From: David Waite <mass@ufl.edu>
  To  : ggi-develop@eskimo.com
  Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 22:35:34 -0400

Re: Matrox GGI accellerator

----- Original Message -----
From: Jon M. Taylor <taylorj@gaia.ecs.csus.edu>

> > SGI hardware is probably the strongest hw design.
>
> Up until a couple of years ago, this was true.  However, after having
> seen the guts of Savage4 and TNT2, I can say that this is not true
anymore,
> and after the next generation of PC video chipsets hits the streets, SGI
will
> be left in the dust.  That is why the have chosen to partner so closely
with
> nVidia recently.
>
*cough* *cough* =)

You are probably more in the 'scene' as far as hardware manufacturers go
than me (due to your employer and contacts) but wasn't the nVidia/SGI deal
totally to disolve the patent disputes SGI had with them, I remember in
particular the 'caching texture processor' patent. From what I heard, in
their early days nVidia didn't bother to cross-license patents, thinking
they were too small a company for anyone to care.. well they got bigger =)

I still don't know what has happened with the various disputes they have
with 3dfx and S3 ('multitexture implementation' and 'vga/video
technologies', respectively).

I don't know if nVidia gained anything from the 'partnership' besides a
settlement to the whole dispute, being that they cross-licensed their
patents with SGI.

-David Waite