<s>
Minisupercomputers	B-Device
constituted	O
a	O
short-lived	O
class	O
of	O
computers	O
that	O
emerged	O
in	O
the	O
mid-1980s	O
,	O
characterized	O
by	O
the	O
combination	O
of	O
vector	B-Operating_System
processing	I-Operating_System
and	O
small-scale	O
multiprocessing	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
scientific	O
computing	O
using	O
vector	B-Operating_System
processors	I-Operating_System
became	O
more	O
popular	O
,	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
lower-cost	O
systems	O
that	O
might	O
be	O
used	O
at	O
the	O
departmental	O
level	O
instead	O
of	O
the	O
corporate	O
level	O
created	O
an	O
opportunity	O
for	O
new	O
computer	O
vendors	O
to	O
enter	O
the	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
generalization	O
,	O
the	O
price	O
targets	O
for	O
these	O
smaller	O
computers	O
were	O
one-tenth	O
of	O
the	O
larger	O
supercomputers	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
notable	O
technical	O
,	O
economic	O
,	O
and	O
political	O
attributes	O
characterize	O
minisupercomputers	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Third	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
notable	O
who	O
did	O
not	O
manufacture	O
minisupercomputers	B-Device
:	O
within	O
the	O
USA	O
,	O
IBM	O
and	O
the	O
traditional	O
mainframe	O
makers	O
,	O
outside	O
the	O
USA	O
:	O
the	O
Japanese	O
supercomputer	B-Architecture
vendors	O
and	O
Russia	O
(	O
despite	O
attempts	O
to	O
manufacture	O
minicomputers	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
appearance	O
of	O
even	O
lower-priced	O
scientific	O
workstations	B-Device
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
Dana	O
Computer/Ardent	O
Computer/Stellar	O
Computer	O
(	O
the	O
merger	O
of	O
these	O
companies	O
)	O
)	O
based	O
on	O
microprocessors	B-Architecture
with	O
high	O
performance	O
floating	B-General_Concept
point	I-General_Concept
units	I-General_Concept
(	O
FPUs	O
)	O
during	O
the	O
1990s	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
MIPS	O
R8000	B-General_Concept
,	O
IBM	O
POWER2	B-General_Concept
)	O
,	O
and	O
Weitek	O
eroded	O
the	O
demand	O
for	O
this	O
class	O
of	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
