The wonderful world of Silicon Graphics
Not just UNIX, but Silicon Graphics’ IRIX.
For computer fans, the Silicon Graphics systems in Jurassic Park were the real star of the movie. With lots of screen time, the Silicon Graphics workstations in Jurassic Park were practically a central character in the franchise.
The thing with Silicon Graphics, is that they were never mainstream. Sun Microsystems had a boom of success in the early days of the web, and IBM was always big in business, but Silicon Graphics were always boutique, and the sight of their logo in Jurassic Park was enough to excite nerds around the globe.
Silicon Graphics machines were unusual among UNIX workstations, in that they were almost entirely focused on being used for 3D graphics, and also were one of the few UNIX vendors to eschew using CDE for their desktop, and instead build their own called Indigo Magic.
With vector icons, tabbed browsers, and some example 3D apps thrown in, Indigo Magic on IRIX was an exotic experience even for…
