Silicon Graphics in the context of "Nintendo 64"

A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by a single user, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term workstation has been used loosely to refer to everything from a mainframe computer terminal to a PC connected to a network, but the most common form refers to the class of hardware offered by several current and defunct companies such as Sun Microsystems, Silicon Graphics, Apollo Computer, DEC, HP, NeXT, and IBM which powered the 3D computer graphics revolution of the late 1990s.

Workstations formerly offered higher performance specifications than mainstream personal computers, especially in terms of processing, graphics, memory, and multitasking. Workstations are optimized for the visualization and manipulation of different types of complex data such as 3D mechanical design, engineering simulations like computational fluid dynamics, animation, video editing, image editing, medical imaging, image rendering, computational science, generating mathematical plots, and software development. Typically, the form factor is that of a desktop computer, which consists of a high-resolution display, a keyboard, and a mouse at a minimum, but also offers multiple displays, graphics tablets, and 3D mice for manipulating objects and navigating scenes. Workstations were the first segment of the computer market to present advanced accessories, and collaboration tools like videoconferencing.

IRIX (/ˈaɪrɪks/, EYE-ricks, a portmanteau of IRIS and UNIX) is a discontinued operating system developed by Silicon Graphics (SGI) to run on the company's proprietary MIPS workstations and servers. It is based on UNIX System V with BSD extensions. In IRIX, SGI originated the XFS file system and the industry-standard OpenGL graphics API.

Regis McKenna (born 1939?) was an American marketer in Silicon Valley and introduced some techniques today commonplace among advertisers. He and his firm helped market the first microprocessor (Intel Corporation), Apple's first personal computer (Apple Computer), the first recombinant DNA genetically engineered product (Genentech, Inc.), and the first retail computer store (The Byte Shop).

Among the entrepreneurial start-ups with which he worked during their formative years are America Online, Apple, Compaq, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Intel, Linear Technology, Lotus, Microsoft, National Semiconductor, Silicon Graphics, and 3Com. He has been described as the man who put Silicon Valley on the map. He has been called "Silicon Valley's preeminent public relations man", a "guru", a "czar", a "philosopher king", a "legendary marketer", Apple's "marketing guru", "the fellow that put Intel and Apple on the map", and "a pioneer in the semiconductor business in terms of the marketing side of things". Newsweek called him "the Silicon Valley Svengali" and Business Week has called him "one of high-tech's ace trendspotters" and a "marketing wizard in Silicon Valley".