slater left HP to teach at various institutions, including University of Santa Clara, and started working on freelance electronic design projects under his company Gryphon Engineering. In 1987, Slater wrote Microprocessor-Based Design: A Comprehensive Guide to Effective Hardware Design, and founded his next company, MicroDesign Resources (MDR). That same year, Slater began editing and publishing the Microprocessor Report newsletter, which provided current microprocessor information and analysis, and in 1988 he founded the MDR conferences Microprocessor Forum and Embedded Processor Forum. MDR was acquired by Ziff-Davis in 1992 and Slater left the company in 1999, the same year it was acquired by Cahners. In 2010, the Linley Group purchased Microprocessor Report, which it still publishes as of March 2017. After leaving MDR, Slater continued his freelance work, now under the business name Topaz Web Solutions, and he founded Fotiva in 2000. After Fotiva was bought by Adobe, Slater worked as Adobe’s director of digital imaging research until 2006. In 2007, Slater founded Webvanta, a website development company, and ran it until his death on June 19, 2016.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Michael Slater, 2007.
Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 3 series:

Series 1, Conference and symposium material, 1978-1998, bulk 1988-1998

Series 2, Reports, books, and newsletters, 1979-2000

Series 3, Manuals and product descriptions, 1977-1996

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Bo Doub, Kim Hayden, and Sara Chabino Lott
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources' Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives grant.
Date Prepared:
March 2017
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2017-07-25T09:37-0700

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The Computer History Museum (CHM) can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying any claims of the copyright holder. Requests for copying and permission to publish, quote, or reproduce any portion of the Computer History Museum’s collection must be obtained jointly from both the copyright holder (if applicable) and the Computer History Museum as owner of the material.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], [Date], Michael Slater collection on microprocessors, Lot X4062.2007, Box [#], Folder [#], Catalog [#], Computer History Museum.

Location of this collection:
1401 Shoreline Blvd.
Mountain View, CA 94043, US
Contact:
(650) 810-1010
research@computerhistory.org
Website