

I remember when Intel made Pentium CPU’s that had a small math error in some very specific floating point calculations. They were so afraid to damage their reputation (which was still excellent at the time) that they offered every Pentium owner across the globe (including me) a free new Pentium CPU without the bug, shipped to us at their expense, and even sending out a courier to pick up the old CPU (again for free) a few weeks later when we had time to swap them. That was basically the opposite of what you’re suggesting.



I guess we need to extend this chart somewhat…


Well yes, obviously there was outside pressure involved. Intel tried to hide and downplay the problem at first, but as the negative attention grew they pivoted to replacing all chips quite fast (in a month or so). I may have oversimplified a bit, but rewriting history goes a bit far, don’t you think?