Talk:Seymour Cray/Archives/2016

Assessment comment
Substituted at 05:51, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Tunnels and elves?
*The article claims that Cray dug tunnels beneath his house where elves would emerge and provide him with solutions to engineering problems. I think this claim needs to be scrutinized. According to a 1990 BusinessWeek cover story (The Genius), Cray dug a tunnel by the lake next to his house for storing sporting gear. The article mentions the story about tunnels under Cray's house and it refutes that story. The article, however, says nothing about elves giving Cray solutions to engineering problems. The BusinessWeek article, however, is very old, and there are better sources about Seymour Cray, including a book whose title I can't remember that I don't have that could be used to support removal of that claim, its revision, or its continued inclusion. Does anyone else think that the claim needs to be scrutinized? Rilak (talk) 05:43, 9 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Time magazine in 1988 had a Cray quote mentioning tunnels and "elves" : ""I work when I'm at home," he recently told a visiting scientist. "I work for three hours, and then I get stumped, and I'm not making progress. So I quit, and I go and work in the tunnel. It takes me an hour or so to dig four inches and put in the 4-by-4s. Now, as you can see, I'm up in the Wisconsin woods, and there are elves in the woods. So when they see me leave, they come into my office and solve all the problems I'm having. Then I go back up and work some more.""


 * There may also be a mention in The Supermen but I can't remember off the top of my head. Letdorf (talk) 12:44, 9 March 2010 (UTC).

As one of the " supermen ", I consider the book to be mostly BS.

Quite a few of the details we have here are not supported by the facts. Unfortunately, Lawrenz Werle ( a best friend ) has died and could have given a better picture of Seymour Cray because he worked with him. He also went to the Boulder Lab. Larry & I were on our way to Colorado Springs to visit Seymour when we got the terrible news.

I can give more details if people wish. Aeb1barfo (talk) 18:35, 9 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Please do. Especially why it is not true.  —EncMstr (talk) 20:03, 9 May 2011 (UTC)

I'm back from several hospital and rest home stays.

The term " Rollwagenism " is made up and AFAIK was never used at Cray Research. To be true to the facts, many people in the Development Building and Manufacturing Building disliked the change in management style J.R. brought that ultimately destroyed Cray Research. When J.R. stopped funding R&D for both Dr. Chen and Seymour's project, our team members had a t-shirt with the letters MP with a no symbol imposed over it. I still have that unworn t-shirt as proof if you want a picture of it.

The term " Who shot JR " at that time became a fervent wish of both the Development and Manufacturing Building employees.

You may want to talk with Skip August to verify my comments. Also check the ExCray.com site My real name ( A B are my initials ) is there along with Skip as well. The Chippewa Falls Museum of Industry and Technology is located where myself and my partner worked to connect the Chippewa Campus buildings with the fiber optic backbone before my exit interview with Lester T. Davis. Yes, this discussion falls under original research. I have given names and places and facts that describe the feelings of upset and anger that led to the over the weekend of most of my team members leaving to ultimately form Supercomputer Systems Incorporated just down the road in Eau Clare, WI

This was the most difficult decision of my life. Leave and keep a loyalty to Steve Chen or remain with Cray Research, which remained my magnum opus, my dream job?

I stayed with Cray Research. What followed is a story in itself. The terms Sniffer, Fiber Optics, DARPAnet, the WWW and Interconnectivity played a large part of my future. Aeb1barfo (talk) 04:00, 31 January 2015 (UTC)

Also, the term Rollwagenism sounds pretty made up. A google search turns up only the many copies of this article. It seems almost cruel to suggest that there are many stories of Cray's personal life and then not provide any or a way of getting to them. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.114.29.222 (talk) 20:59, 6 November 2014 (UTC)

'''*This is not a literal claim folks! It's an allusion to the cobbler/elves tale, and possibly to being into the woods, fantasy role-playing, or hallucinogens. Needless to say :) '''--72.173.197.162 (talk) 21:47, 28 August 2016 (UTC)