Editing Seymour Cray (section)

====CDC's Chippewa Falls laboratory====
During this period Cray had become increasingly annoyed at what he saw as interference from CDC management. Cray always demanded an absolutely quiet work environment with a minimum of management overhead, but as the company grew he found himself constantly interrupted by middle managers who&nbsp;– according to Cray&nbsp;– did little but gawk and use him as a sales tool by introducing him to prospective customers.

Cray decided that in order to continue development he would have to move from St. Paul, far enough that it would be too long a drive for a "quick visit" and long-distance telephone charges would be just enough to deter most calls, yet close enough that real visits or board meetings could be attended without too much difficulty. After some debate, Norris backed him and set up a new laboratory on land Cray owned in his hometown of Chippewa Falls. Part of the reason for the move may also have to do with Cray's worries about an impending [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]], which he felt made the Twin Cities a serious safety concern.{{sfn|Murray|1997|p=[https://archive.org/details/supermenstory00murr/page/82 82]}} His house, built a few hundred yards from the new CDC laboratory, included a huge [[fallout shelter|bomb shelter]].{{sfn|Murray|1997|p=[https://archive.org/details/supermenstory00murr/page/86 86]}}

The new Chippewa Lab was set up during the middle of the 6600 project, although it does not seem to have delayed the project. After the 6600 shipped, the successor [[CDC 7600]] system was the next product to be developed in Chippewa Falls, offering peak computational speeds of ten times the 6600. The failed follow-on to the 7600, the [[CDC 8600]], was the project that finally ended his run of successes at CDC in 1972.

Although the 6600 and 7600 had been huge successes in the end, both projects had almost bankrupted the company while they were being designed. The 8600 was running into similar difficulties and Cray eventually decided that the only solution was to start over fresh. This time Norris was not willing to take the risk, and another project within the company, the [[CDC STAR-100]], seemed to be progressing more smoothly. Norris said he was willing to keep the project alive at a low level until the STAR was delivered, at which point full funding could be put into the 8600. Cray was unwilling to work under these conditions and left the company.{{sfn|Murray|1997|pp=[https://archive.org/details/supermenstory00murr/page/116 116-117]}}