Behold the cover of the first QNX product brochure, published back in 1982:
Click to enlarge.
Now I know what you’re thinking: What’s with the product name? Where did those vowels come from?
The name stood for “Quick Unix,” even though QNX (um, QUNIX) was not a UNIX derivative. The name was coined to suggest that the operating system offered the reliability and programming interfaces of UNIX, but with decidedly better performance.
It sounded like a good idea until AT&T, who owned the UNIX trademark, got wind of it. Their legal folks immediately fired off a letter, asking QNX Software Systems (then called Quantum Software Systems) to cease and desist.
Click to enlarge.
Now I know what you’re thinking: What’s with the product name? Where did those vowels come from?
The name stood for “Quick Unix,” even though QNX (um, QUNIX) was not a UNIX derivative. The name was coined to suggest that the operating system offered the reliability and programming interfaces of UNIX, but with decidedly better performance.
It sounded like a good idea until AT&T, who owned the UNIX trademark, got wind of it. Their legal folks immediately fired off a letter, asking QNX Software Systems (then called Quantum Software Systems) to cease and desist.
The solution was elegant: remove the vowels. And ever since then, QNX has had two accepted pronunciations: cue-nix, or cue-en-ex. Your choice.
What’s with the bar chart?
Now that we've cleared that up, look again at the photo and direct your gaze to the monitor on the left. If you look closely, you’ll see that the bar chart is distinctly askew.
Back then, PhotoShop didn’t exist, so someone had to physically glue the bar chart directly onto the monitor. And for the same reason, nobody could correct the image once the error was noticed, without redoing the photoshoot. And so the image went to press as is.
It was the WYSIWYG era of photography: What You Shot Is What You Got.
What’s with the bar chart?
Now that we've cleared that up, look again at the photo and direct your gaze to the monitor on the left. If you look closely, you’ll see that the bar chart is distinctly askew.
Back then, PhotoShop didn’t exist, so someone had to physically glue the bar chart directly onto the monitor. And for the same reason, nobody could correct the image once the error was noticed, without redoing the photoshoot. And so the image went to press as is.
It was the WYSIWYG era of photography: What You Shot Is What You Got.
8 comments:
And a Televideo 925/950 terminal...
That brings back some memories.
Wow, I think you're right -- the one in the upper-right corner.
If I remember correctly, the first IBM PC I ever used was hooked up to a color TV set -- at least, I think that's what it was. Things get a little fuzzy after 25 years... much like the output on that TV set or monitor or whatever it was... :-)
Any idea where that photoshoot was actually done? It certainly wasn't Ottawa...
Colin, your comment is triggering some (very) old memories. And if those memories serve me right, QNX had an office in California back in the day. If so, the shot was done on the California coast. In fact, I just checked Mitch Schoenbrun's QNX FAQ, and it says that the first QNX employee, who handled marketing and sales, lived in San Jose. Bingo!
I frequently get asked about the proper pronunciation of our name because people will hear us say it both ways and ask why we do so. The answer is pretty simple - if we're talking to someone and we don't know if they know us or we know they don't know us, then we do the que-en-ex version, saying each letter individually. But if you're a QNX insider and we know you know us, we roll it all together and say it as a word, adding the necessary vowels as in (qunix).
Thanks Linda.
Takeaway: If a QNXer says "cue-nix" to you, you know you have arrived. :-)
I might actually have a copy of that brochure buried away somewhere. What I wish was a copy of the brochure done approximately 1985 (black with green as I recall) because I wrote most of the text.
Why oh why didn't I keep copies of these things?
Wow, I don't remember ever seeing the 1985 brochure. (But then again, my wife can vouchsafe that I don't remember lots of things...)
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