Type an address to search for nearby blocks
Whitepaper
Explore More
Sign Up / Log In
Semiconductor History | Santa Clara, 20 December 1994 — Five Missing Entries and a $475 Million Lesson
· 1994-12
Personal memoryBy kevin · · updated · Report an issue
Search by address
Search
Loading...
Highlighted Moments
Featured Memories
Find memories left by people near you.
Distribute Bounty
Total to distribute
0 MR
Qualifying memories
0
This will distribute the bounty equally among all qualifying memories. This action cannot be undone.
Cancel Bounty
Refund amount
0 MR
Are you sure you want to cancel this bounty? The remaining amount will be refunded to your account.
Success!
Operation completed successfully.
Error
Something went wrong.
Back to map
Back
This memory is part of
Semiconductor History | Santa Clara, 20 December 1994 — Five Missing Entries and a $475 Million Lesson
kevin
12/20/1994
Listen
Directions
Five entries were missing from a lookup table inside the Pentium's floating-point division hardware.
For most owners the omission would never surface, but under certain combinations of numbers the processor returned a wrong answer. Thomas Nicely, a mathematics professor at Lynchburg College, found the discrepancy while calculating reciprocals connected with prime-number research and circulated his results in October 1994.
Intel's first response treated probability as the main issue.
The company offered replacements to users who could show that their work might encounter the flaw, a policy that made engineering risk the customer's burden to prove. The argument failed once Pentium had become a consumer brand printed on the front of millions of personal computers.
On 12 December IBM stopped shipping Pentium-based PCs, saying its tests found a greater practical risk than Intel had described. Eight days later, Intel offered an exchange to every owner of an affected processor who wanted one.
The financial statement was as clear as the calculation was obscure.
Intel recorded a $475 million pretax charge in the fourth quarter of 1994 for replacements and related costs. The amount was large, but the more durable change was procedural and cultural: a component supplier that had asked the public to recognize its name now had to answer directly to those customers when the component failed.
The bug did not end Pentium.
Intel corrected the design, absorbed the exchange, and the brand continued for decades. What broke was the assumption that rarity alone could settle a product defect once independent users could reproduce it and exchange the evidence online.
The photograph shows a 75 MHz Pentium from the same P54 generation, with model and speed visible on its ceramic package. A photograph cannot prove that this individual chip contains the flawed table, so it is presented as the artifact type, not as the recalled specimen.
At Intel's Santa Clara headquarters, the public museum now includes the awkward chapters beside the successful ones. The number to carry from this pin is five: five missing table entries, enough to produce a nine-figure charge.
Photo: Futase_tdkr, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Related Memories
Memory Marks
You marked this memory as
InspiringHeartwarmingEnjoyableSolemn!
You have 0 Memory Marks left to give today
Nice work! You have given out all your memory marks today!
Come back tomorrow or own more Blox to get more daily Memory Marks!
Thank you for alerting us of this Memory. We will review within the next 24 hours.
Save to Collection
Semiconductor History | Santa Clara, 20 December 1994 — Five Missing Entries and a $475 Million Lesson
New Collection
No collections yet
Create one above to get started
0
Do you want to remove this memory from the collection?
Do you want to save
changes?
changes?
The changes you made have been saved
Root to Blockchain
Do you want to root this memory to IPFS with 1 Metablox Coin?
You currently have Metablox Coins
Root to Blockchain
You need 1 Metablox Coin to root this memory to IPFS.
You don't have enough Metablox Coins
Uploading to Blockchain…
Preparing your memory for IPFS. Please don't close this window.
Upload Failed
Something went wrong while connecting to IPFS. Your Metablox Coin was not deducted. Please try again later.
Push New Version
Create a new version of this memory, preserving its current state on IPFS.
Cost: 1 Metablox Coin
You currently have Metablox Coins
New Version is on its way to the Blockchain!
Your updated memory will be available on IPFS within 10 minutes.
Your Memory is on its way to the Blockchain!
You'll be able to access it on IPFS within 10 minutes.
Uploading your memories
Are you sure you want to
delete this memory?
delete this memory?
Are you sure you want to delete this memory?
Keep
Delete
Take Photo
Add your photos
Add more photos
Preview your memory
Uploading your memory
You have successfully preserved a memory!
We detected that you have a Blox in your crypto wallet! We will import the Blox into your account.
Click on done below to complete the import.
Welcome Back!
Sign in to preserve cherished moments
Don't have an account?
Welcome!!
Sign up and start preserving cherished moments
Password Recovery
Enter the email associated with your account
Check your inbox
Use the link in the email to reset your password
Would you like to level up
?
?
Cost
MetaRent
Would you like to level up
?
?
Cost
MetaRent
reached Level !!
MetaRent / day
Max Storage
Coins Earned
+
reached Level !!
MetaRent / day
Max Storage
Coins Earned
+
Add your
photos
Tell us about this
Moment
Description (Optional)
/140 characters
Where is this moment?
location
Try searching for: Golden Gate Bridge, Miami Beach, or an address.
Uploading your moment
You have successfully preserved a memory!
Your moment is now
on .
You have successfully preserved a memory!
Your moment is now
on .
Uploading
exoangel
Hidden in 85hrs
Global Blox
Aug 31, 2026
Sprouts sandwich
exoangel
Hidden in 60hrs
Global Blox
Aug 30, 2026
Sunday beach time
exoangel
Hidden in 61hrs
Global Blox
Aug 29, 2026
Weeekend scene
exoangel
Hidden in 38hrs
Global Blox
Aug 28, 2026
Feeding the birds
exoangel
Hidden in 15hrs
Global Blox
Aug 28, 2026
Shrimp fried rice
You marked this moment as
InspiringHeartwarmingEnjoyableSolemn!
You have 0 Memory Marks left to give today
Nice work! You have given out all your memory marks today!
Come back tomorrow or own more Blox to get more daily Memory Marks!
Choose your payment method
Buy with Metablox Credit
Do you want to mint Blox with Metablox Credit?
Which Crypto would you like to use?
Payment confirmed!
Your Blox is being minted on-chain. This usually takes under a minute.
Check your Metamask extension
Step 1: Click "Confirm" to give Metamask permission to access your crypto
Important: When the extension shows up, scroll down and hit "Confirm" to mint.
Important: You must change the suggested gas fee to High in order to process the transaction.
DO NOT refresh or close the page before seeing this.
We're processing your order...
This sometimes takes a few mins.
Please bear with us 💪
DO NOT refresh or close the page
Contact the Devs
We're very sorry this happened
Your transaction record has been submitted to our team. We'll solve this situation ASAP
Purchase Confirmed!
Your Blox is being minted on-chain and will appear in your profile shortly.
Log in or sign up to claim your Blox.
How many credits do you want to buy?
$100 USD = 1 Metablox Credit = 1 Blox.
Use Metablox Credit to mint any Blox you want on the map.
expand_more