M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:
> I always wondered why decimal arithmetic was built in to microprocessors
> from day one, while floating point was added only later.

Actually, no. Decimal arithmetic in microprocessors goes back to the 
original market that Intel invented microprocessors for in the first 
place -- desk calculators.

-- 
John W. Kennedy
"The blind rulers of Logres
Nourished the land on a fallacy of rational virtue."
   -- Charles Williams.  "Taliessin through Logres: Prelude"