Well, in the sense of Alpha being the first 64-bit Linux port, and thus having to fix a lot of places where "bitness" assumptions had crept into the codebase.

DEC (Compaq?) had some plans to make cheaper Alpha workstations, and while they managed to drive down the price somewhat, the volumes were never there to make them price-competitive with PC's. (See also the Talos Raptor POWER machines..)