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Terry Shannon (writer)

November 22, 2023

Terry Craig Shannon (August 16, 1952 – May 26, 2005) was an American information technology consultant, journalist and author. For over 30 years, he was involved in implementing PDP, VAX, and Alpha computers with their respective operating systems RSX, VAX/VMS, OpenVMS and Windows NT. He was a respected journalist and analyst, paying particular attention to Compaq and Hewlett-Packard after the merger of Digital Equipment Corporation and the high-performance computing (HPC) space, writing a series of newsletters.

Terry Shannon

He has been credited with assigning Intel Corporation the nickname "Chipzilla".[1]

Terry Shannon participated and was a keynote speaker at DECUS (the Digital Equipment Corporation Users Society), the international users group of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), later known as Connect, and currently HP-Interex. He also spoke as an authority at other IT and HPC conferences, and was quoted by other authors as an authority on the subject.

Early life edit

Terry Craig Shannon was born in Syracuse, New York, United States.[2] At the age of 17 he dropped out of high school and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1969.[3]

He served as a spook in Vietnam at a Radio Reconnaissance Field Station (i.e., the 330th RRFS) with the 509th Radio Research Group of the Army Security Agency (ASA), a branch of the National Security Agency (see NSA and/or SIGINT for explanation).[4] During his two years (1970–1972) of Vietnam War service,[3] Shannon was a computer communications and traffic analysis specialist. Using his training in cryptography and signal-intelligence, his job was to triangulate North Vietnamese radio signals, request an airstrike, and then return to the original frequency and listen for the enemy channel to "go off the air."[3]

He was separated from the Army with an honorable discharge in 1972. After earning his GED, Shannon received his bachelor's degree from SUNY Empire State College. He was awarded the Bronze Star, about thirty years after separation, for his service in the Vietnam War.[citation needed]

Writing career edit

In May 1983, Shannon became self-employed as a writer. He published his first brief article in the May 1983 issue of DEC Professional. About two years later, in September 1985, Shannon began working as a contributor for Digital Review. During his tenure with Digital Review, Shannon began using the pseudonym "Charlie Matco".[2]

While Shannon also frequently wrote under the pseudonyms "Digital Dog" and "the notorious Belgian hacker Cedric Zool."[5] Charlie Matco was by far his best known nom de plume.[3][6][7] Under the "Charlie Matco" byline, Terry Shannon combined a humorous writing style with erudite and timely prognostications about IT industry trends, product releases, and major business transactions, often well in advance of the public release of such information, in the "Rumor Roundup" feature at the end of each issue of Digital Review magazine. This information was obtained as a result of Shannon's well-polished skills at schmoozing his vast network of friends and colleagues in the IT industry, and of astutely combining information they provided.[3]

 
Charlie Matco coffee mugs

"Charlie Matco" was usually depicted as a cartoonish, "private eye" sort of figure, after the fashion of Nick Danger, but without any facial features (i.e., just a fedora, a trenchcoat, and a cigarette in one hand).[3] That logo, which appeared next to the "Charlie Matco" byline on every "Rumor Roundup" article, was also depicted on the coffee mug, which Shannon would send to anyone who (intentionally or otherwise) provided useful information. According to Jeffrey Steinberg, former Technical Editor of Digital Review, the signature on the mug was in the handwriting of Deborah McDonald, the publication's managing editor at the time. In fact, a "Charlie Matco" mug now lives in the Computer History Museum.[8]

Over the next two decades, Shannon wrote about trends in the IT industry. An advocate of the VMS operating system, he wrote the first version of the VMS user guide, Introduction to VAX/VMS through Professional Press in May 1985 (ISBN 096147291X). This ran for five editions. According to those associated with its original publisher, Professional Press, the first edition of the book sold more than 100,000 copies.[citation needed] The latest (5th) edition was called Introduction to OpenVMS (ISBN 1878956612). It is required reading for some Computer Science college courses.[9][10]

Shannon began to publish a series of newsletters in 1994, Shannon Knows DEC, which became Shannon Knows Compaq, after the firm's acquisition in 1998, and eventually Shannon Knows HPC after the HP takeover in 2002. His insider knowledge constantly frustrated those he wrote about, and HP pursued a love/hate relationship, occasionally citing him in press releases.[11] The newsletter ran until his death in 2005.

Analysis and citations edit

As a well-known expert in the field, Shannon was also widely quoted in the independent trade press, such as in The Register[1][12] as well as in Computerworld,[13][14] TechWeb,[15] ITNews,[16] and Cnet.[17][18]

Shannon played an important role in the publishing industry competition between Ziff-Davis and International Data Group, the two largest technology publishing firms of the 1980s. During his tenure at Ziff's Digital Review semi-monthly, Shannon reported on unannounced products from DEC and other companies. This provided important content for Digital Review in its competitive battle with Digital News, a competition that reflected the larger rivalry between the publications' parent companies.[19]

Shannon's reporting on the minicomputer industry included extensive analysis of the inroads made by the IBM AS/400 line of minicomputers against Digital's VAX line. The competition among minicomputer vendors would prove to be a turning point in Shannon's career, as eventual mergers led to his DEC newsletter shifting its focus to Compaq (later, HP-Compaq).[20]

During the early 1990s, much of Shannon's focus was on DEC's development of the Alpha chip, a processor intended to replace the aging VAX CPU line. As DEC prepared the Alpha chip for release, Shannon was widely used as a source of advance information on the new processor.[21]

Shannon also reported extensively on Digital executives and their comings and goings within the company. Shannon analyzed the controversial departure of Robert Glorioso from DEC in terms of the struggle for control of the company as it began to flounder in the 1990s.[22]

User groups edit

Shannon was active in HPC user groups and the DEC community, including DECUS and Encompass. He served on the Encompass Board of Directors. He gave frequent lectures and seminars,[23][24] including the 2005 Keynote address.[25]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Chipzilla becomes Gorgonzilla". The Register. 1999-03-15. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
  2. ^ a b . Shannonknowshpc.com. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2012-12-09.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Graham, Lamar B. (1992) "The Nerd Who Came In from the Cold", Boston Magazine, February 1992, 52-55, 90-91.
  4. ^ . Archived from the original on 2006-02-03. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
  5. ^ "Recent Posts - VMS One". archive.is. 8 October 2013. Archived from the original on 8 October 2013.
  6. ^ "Charlie Matco as an alias". Techiegroups.com. 2005-06-02. Retrieved 2012-12-09.
  7. ^ . Spyderbyte.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-22. Retrieved 2012-12-09.
  8. ^ [1] September 4, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ . 2005-11-27. Archived from the original on November 27, 2005. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  10. ^ Josef M Breutzmann. "CS240 home page". Mcsp.wartburg.edu. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  11. ^ "News, Technology News, Videos, Podcasts | HP Newsroom". Hp.com. Retrieved 2013-10-06.
  12. ^ Mikezilla • Get more from this author (1999-03-17). "Shannon declares Chipzilla Open Source word". Theregister.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-12-09. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  13. ^ . Computerworld. 2000-03-04. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
  14. ^ . Computerworld. 2003-07-14. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
  15. ^ . TechWeb. 2004-01-20. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-02-23.
  16. ^ . ITNews. 2004-01-30. Archived from the original on 2006-09-07. Retrieved 2007-02-23.
  17. ^ "HP-Compaq merger — worth the wait?". Cnet. 2002-09-02. Archived from the original on 2013-01-21. Retrieved 2007-02-23.
  18. ^ "Compaq finds new clients for luxury servers". CNet. 2001-05-10. Archived from the original on 2013-01-19. Retrieved 2007-02-23.
  19. ^ "The war among the Digitals: Bitter competition reflects growing rivalry between Ziff, McGovern empires". Boston Globe. May 17, 1985.
  20. ^ "Digital turns up the power in battle with IBM". Boston Globe. 1989-04-11.
  21. ^ "Digital ready to unwrap Alpha: Ailing computer maker will introduce new line after a year of "fantasy talk."". Boston Globe. 1992-11-09.
  22. ^ "Software executive quits Digital in power struggle". Boston Globe. 1992-11-12.
  23. ^ . Decus.tacticom.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-06. Retrieved 2012-12-09.
  24. ^ [2] September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ (PDF). Shannonknowshpc.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-06-10. Retrieved 2012-12-09.

External links edit

November 22, 2023
terry, shannon, writer, terry, craig, shannon, august, 1952, 2005, american, information, technology, consultant, journalist, author, over, years, involved, implementing, alpha, computers, with, their, respective, operating, systems, openvms, windows, respecte. Terry Craig Shannon August 16 1952 May 26 2005 was an American information technology consultant journalist and author For over 30 years he was involved in implementing PDP VAX and Alpha computers with their respective operating systems RSX VAX VMS OpenVMS and Windows NT He was a respected journalist and analyst paying particular attention to Compaq and Hewlett Packard after the merger of Digital Equipment Corporation and the high performance computing HPC space writing a series of newsletters Terry ShannonHe has been credited with assigning Intel Corporation the nickname Chipzilla 1 Terry Shannon participated and was a keynote speaker at DECUS the Digital Equipment Corporation Users Society the international users group of Digital Equipment Corporation DEC later known as Connect and currently HP Interex He also spoke as an authority at other IT and HPC conferences and was quoted by other authors as an authority on the subject Contents 1 Early life 2 Writing career 3 Analysis and citations 4 User groups 5 References 6 External linksEarly life editTerry Craig Shannon was born in Syracuse New York United States 2 At the age of 17 he dropped out of high school and enlisted in the U S Army in 1969 3 He served as a spook in Vietnam at a Radio Reconnaissance Field Station i e the 330th RRFS with the 509th Radio Research Group of the Army Security Agency ASA a branch of the National Security Agency see NSA and or SIGINT for explanation 4 During his two years 1970 1972 of Vietnam War service 3 Shannon was a computer communications and traffic analysis specialist Using his training in cryptography and signal intelligence his job was to triangulate North Vietnamese radio signals request an airstrike and then return to the original frequency and listen for the enemy channel to go off the air 3 He was separated from the Army with an honorable discharge in 1972 After earning his GED Shannon received his bachelor s degree from SUNY Empire State College He was awarded the Bronze Star about thirty years after separation for his service in the Vietnam War citation needed Writing career editIn May 1983 Shannon became self employed as a writer He published his first brief article in the May 1983 issue of DEC Professional About two years later in September 1985 Shannon began working as a contributor for Digital Review During his tenure withDigital Review Shannon began using the pseudonym Charlie Matco 2 While Shannon also frequently wrote under the pseudonyms Digital Dog and the notorious Belgian hacker Cedric Zool 5 Charlie Matco was by far his best known nom de plume 3 6 7 Under the Charlie Matco byline Terry Shannon combined a humorous writing style with erudite and timely prognostications about IT industry trends product releases and major business transactions often well in advance of the public release of such information in the Rumor Roundup feature at the end of each issue of Digital Review magazine This information was obtained as a result of Shannon s well polished skills at schmoozing his vast network of friends and colleagues in the IT industry and of astutely combining information they provided 3 nbsp Charlie Matco coffee mugs Charlie Matco was usually depicted as a cartoonish private eye sort of figure after the fashion of Nick Danger but without any facial features i e just a fedora a trenchcoat and a cigarette in one hand 3 That logo which appeared next to the Charlie Matco byline on every Rumor Roundup article was also depicted on the coffee mug which Shannon would send to anyone who intentionally or otherwise provided useful information According to Jeffrey Steinberg former Technical Editor of Digital Review the signature on the mug was in the handwriting of Deborah McDonald the publication s managing editor at the time In fact a Charlie Matco mug now lives in the Computer History Museum 8 Over the next two decades Shannon wrote about trends in the IT industry An advocate of the VMS operating system he wrote the first version of the VMS user guide Introduction to VAX VMS through Professional Press in May 1985 ISBN 096147291X This ran for five editions According to those associated with its original publisher Professional Press the first edition of the book sold more than 100 000 copies citation needed The latest 5th edition was called Introduction to OpenVMS ISBN 1878956612 It is required reading for some Computer Science college courses 9 10 Shannon began to publish a series of newsletters in 1994 Shannon Knows DEC which became Shannon Knows Compaq after the firm s acquisition in 1998 and eventually Shannon Knows HPC after the HP takeover in 2002 His insider knowledge constantly frustrated those he wrote about and HP pursued a love hate relationship occasionally citing him in press releases 11 The newsletter ran until his death in 2005 Analysis and citations editAs a well known expert in the field Shannon was also widely quoted in the independent trade press such as in The Register 1 12 as well as in Computerworld 13 14 TechWeb 15 ITNews 16 and Cnet 17 18 Shannon played an important role in the publishing industry competition between Ziff Davis and International Data Group the two largest technology publishing firms of the 1980s During his tenure at Ziff s Digital Review semi monthly Shannon reported on unannounced products from DEC and other companies This provided important content for Digital Review in its competitive battle with Digital News a competition that reflected the larger rivalry between the publications parent companies 19 Shannon s reporting on the minicomputer industry included extensive analysis of the inroads made by the IBM AS 400 line of minicomputers against Digital s VAX line The competition among minicomputer vendors would prove to be a turning point in Shannon s career as eventual mergers led to his DEC newsletter shifting its focus to Compaq later HP Compaq 20 During the early 1990s much of Shannon s focus was on DEC s development of the Alpha chip a processor intended to replace the aging VAX CPU line As DEC prepared the Alpha chip for release Shannon was widely used as a source of advance information on the new processor 21 Shannon also reported extensively on Digital executives and their comings and goings within the company Shannon analyzed the controversial departure of Robert Glorioso from DEC in terms of the struggle for control of the company as it began to flounder in the 1990s 22 User groups editShannon was active in HPC user groups and the DEC community including DECUS and Encompass He served on the Encompass Board of Directors He gave frequent lectures and seminars 23 24 including the 2005 Keynote address 25 References edit a b Chipzilla becomes Gorgonzilla The Register 1999 03 15 Retrieved 2007 02 22 a b About Terry Shannon Shannonknowshpc com Archived from the original on 2015 09 24 Retrieved 2012 12 09 a b c d e f Graham Lamar B 1992 The Nerd Who Came In from the Cold Boston Magazine February 1992 52 55 90 91 OSS Memorial Archived from the original on 2006 02 03 Retrieved 2007 02 26 Recent Posts VMS One archive is 8 October 2013 Archived from the original on 8 October 2013 Charlie Matco as an alias Techiegroups com 2005 06 02 Retrieved 2012 12 09 Alias Charlie Matco Spyderbyte com Archived from the original on 2012 07 22 Retrieved 2012 12 09 1 Archived September 4 2005 at the Wayback Machine BSU 96 98 Undergrad Computer Science Course Descriptions 2005 11 27 Archived from the original on November 27 2005 Retrieved 2013 10 07 Josef M Breutzmann CS240 home page Mcsp wartburg edu Retrieved 2013 10 07 News Technology News Videos Podcasts HP Newsroom Hp com Retrieved 2013 10 06 Mikezilla Get more from this author 1999 03 17 Shannon declares Chipzilla Open Source word Theregister co uk Retrieved 2012 12 09 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a author has generic name help Compaq One Year Later Computerworld 2000 03 04 Archived from the original on 2007 09 27 Retrieved 2007 02 22 Processors Silicon roadmaps to cheaper chips Computerworld 2003 07 14 Archived from the original on 2007 09 29 Retrieved 2007 02 22 VMS s Stability Prompts Move To Itanium TechWeb 2004 01 20 Archived from the original on 2007 09 29 Retrieved 2007 02 23 HP could use Opteron in ProLiant servers ITNews 2004 01 30 Archived from the original on 2006 09 07 Retrieved 2007 02 23 HP Compaq merger worth the wait Cnet 2002 09 02 Archived from the original on 2013 01 21 Retrieved 2007 02 23 Compaq finds new clients for luxury servers CNet 2001 05 10 Archived from the original on 2013 01 19 Retrieved 2007 02 23 The war among the Digitals Bitter competition reflects growing rivalry between Ziff McGovern empires Boston Globe May 17 1985 Digital turns up the power in battle with IBM Boston Globe 1989 04 11 Digital ready to unwrap Alpha Ailing computer maker will introduce new line after a year of fantasy talk Boston Globe 1992 11 09 Software executive quits Digital in power struggle Boston Globe 1992 11 12 DECUS bio of Shannon Decus tacticom com Archived from the original on 2012 02 06 Retrieved 2012 12 09 2 Archived September 28 2007 at the Wayback Machine Encompass 2005 Keynote address PDF Shannonknowshpc com Archived from the original PDF on 2015 06 10 Retrieved 2012 12 09 External links editnetworkworld com Profile in Network World Obituary in The Inquirer Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Terry Shannon writer amp oldid 1184830652, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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