Quando surgiram os primeiros processadores Pentium, nos anos 90, logo foi descoberta uma falha em sua produção: determinados cálculos com ponto flutuante produziriam resultados errados. A Intel tentou minimizar o problema, dizendo que ele só ocorreria em cálculos muito específicos, mas depois teve de se render ao mercado e corrigir o problema. O que não evitou uma chuva de gracejos e ironias com tal situação.

Algumas das melhores mensagens que circularam pelos e-mails do mundo foram arquivadas em página Web da Universidade do Texas, nos EUA:

'PENTIUM' stands for ...

P - Produces
E - Erroneous
N - Numbers
T - Through
I - Incorrect
U - Understanding of
M - Mathematics

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Q: How many Pentium designers does it take to screw in a light bulb? A:
1.99904274017, but that's close enough for non-technical people.
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Q: What do you get when you cross a Pentium PC with a research grant? A: A
mad scientist.
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Q: What's another name for the "Intel Inside" sticker they put on Pentiums?
A: Warning label.
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Q: What do you call a series of FDIV instructions on a Pentium? A:
Successive approximations.
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Q: Complete the following word analogy: Add is to Subtract as Multiply is
to

   * 1) Divide
   * 2) ROUND
   * 3) RANDOM
   * 4) On a Pentium, all of the above

A: Number 4.
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Q: What algorithm did Intel use in the Pentium's floating point divider? A:
"Life is like a box of chocolates." (Source: F. Gump of Intel)
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Q: Why didn't Intel call the Pentium the 586? A: Because they added 486 and
100 on the first Pentium and got 585.999983605.
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Q: According to Intel, the Pentium conforms to the IEEE standards 754 and
854 for floating point arithmetic. If you fly in aircraft designed using a
Pentium, what is the correct pronunciation of "IEEE"? A:
Aaaaaaaiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee!
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TOP TEN NEW INTEL SLOGANS FOR THE PENTIUM

   *  9.9999973251 It's a FLAW, Dammit, not a Bug
   *  8.9999163362 It's Close Enough, We Say So
   *  7.9999414610 Nearly 300 Correct Opcodes
   *  6.9999831538 You Don't Need to Know What's Inside
   *  5.9999835137 Redefining the PC--and Mathematics As Well
   *  4.9999999021 We Fixed It, Really
   *  3.9998245917 Division Considered Harmful
   *  2.9991523619 Why Do You Think They Call It *Floating* Point?
   *  1.9999103517 We're Looking for a Few Good Flaws
   *  0.9999999998 The Errata Inside

THE TOP TEN REASONS TO BUY A PENTIUM MACHINE

   * 10. YOUR CURRENT COMPUTER IS TOO ACCURATE
   * 9. YOU WANT TO GET INTO THE GUINNESS BOOK AS "OWNER OF MOST
      EXPENSIVE PAPERWEIGHT"
   * 8. MATH ERRORS ADD ZEST TO LIFE
   * 7. YOU NEED AN ALIBI FOR THE I.R.S.
   * 6. YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT ALL THE FUSS IS ABOUT
   * 5. YOU'VE ALWAYS WONDERED WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO BE A PLAINTIFF
   * 4. THE "INTEL INSIDE" LOGO MATCHES YOUR DECOR PERFECTLY
   * 3. YOU NO LONGER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT CPU OVERHEATING
   * 2. YOU GOT A GREAT DEAL FROM JPL
     And the #1 reason to buy a Pentium machine...
   * 1. IT'LL PROBABLY WORK