Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!uwvax!rutgers!bellcore!tness7!tness1!uhnix1!sugar!karl
From: karl@sugar.uu.net (Karl Lehenbauer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Next Machine
Message-ID: <2700@sugar.uu.net>
Date: 28 Sep 88 17:30:33 GMT
References: <2658@sugar.uu.net> <1617@sbcs.sunysb.edu>
Organization: Sugar Land Unix - Houston, TX
Lines: 45

In article <2658@sugar.uu.net>, I wrote an article about the Next machine
based on reports in InfoWorld and elsewhere.  Remember, everybody, that
the posting was liberally dosed with caveats like:
> If Next, Inc. can deliver the machine in quantity at that price, ...

In article <1617@sbcs.sunysb.edu>, root@sbcs.sunysb.edu (root) writes:
> 	$6000 sounds like very aggressive price for a machine with the
> 	mentioned capabilities, esp if he is selling for $6000 - 40% = $3600
> 	to Universities.  I would bet that his list price is actually at
> 	least $10K with 40% discount giving $6K to universities.  After
> 	all he buys ram, 68030, ethernet, packaging from the same sources
> 	as Sun, Apollo, etc do.  I also find it pretty hard to believe that
> 	his Unix is going to be up to what Sun provides now (v4.0), unless
> 	he bought it from them.  By now Sun must have spent a thousand or so
> 	programmer years on their software base.  Anyways it does sound like
> 	a nice machine (at any price < $12K) so I will probably want one :-)

Integration:  One of the lessons learned in the Apple II and forgotten in the 
Mac.  The success of the II a lot was because of all the functionality on the
single motherboard (which was a lot at the time: CPU, memory, display with
text and two graphics modes, cassette in and out, speaker out, keyboard,
and a joystick port) which required multiple boards (and connects...and support
circuitry) on its competitors.  It is cheaper to build stuff in that to make 
it available as add-ons.  Consider an Ethernet add-on board versus Ethernet
on the motherboard.  On the motherboard, one adds an ethernet chip and
minimal support circuitry.  There is no bus interface, connector, card,
card edge, bus support circuitry required.  Further, again, *volume* is
incredibly greater when the capability is built into the machine.  If
Next comes with Ethernet, development and other fixed costs are amortized 
over all the machines rather than the many fewer boards that would be sold
as add-ins.  If one designed a computer to include a digital signal processor 
and appropriate support circuitry, the DSP could be used as a modem, for 
speech recognition, sound digitization, speech/audio/music generation and as 
a satellite processor for specific DSP functions, like doing FFTs, as well
as, probably, a lot of stuff no-one has thought of, yet.  To summarize, 
it is cheaper to bundle all the stuff together rather than sell it separately 
and a clever design can leverage upon the presence of these components by 
using them for multiple purposes.

October 12th (the apparently firm announcement date) quickly approaches.
This week's InfoWorld had a bit more on the 300 MB drive...let's hope the
machine is everything claimed for the price offered, eh?
-- 
-- "Insert the disk at your own risk."  -- Firesign Theater
-- uunet!sugar!karl, Unix BBS (713) 438-5018