Nominal Semidestructor
<abuse> Slang for "{National Semiconductor}", found among
other places in the {4.3BSD} networking sources. During the
late 1970s to mid-1980s this company marketed a series of
{microprocessors} including the {National Semiconductor 16000}
and {National Semiconductor 32000}. At one point early in the
great {microprocessor} race, the specs on these chips made
them look like serious competition for the rising {Intel
80x86} and {Motorola 680x0} series. Unfortunately, the actual
parts were notoriously flaky and never implemented the full
{instruction set} promised in their literature, apparently
because the company couldn't get any of the {mask steppings}
to work as designed. They eventually sank without trace,
joining the {Zilog Z8000} and a few even more obscure
also-rans in the graveyard of forgotten microprocessors.
(1994-12-23)