July 1991
SGI Indigo released
Silicon Graphics began shipping the Indigo workstationA powerful desktop machine for technical work — between personal computers and minicomputers in price and capability. in July 1991 — an entry-level 3D graphics machine for technical and creative professionals.
What it was for
The Indigo ran IRIX UnixAn influential multitasking OS from the 1970s — files, pipes, and C shaped Linux, macOS, and BSD. with OpenGL-accelerated 3D — game studios, film VFX houses, and CAD firms used it for modeling and rendering. OpenGL itself came from SGI's GL. Developers learning real-time 3D graphics in the 1990s often started on Indigo and Indy workstations before consumer GPUs caught up.
Why it's here
The Indigo brought SGI's 3D graphics expertise to a wider professional market.
Why it mattered
It helped establish OpenGL and UnixAn influential multitasking OS from the 1970s — files, pipes, and C shaped Linux, macOS, and BSD. workstations as the standard for 3D content creation.
What it solved
Creative studios needed affordable 3D acceleration without mainframeA large, powerful computer for centralized organizational workloads — dominated enterprise computing before PCs.-class price tags.
Media
ImageSGI IndigoJames O'Gorman, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Related
- SPARCstation 1 releasedMay 1989
- Sun-1 workstation releasedMay 1982
- NeXT Computer unveiledOctober 12, 1988