Terry Shannon and how he got that way

Terry Shannon (1952-2005), notable computer industry pundit

[My first job out of college was as a junior staff member at Digital Review, a magazine that covered Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC) and the related hardware and software companies that prospered on its coattails in the 1980s. One of my more colorful co-workers was Terry Shannon, who wrote, edited, and researched articles for the magazine.

Recently, there was a dispute regarding the Wikipedia article on Shannon, instigated by a group of youngsters who, by virtue of having been in diapers when Shannon and I were industry pundits at DR, took it upon themselves to decide that Terry was "not notable" and that the article about him and his career should be deleted from the encyclopedia.

After some heated discussion and a few alterations to the article, a decision was made that it should not be deleted. However, given the nature of Wikipedia -- in particular, the fact that it tends to be dominated by a cadre of self-appointed insiders who make arbitrary decisions on what is "notable" and what isn't -- I thought it appropriate to appoint myself Keeper of the Article, as far as Terry Shannon is concerned. To that end, I'm devoting this column to an unauthorized copy of the Wikipedia article, in its current state. If the infants alter or delete the one on Wikipedia, so be it -- Kafalas.com is not subject to their whims, and here it will stay in perpetuity.

If you want to see the Wikipedia article, which is complete with the references and hyperlinks I've stripped out, here it is; but I can't guarantee what state it's in, given the editorial proclivities of the Wikipedia kiddies. I can guarantee, however, that if Terry's been watching from the great beyond, he's undoubtely taken no small amusement in the dustup created by the attempt to declare him "non-notable"... ed.]

Terry Craig (T.C.) Shannon (August 16, 1952 – May 26, 2005) was an 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; and OpenVMS & Windows NT. He was a respected journalist and analyst, paying particular attention to HP/Compaq and the high-performance computing space, writing a series of newsletters.

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

Terry participated and spoke at meetings of DECUS (the Digital Equipment Corporation Users Society), the international users group of DEC, currently known as Encompass. 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

Terry C. Shannon was born in Syracuse, New York, USA.[2] At the age of 17 he dropped out of high school and enlisted in the US Army in 1969[3].

He served as a spy 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 Bachelors degree from SUNY Empire State College. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, about thirty years after separation, for his service in the Vietnam War.[citation needed]

Writing career

In May of 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 of 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 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].

The origin of the "Charlie Matco" nom de plume originated when, after a more than a few beers with drinking buddies in Massachusetts, Terry walked out of a bar and saw a Matco Tools truck at a service station across the street.

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. 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].

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

Analysis and Citations

As a well-known expert in the field, Shannon was also widely quoted in the independent trade press, such as in The Register [1], [10] as well as in Computerworld [11] [12], TechWeb[13] ITNews, [14], and Cnet[15] [16]

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. [17]

Shannon's reporting on the minicomputer industry included extensive analysis of the inroads made by IBM's 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).[18]

During the early 1990s, much of Shannon's focus was on DEC's development of the Alpha chip, a processor intended to replace its 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. [19]

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 founder in the 1990s. [20]

User groups

Shannon was active in HPC user groups and the DEC community, including DECUS. He gave frequent lectures and seminars.[21][22], including the 2005 Keynote address.[23]

References

   1. Chipzilla becomes Gorgonzilla. The Register (1999-03-15). Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
   2. About Terry Shannon
   3. Graham, Lamar B. (1992) The Nerd Who Came In from the Cold, Boston Magazine, February 1992, 52-55, 90-91.
   4. Old Spooks and Spies
   5. Defcon meets Cedric Zool
   6. Charlie Matco as an alias
   7. Alias Charlie Matco
   8. Charlie Matco mug donated to the Computer History Museum
   9. BSU CS required readingWatrburg CS240 required reading
10. Shannon declares Chipzilla Open Source word
11. Compaq, One Year Later. Computerworld (2000-03-04). Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
12. Processors: Silicon roadmaps to cheaper chips. Computerworld (2003-07-14). Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
13. VMS's Stability Prompts Move To Itanium. TechWeb (2004-01-20). Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
14. HP could use Opteron in ProLiant servers. ITNews (2004-01-30). Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
15. HP-Compaq merger - worth the wait?. Cnet (2002-09-02). Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
16. Compaq finds new clients for luxury servers. CNet (2001-05-10). Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
17. (1985-05-17) "The war among the Digitals: Bitter competition reflects growing rivalry between Ziff, McGovern empires". Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
18. (1989-04-11) "Digital turns up the power in battle with IBM". Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
19. (1992-11-09) "Digital ready to unwrap Alpha: Ailing computer maker will introduce new line after a year of "fantasy talk."". Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
20. (1992-11-12) "Software executive quits Digital in power struggle". Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
21. DECUS bio of Shannon
22. HP Interex Belux
23. Encompass 2005 Keynote address (PDF)

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