EPISODE · Apr 19, 2026 · 16 MIN
The Day Everyone's Calculator Was Wrong: The Tale of the Missing Dollar
from Code Curiosities · host Podcaster
In 1994, Intel shipped millions of Pentium processors that couldn't do math correctly, and tried to hide it until a math professor's spreadsheet exposed the truth. This is the story of how a tiny bug in a lookup table sparked the first major tech recall of the internet age, and why Intel had to set aside $475 million to fix their 'minor' math problem. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
What this episode covers
In 1994, Intel shipped millions of Pentium processors that couldn't do math correctly, and tried to hide it until a math professor's spreadsheet exposed the truth. This is the story of how a tiny bug in a lookup table sparked the first major tech recall of the internet age, and why Intel had to set aside $475 million to fix their 'minor' math problem.
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The Day Everyone's Calculator Was Wrong: The Tale of the Missing Dollar
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