Andy Grove——dead at 79 (Ars Technica)

Ars Technica reportsthat former Intel CEO, chairman, and first employee hired Andy Grove has died."Intel may have been a footnote in history were it not for Grove. The company started its life making DRAM chips. With this business under pressure from dumped Japanese DRAM, Grove changed the company's direction, deciding to build microprocessors instead. After a few early iterations, this work led to the development of the x86 processor line that made Intel a household name and one of the largest companies in the world. Grove was also instrumental in persuading IBM to use Intel's x86 processors for its newly invented Personal Computer."