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Lisp Machines, Inc. Dead

Lisp Machines, Inc.
KindCompany
Founded1979
Defunct1987
StatusDead
FoundersRichard Greenblatt
FieldLisp machines
Also known asLMI
Sourcebitsavers.org ↗

Greenblatt's company — founded to keep the MIT Lisp machine in hacker hands rather than Symbolics' venture-capital ones. The Lambda was technically ambitious; the market chose Sun.

Created by Richard Greenblatt
Created LMI Lambda
Notable people Richard Greenblatt

When Noftsker proposed licensing the MIT Lisp machine to venture capital, Greenblatt founded LMI in 1979 to keep it in hacker hands — no VC, no stock options, slower growth. The Lambda (1984) was technically superb.

LMI licensed its technology to Texas Instruments (the Explorer), survived longer than expected on a shoestring, and folded in 1987. The split cost the AI Lab its culture; both companies were dead within a decade.

Sources

  1. bitsavers.org/pdf/lmi/
  2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisp_Machines