British engineer gets $10,000 from Intel

A British engineer has picked up a $10,000 windfall from Intel after the chip firm bought a magazine he'd been storing under his floorboards.

The 1965 copy of Electronics magazine contained the original article by Gordon Moore predicting that the number of components on a processor would double every year and that costs would fall commensurately.

Moore and Intel had lost their copies and had offered the money on eBay for an original copy.

An Intel spokesman said that the company was delighted with the find, and that the edition would be sent to Intel's headquarters in California.

Surrey engineer David Clark is thanking the day he decided to keep the publication. He got it when the Philips Central Library closed and the magazines were due to be thrown away. He has stored the magazines in his loft, then under his floorboards, for years.

Intel has come in for criticism from American universities after making the offer. A copy of the magazine was stolen from the University of Illinois' engineering library shortly after the announcement of the $10,000 offer.