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Christmas 1989 [message #417735] Tue, 15 November 2022 06:12 Go to next message
faux_dameron is currently offline  faux_dameron
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I was watching this episode of The Computer Chronicles
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ95IclntIY) which is the 1989 Holiday
Buyer's Guide.

Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you choose?
A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe something more
exotic?
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417736 is a reply to message #417735] Tue, 15 November 2022 06:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Harry Vaderchi is currently offline  Harry Vaderchi
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On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 11:12:23 -0000 (UTC)
Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> wrote:

> I was watching this episode of The Computer Chronicles
> (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ95IclntIY) which is the 1989 Holiday
> Buyer's Guide.
>
> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you choose?
> A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe something more
> exotic?

Welcome to the NG.

I want a portable!
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/f3gAAOSwjJZga3FY/s-l300.jpg

--
Bah, and indeed Humbug.
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417737 is a reply to message #417735] Tue, 15 November 2022 10:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Ben Collver

On 2022-11-15, Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> wrote:
> I was watching this episode of The Computer Chronicles
> (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ95IclntIY) which is the 1989 Holiday
> Buyer's Guide.
>
> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you choose?
> A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe something more
> exotic?

Nice question. Do you mean the me of the present, or me as i was in
1989? On the exotic front, i'd consider the MSX2+

https://www.msx.org/wiki/Panasonic_FS-A1WSX
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417739 is a reply to message #417737] Tue, 15 November 2022 10:24 Go to previous messageGo to next message
faux_dameron is currently offline  faux_dameron
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On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 15:01:36 -0000 (UTC), Ben Collver wrote:

> Nice question. Do you mean the me of the present, or me as i was in
> 1989? On the exotic front, i'd consider the MSX2+
>
> https://www.msx.org/wiki/Panasonic_FS-A1WSX

Present you, it just happens to be in the year 1989. No price limits, it
just has to exist that year.
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417740 is a reply to message #417739] Tue, 15 November 2022 10:45 Go to previous messageGo to next message
scott is currently offline  scott
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Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> writes:
> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 15:01:36 -0000 (UTC), Ben Collver wrote:
>
>> Nice question. Do you mean the me of the present, or me as i was in
>> 1989? On the exotic front, i'd consider the MSX2+
>>
>> https://www.msx.org/wiki/Panasonic_FS-A1WSX
>
> Present you, it just happens to be in the year 1989. No price limits, it
> just has to exist that year.

At that time, I would have loved to have a VAX-11/730.
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417741 is a reply to message #417735] Tue, 15 November 2022 10:47 Go to previous messageGo to next message
faux_dameron is currently offline  faux_dameron
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On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 11:12:23 -0000 (UTC), Jason Evans wrote:

> A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe something
> more exotic?

I'm thinking about a fully maxed-out SparcStation 1. That would have been
insanely powerful for the time.
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417742 is a reply to message #417737] Tue, 15 November 2022 11:16 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: greymaus

On 2022-11-15, Ben Collver <bencollver@tilde.pink> wrote:
> On 2022-11-15, Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> wrote:
>> I was watching this episode of The Computer Chronicles
>> (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ95IclntIY) which is the 1989 Holiday
>> Buyer's Guide.
>>
>> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
>> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you choose?
>> A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe something more
>> exotic?
>
> Nice question. Do you mean the me of the present, or me as i was in
> 1989? On the exotic front, i'd consider the MSX2+
>
> https://www.msx.org/wiki/Panasonic_FS-A1WSX


That was the one, made by several companies, but with the same OS..Nice
keyboard?.. I have one regret, buying a spectrum instead of a C64.
The Amiga was whole generation ahead of the MSX.

--
greymausg@mail.com

Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum, I smell the stench of an Influencer.
Where is our money gone, Dude?
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417743 is a reply to message #417735] Tue, 15 November 2022 11:10 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Robert Komar

Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> wrote:
> I was watching this episode of The Computer Chronicles
> (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ95IclntIY) which is the 1989 Holiday
> Buyer's Guide.
>
> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you choose?
> A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe something more
> exotic?

Back then, I was a grad student with access to many different computers.
My favourite was a Sun 4/110 workstation, mostly because it was Unix (SunOS)
and had a nice windowing system (SunView) for the time.

Rob Komar
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417746 is a reply to message #417735] Tue, 15 November 2022 11:38 Go to previous messageGo to next message
D.J. is currently offline  D.J.
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On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 11:12:23 -0000 (UTC), Jason Evans
<jsevans@mailfence.com> wrote:
> I was watching this episode of The Computer Chronicles
> (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ95IclntIY) which is the 1989 Holiday
> Buyer's Guide.
>
> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you choose?
> A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe something more
> exotic?

I received a new Amiga A1000, monitor, and the box the computer came
in. The box had some software and a couple of books.

Unfortunately the printer, I live in the US, printed the British pound
symbol instead of the $ sign. Weird printer... cellophane with wax as
the print medium. The printer melted the wax into the standard paper,
tracter feed 8.5x11.
--
Jim
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417747 is a reply to message #417740] Tue, 15 November 2022 11:41 Go to previous messageGo to next message
D.J. is currently offline  D.J.
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On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 15:45:55 GMT, scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal)
wrote:
> Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> writes:
>> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 15:01:36 -0000 (UTC), Ben Collver wrote:
>>
>>> Nice question. Do you mean the me of the present, or me as i was in
>>> 1989? On the exotic front, i'd consider the MSX2+
>>>
>>> https://www.msx.org/wiki/Panasonic_FS-A1WSX
>>
>> Present you, it just happens to be in the year 1989. No price limits, it
>> just has to exist that year.
>
> At that time, I would have loved to have a VAX-11/730.

That is what I did my VAX Pascal homework on... hated it.
We had Dec VT102 vacuum tube terminals and a 132 column green bar
printer.
--
Jim
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417748 is a reply to message #417735] Tue, 15 November 2022 12:19 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Thomas Koenig

Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> schrieb:
> I was watching this episode of The Computer Chronicles
> (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ95IclntIY) which is the 1989 Holiday
> Buyer's Guide.
>
> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you choose?
> A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe something more
> exotic?

I'd try to get one of the early RISC workstaions. Probably a
SPARCStation 1 or an IRIS 4D (too early for an Indigo, which has
a much higher cooless factor).
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417749 is a reply to message #417735] Tue, 15 November 2022 12:26 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ahem A Rivet's Shot is currently offline  Ahem A Rivet's Shot
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On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 11:12:23 -0000 (UTC)
Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> wrote:

> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you
> choose? A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe
> something more exotic?

A maxed out Motorola 88K box with 64Mb of RAM, several drives and a
couple of X Terminals.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417750 is a reply to message #417749] Tue, 15 November 2022 12:39 Go to previous messageGo to next message
scott is currently offline  scott
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Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> writes:
> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 11:12:23 -0000 (UTC)
> Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> wrote:
>
>> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
>> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you
>> choose? A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe
>> something more exotic?
>
> A maxed out Motorola 88K box with 64Mb of RAM, several drives and a
> couple of X Terminals.

I actually had one of those in 1990 as my home workstation, with an NCD-16.
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417752 is a reply to message #417740] Tue, 15 November 2022 13:02 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Peter Flass is currently offline  Peter Flass
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Scott Lurndal <scott@slp53.sl.home> wrote:
> Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> writes:
>> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 15:01:36 -0000 (UTC), Ben Collver wrote:
>>
>>> Nice question. Do you mean the me of the present, or me as i was in
>>> 1989? On the exotic front, i'd consider the MSX2+
>>>
>>> https://www.msx.org/wiki/Panasonic_FS-A1WSX
>>
>> Present you, it just happens to be in the year 1989. No price limits, it
>> just has to exist that year.
>
> At that time, I would have loved to have a VAX-11/730.
>

+1

Nice little machine - loved it!

--
Pete
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417753 is a reply to message #417750] Tue, 15 November 2022 13:28 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ahem A Rivet's Shot is currently offline  Ahem A Rivet's Shot
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On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 17:39:26 GMT
scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) wrote:

> Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> writes:
>> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 11:12:23 -0000 (UTC)
>> Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
>>> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you
>>> choose? A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe
>>> something more exotic?
>>
>> A maxed out Motorola 88K box with 64Mb of RAM, several drives
>> and a
>> couple of X Terminals.
>
> I actually had one of those in 1990 as my home workstation, with an
> NCD-16.

Wow jealous - that was the same time I was setting up to use twenty
of them at the Inland Revenue in a clustered application - specced slightly
above standard each one had two SCSI controllers - with fifteen 1GB drives
and a QIC tape spread among the four busses - as well as two network ports.
When the Motorola rep caught on that these were for a distributed database
application that would be essentially single user (it sucked in data and
printed reports) he gibbered a bit.

We got the 19 inch NCDs - despite the procurement officer declaring
that we would have them over his dead body - we called our fixer and they
were delivered to our office the next day *and* he sent a memo complaining
about the lack of the promised dead body.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417756 is a reply to message #417753] Tue, 15 November 2022 14:04 Go to previous messageGo to next message
scott is currently offline  scott
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Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> writes:
> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 17:39:26 GMT
> scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) wrote:
>
>> Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> writes:
>>> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 11:12:23 -0000 (UTC)
>>> Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
>>>> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you
>>>> choose? A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe
>>>> something more exotic?
>>>
>>> A maxed out Motorola 88K box with 64Mb of RAM, several drives
>>> and a
>>> couple of X Terminals.
>>
>> I actually had one of those in 1990 as my home workstation, with an
>> NCD-16.
>
> Wow jealous - that was the same time I was setting up to use twenty
> of them at the Inland Revenue in a clustered application - specced slightly
> above standard each one had two SCSI controllers - with fifteen 1GB drives
> and a QIC tape spread among the four busses - as well as two network ports.
> When the Motorola rep caught on that these were for a distributed database
> application that would be essentially single user (it sucked in data and
> printed reports) he gibbered a bit.

We had been using the Moto MVME 88k boxes at Convergent/Burroughs/Unisys
as our primary servers until our own 88k boxes (Unisys S/8400) arrived;
I then took it home and used it there (with a 56kbaud Modem, IIRC). I
used it until 1997 when I left to go to SGI (who provisioned 128k ISDN
for me and I bought a custom-built 2 socket Pentium Pro "Providence" box as an
replacement for the moto box and brought home a spare indy for SGI OS work).

> We got the 19 inch NCDs - despite the procurement officer declaring
> that we would have them over his dead body - we called our fixer and they
> were delivered to our office the next day *and* he sent a memo complaining
> about the lack of the promised dead body.

We had a bunch of NCD-16 (b&W) and two -17c's that we used for OS development
on the 88k S/8400 systems[*] (and later the P6-based OPUS[**] boxes).

[*] Most of which were sold in Japan.
[**] https://techmonitor.ai/technology/opus_is_its_most_important _product_since_unisys_was_created

I eventually dropped off an NCD-16 and an NCD-17c at the computer
history museum during a vintage fair five years ago.
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417757 is a reply to message #417753] Tue, 15 November 2022 14:15 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Carlos E.R.

On 2022-11-15 19:28, Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:
> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 17:39:26 GMT
> scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) wrote:
>
>> Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> writes:
>>> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 11:12:23 -0000 (UTC)
>>> Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
>>>> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you
>>>> choose? A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe
>>>> something more exotic?
>>>
>>> A maxed out Motorola 88K box with 64Mb of RAM, several drives
>>> and a
>>> couple of X Terminals.
>>
>> I actually had one of those in 1990 as my home workstation, with an
>> NCD-16.
>
> Wow jealous - that was the same time I was setting up to use twenty
> of them at the Inland Revenue in a clustered application - specced slightly
> above standard each one had two SCSI controllers - with fifteen 1GB drives
> and a QIC tape spread among the four busses - as well as two network ports.
> When the Motorola rep caught on that these were for a distributed database
> application that would be essentially single user (it sucked in data and
> printed reports) he gibbered a bit.
>
> We got the 19 inch NCDs - despite the procurement officer declaring
> that we would have them over his dead body - we called our fixer and they
> were delivered to our office the next day *and* he sent a memo complaining
> about the lack of the promised dead body.
>

I had to google NCD.

https://terminals-wiki.org/wiki/index.php/NCD_NCD19


--
Cheers, Carlos.
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417758 is a reply to message #417757] Tue, 15 November 2022 14:41 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ahem A Rivet's Shot is currently offline  Ahem A Rivet's Shot
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On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 20:15:05 +0100
"Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

> On 2022-11-15 19:28, Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:
>> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 17:39:26 GMT

>> We got the 19 inch NCDs - despite the procurement officer
>> declaring that we would have them over his dead body - we called our
>> fixer and they were delivered to our office the next day *and* he sent
>> a memo complaining about the lack of the promised dead body.
>>
>
> I had to google NCD.

I expect they didn't last long past that era.

> https://terminals-wiki.org/wiki/index.php/NCD_NCD19

That's the bunny - ye gods the price! No wonder he didn't want us
to have them.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417759 is a reply to message #417740] Tue, 15 November 2022 15:20 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Andy Leighton is currently offline  Andy Leighton
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On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 15:45:55 GMT, Scott Lurndal <scott@slp53.sl.home> wrote:
> Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> writes:
>> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 15:01:36 -0000 (UTC), Ben Collver wrote:
>>
>>> Nice question. Do you mean the me of the present, or me as i was in
>>> 1989? On the exotic front, i'd consider the MSX2+
>>>
>>> https://www.msx.org/wiki/Panasonic_FS-A1WSX
>>
>> Present you, it just happens to be in the year 1989. No price limits, it
>> just has to exist that year.
>
> At that time, I would have loved to have a VAX-11/730.

Wasn't the 11/730 a bit long in the tooth by Christmas 1989?

--
Andy Leighton => andyl@azaal.plus.com
"We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!"
- Douglas Adams
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417760 is a reply to message #417759] Tue, 15 November 2022 15:33 Go to previous messageGo to next message
scott is currently offline  scott
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Andy Leighton <andyl@azaal.plus.com> writes:
> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 15:45:55 GMT, Scott Lurndal <scott@slp53.sl.home> wrote:
>> Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> writes:
>>> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 15:01:36 -0000 (UTC), Ben Collver wrote:
>>>
>>>> Nice question. Do you mean the me of the present, or me as i was in
>>>> 1989? On the exotic front, i'd consider the MSX2+
>>>>
>>>> https://www.msx.org/wiki/Panasonic_FS-A1WSX
>>>
>>> Present you, it just happens to be in the year 1989. No price limits, it
>>> just has to exist that year.
>>
>> At that time, I would have loved to have a VAX-11/730.
>
> Wasn't the 11/730 a bit long in the tooth by Christmas 1989?

Yes, but still viable.
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417761 is a reply to message #417758] Tue, 15 November 2022 16:43 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Carlos E.R.

On 2022-11-15 20:41, Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:
> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 20:15:05 +0100
> "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
>
>> On 2022-11-15 19:28, Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:
>>> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 17:39:26 GMT
>
>>> We got the 19 inch NCDs - despite the procurement officer
>>> declaring that we would have them over his dead body - we called our
>>> fixer and they were delivered to our office the next day *and* he sent
>>> a memo complaining about the lack of the promised dead body.
>>>
>>
>> I had to google NCD.
>
> I expect they didn't last long past that era.

I saw something similar in 1998, in colour. We also used Windows
computers with software to work as X terminal, I don't remember the
name. It's no the tip of my tongue, but doesn't roll.

Memory is the second thing to get lost with age.

>
>> https://terminals-wiki.org/wiki/index.php/NCD_NCD19
>
> That's the bunny - ye gods the price! No wonder he didn't want us
> to have them.

Uau, yes.

>

--
Cheers, Carlos.
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417762 is a reply to message #417740] Tue, 15 November 2022 17:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Bob Eager

On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 15:45:55 +0000, Scott Lurndal wrote:

> Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> writes:
>> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 15:01:36 -0000 (UTC), Ben Collver wrote:
>>
>>> Nice question. Do you mean the me of the present, or me as i was in
>>> 1989? On the exotic front, i'd consider the MSX2+
>>>
>>> https://www.msx.org/wiki/Panasonic_FS-A1WSX
>>
>> Present you, it just happens to be in the year 1989. No price limits, it
>> just has to exist that year.
>
> At that time, I would have loved to have a VAX-11/730.

That was about the time I got a VAXstation 3100 on my desk (through
devious means) and added it to the cluster.

I now possess one of my own!


--
Using UNIX since v6 (1975)...

Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417766 is a reply to message #417740] Wed, 16 November 2022 01:26 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Thomas Koenig

Scott Lurndal <scott@slp53.sl.home> schrieb:
> Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> writes:
>> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 15:01:36 -0000 (UTC), Ben Collver wrote:
>>
>>> Nice question. Do you mean the me of the present, or me as i was in
>>> 1989? On the exotic front, i'd consider the MSX2+
>>>
>>> https://www.msx.org/wiki/Panasonic_FS-A1WSX
>>
>> Present you, it just happens to be in the year 1989. No price limits, it
>> just has to exist that year.
>
> At that time, I would have loved to have a VAX-11/730.

That was slower than the 11/780, at 0.3 VUPs. There were RISC
machines on the market which outperformed it by an order of
magnitude or more.

And, technically speaking, the VAX 11 line was discontinued in
1988, so it would not have been available in 1989, unless you
bought a used one :-)
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417768 is a reply to message #417735] Wed, 16 November 2022 03:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Quadibloc is currently offline  Quadibloc
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On Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 4:12:31 AM UTC-7, Jason Evans wrote:
> I was watching this episode of The Computer Chronicles
> (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ95IclntIY) which is the 1989 Holiday
> Buyer's Guide.
>
> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you choose?
> A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe something more
> exotic?

If the choice is restricted to "ordinary" computers - not an IBM mainframe
or a Cray supercomputer - in hindsight, a 486 would of course be the wisest
choice.

John Savard
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417769 is a reply to message #417768] Wed, 16 November 2022 04:02 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Thomas Koenig

Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> schrieb:
> On Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 4:12:31 AM UTC-7, Jason Evans wrote:
>> I was watching this episode of The Computer Chronicles
>> (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ95IclntIY) which is the 1989 Holiday
>> Buyer's Guide.
>>
>> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
>> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you choose?
>> A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe something more
>> exotic?
>
> If the choice is restricted to "ordinary" computers - not an IBM mainframe
> or a Cray supercomputer

With great power comes a great electricity bill.

> - in hindsight, a 486 would of course be the wisest
> choice.

Why?
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417770 is a reply to message #417735] Wed, 16 November 2022 04:28 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: johnson

On 2022-11-15, Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> wrote:
> I was watching this episode of The Computer Chronicles
> (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ95IclntIY) which is the 1989 Holiday
> Buyer's Guide.
>
> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you choose?
> A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe something more
> exotic?

I think that was the year HP bought out Apollo Computer.
I'd have one of their last models 9000/something, they can still run *BSD.
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417771 is a reply to message #417735] Wed, 16 November 2022 06:24 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Carlos E.R.

On 2022-11-16 02:11, Andreas Kohlbach wrote:
> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 10:38:50 -0600, D.J. wrote:
>>
>> I received a new Amiga A1000, monitor, and the box the computer came
>> in. The box had some software and a couple of books.
>>
>> Unfortunately the printer, I live in the US, printed the British pound
>> symbol instead of the $ sign. Weird printer... cellophane with wax as
>> the print medium. The printer melted the wax into the standard paper,
>> tracter feed 8.5x11.
>
> What printer?
>
> Reading some old manuals I came across the Epson RX80 (or FX?). It
> allowed to use different font sets already in the early 1980s. You just
> needed to know *how*.
>
> Would be lame though if the retailer sold printers in the US set up for
> the UK market.

Not a month ago I got a ticket printed on a machine that could not do
the euro symbol.

Of course, I did not ask, could be a configuration thing, change code
page or whatever. Still, on 2022...

--
Cheers, Carlos.
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417772 is a reply to message #417735] Wed, 16 November 2022 07:22 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: songbird

Jason Evans wrote:
....
> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you choose?
> A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe something more
> exotic?

the Amiga was amazing when it came out and i really did
want one, but i'd already had an IBM PC so could not afford...


songbird
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417773 is a reply to message #417735] Wed, 16 November 2022 09:39 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Douglas Miller

On Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 5:12:31 AM UTC-6, Jason Evans wrote:
> I was watching this episode of The Computer Chronicles
> (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ95IclntIY) which is the 1989 Holiday
> Buyer's Guide.
>
> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you choose?
> A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe something more
> exotic?

In 1989, I would have chosen a Sequent Symmetry. Nothing too fancy, 2 or 4 '386 procs. Each of their 386's running DYNIX/ptx could run circles around any 386/486 PC. Of course, the power bills would have killed me.
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417774 is a reply to message #417771] Wed, 16 November 2022 09:47 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: greymaus

On 2022-11-16, Carlos E.R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
> On 2022-11-16 02:11, Andreas Kohlbach wrote:
>> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 10:38:50 -0600, D.J. wrote:
>>>
>>> I received a new Amiga A1000, monitor, and the box the computer came
>>> in. The box had some software and a couple of books.
>>>
>>> Unfortunately the printer, I live in the US, printed the British pound
>>> symbol instead of the $ sign. Weird printer... cellophane with wax as
>>> the print medium. The printer melted the wax into the standard paper,
>>> tracter feed 8.5x11.
>>
>> What printer?
>>
>> Reading some old manuals I came across the Epson RX80 (or FX?). It
>> allowed to use different font sets already in the early 1980s. You just
>> needed to know *how*.
>>
>> Would be lame though if the retailer sold printers in the US set up for
>> the UK market.
>
> Not a month ago I got a ticket printed on a machine that could not do
> the euro symbol.
>
> Of course, I did not ask, could be a configuration thing, change code
> page or whatever. Still, on 2022...
>

Possibly a sign of the future. The EU may be facing a fort Sumter
movement. (In keeping accounts, I avoid currency symbols)

--
greymausg@mail.com

Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum, I smell the stench of an Influencer.
Where is our money gone, Dude?
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417775 is a reply to message #417766] Wed, 16 November 2022 10:15 Go to previous messageGo to next message
scott is currently offline  scott
Messages: 4237
Registered: February 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> writes:
> Scott Lurndal <scott@slp53.sl.home> schrieb:
>> Jason Evans <jsevans@mailfence.com> writes:
>>> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 15:01:36 -0000 (UTC), Ben Collver wrote:
>>>
>>>> Nice question. Do you mean the me of the present, or me as i was in
>>>> 1989? On the exotic front, i'd consider the MSX2+
>>>>
>>>> https://www.msx.org/wiki/Panasonic_FS-A1WSX
>>>
>>> Present you, it just happens to be in the year 1989. No price limits, it
>>> just has to exist that year.
>>
>> At that time, I would have loved to have a VAX-11/730.
>
> That was slower than the 11/780, at 0.3 VUPs. There were RISC
> machines on the market which outperformed it by an order of
> magnitude or more.

The 11/780 required significant power. The 11/730 was suitable
for a home installation.
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417776 is a reply to message #417735] Wed, 16 November 2022 10:47 Go to previous messageGo to next message
D.J. is currently offline  D.J.
Messages: 821
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 20:11:59 -0500, Andreas Kohlbach
<ank@spamfence.net> wrote:
> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 10:38:50 -0600, D.J. wrote:
>>
>> I received a new Amiga A1000, monitor, and the box the computer came
>> in. The box had some software and a couple of books.
>>
>> Unfortunately the printer, I live in the US, printed the British pound
>> symbol instead of the $ sign. Weird printer... cellophane with wax as
>> the print medium. The printer melted the wax into the standard paper,
>> tracter feed 8.5x11.
>
> What printer?
>
> Reading some old manuals I came across the Epson RX80 (or FX?). It
> allowed to use different font sets already in the early 1980s. You just
> needed to know *how*.

Could have been an Epson, but I don't remember.

> Would be lame though if the retailer sold printers in the US set up for
> the UK market.

US Air Force exchange.
--
Jim
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417777 is a reply to message #417742] Wed, 16 November 2022 12:15 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Ben Collver

On 2022-11-15, greymaus <greymaus@dmaus.org> wrote:
> On 2022-11-15, Ben Collver <bencollver@tilde.pink> wrote:
>> Nice question. Do you mean the me of the present, or me as i was in
>> 1989? On the exotic front, i'd consider the MSX2+
>>
>> https://www.msx.org/wiki/Panasonic_FS-A1WSX
>
> That was the one, made by several companies, but with the same OS..Nice
> keyboard?.. I have one regret, buying a spectrum instead of a C64.
> The Amiga was whole generation ahead of the MSX.

I like that the MSX had an open specification.

An uncle of a friend used an Amiga for video production in the early
90's. The Amiga was definitely ahead. OTOH, the Amiga and MSX game
lists are both about 2,000 games long.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_MSX_games
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Amiga_games
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417778 is a reply to message #417768] Wed, 16 November 2022 12:57 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anne &amp; Lynn Wheel is currently offline  Anne &amp; Lynn Wheel
Messages: 3156
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> writes:
> If the choice is restricted to "ordinary" computers - not an IBM mainframe
> or a Cray supercomputer - in hindsight, a 486 would of course be the wisest
> choice.

I was posting SJMN sunday adverts on internal IBM forums showing prices
significantly cheaper than IBM Boca/PS2 predictions. Then had of Boca
contracted with Dataquest (since bought by Gartner) to do study of
future of PC ... including several hr video taped round table of silicon
valley experts. The responsible person at Datquest I had known for a
number of years and asked me to be one of the experts ... and promised
to garble my identity so Boca wouldn't recognize me as an IBM employee.

note fall 88 , clone makers on the other side of the pacific, had
built up large inventory of 286 machines for the xmas season ... and
then Intel announce 386sx (386sx consolidated lots of chips needed
for 286 build) and the market/prices drops out of the 286.

some old afc posts ... includes some reports on killer micros
taking over mainframe market
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001n.html#79 a.f.c history checkup... (was What specifications will the standard year 2001 PC have?)
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001n.html#80 a.f.c history checkup... (was What specifications will the standard year 2001 PC have?)
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001n.html#81 a.f.c history checkup... (was What specifications will the standard year 2001 PC have?)
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001n.html#82 a.f.c history checkup... (was What specifications will the standard year 2001 PC have?)

i386 & 486
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I386
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/486DX

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417779 is a reply to message #417772] Wed, 16 November 2022 13:12 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Charlie Gibbs is currently offline  Charlie Gibbs
Messages: 5313
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On 2022-11-16, songbird <songbird@anthive.com> wrote:

> Jason Evans wrote:
> ...
>> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
>> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you choose?
>> A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe something more
>> exotic?
>
> the Amiga was amazing when it came out and i really did
> want one, but i'd already had an IBM PC so could not afford...

At that time I didn't have an IBM clone yet. I didn't consider
them sufficiently better than my CP/M box to justify the switch.
When the Amiga came out I got one as soon as I could scrape up
the cash.

--
/~\ Charlie Gibbs | Microsoft is a dictatorship.
\ / <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> | Apple is a cult.
X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | Linux is anarchy.
/ \ if you read it the right way. | Pick your poison.
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417780 is a reply to message #417777] Wed, 16 November 2022 13:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Charlie Gibbs is currently offline  Charlie Gibbs
Messages: 5313
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On 2022-11-16, Ben Collver <bencollver@tilde.pink> wrote:

> An uncle of a friend used an Amiga for video production in the early
> 90's. The Amiga was definitely ahead.

The Amiga was designed from the start to be video-compatible.
It's 7.16-MHz clock speed was twice the 3.58-MHz color burst
frequency, and all its timings made it easy to develop video
hardware, e.g. the Video Toaster. (Those were for NTSC video;
I think there was a version suitably adjusted for PAL.)

Amigas were used in a number of cable TV stations for that channel
showing weather and local news. Occasionally you'd see a Guru
Meditation box.

Todd Rundgren created the video for his sing "Change Myself"
on a bank of 10 Amigas.

At a computer animation festival I saw a video titled "Dance
of the [S]tumblers"; music was the Rimsky-Korsakov piece of the
same name. At the end, the low-rez but cute dancing figures
were crushed by a falling Guru Meditation box; instead of the
normal hex codes, the numbers in it were "THX1138.2001".

--
/~\ Charlie Gibbs | Microsoft is a dictatorship.
\ / <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> | Apple is a cult.
X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | Linux is anarchy.
/ \ if you read it the right way. | Pick your poison.
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417781 is a reply to message #417780] Wed, 16 November 2022 13:22 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Charlie Gibbs is currently offline  Charlie Gibbs
Messages: 5313
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On 2022-11-16, Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote:

> On 2022-11-16, Ben Collver <bencollver@tilde.pink> wrote:
>
>> An uncle of a friend used an Amiga for video production in the early
>> 90's. The Amiga was definitely ahead.
>
> The Amiga was designed from the start to be video-compatible.
> It's 7.16-MHz clock speed was twice the 3.58-MHz color burst
^^^^
AUUUUGGGHHHHH! My #1 pet peeve spelling error and I MADE IT MYSELF!
Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.

--
/~\ Charlie Gibbs | Microsoft is a dictatorship.
\ / <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> | Apple is a cult.
X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | Linux is anarchy.
/ \ if you read it the right way. | Pick your poison.
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417782 is a reply to message #417774] Wed, 16 November 2022 14:09 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Carlos E.R.

On 2022-11-16 15:47, greymaus wrote:
> On 2022-11-16, Carlos E.R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
>> On 2022-11-16 02:11, Andreas Kohlbach wrote:
>>> On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 10:38:50 -0600, D.J. wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I received a new Amiga A1000, monitor, and the box the computer came
>>>> in. The box had some software and a couple of books.
>>>>
>>>> Unfortunately the printer, I live in the US, printed the British pound
>>>> symbol instead of the $ sign. Weird printer... cellophane with wax as
>>>> the print medium. The printer melted the wax into the standard paper,
>>>> tracter feed 8.5x11.
>>>
>>> What printer?
>>>
>>> Reading some old manuals I came across the Epson RX80 (or FX?). It
>>> allowed to use different font sets already in the early 1980s. You just
>>> needed to know *how*.
>>>
>>> Would be lame though if the retailer sold printers in the US set up for
>>> the UK market.
>>
>> Not a month ago I got a ticket printed on a machine that could not do
>> the euro symbol.
>>
>> Of course, I did not ask, could be a configuration thing, change code
>> page or whatever. Still, on 2022...
>>
>
> Possibly a sign of the future. The EU may be facing a fort Sumter
> movement. (In keeping accounts, I avoid currency symbols)

I think it was not only the currency symbols, but also some other
letters used in Spain.

--
Cheers, Carlos.
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417783 is a reply to message #417735] Wed, 16 November 2022 16:24 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Bob Eager

On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 11:12:23 +0000, Jason Evans wrote:

> I was watching this episode of The Computer Chronicles
> (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ95IclntIY) which is the 1989 Holiday
> Buyer's Guide.
>
> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you
> choose?
> A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe something
> more exotic?

I actually saved up and bought what I wanted in November 1989.

An IBM PS/2 Model 80 with a 115MB disk! And keyboard and monitor.

The keyboard cost me £135 (about $200 U.S. then).

I have used that keyboard (not the computer) daily since then. I am
typing this on it.



--
Using UNIX since v6 (1975)...

Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org
Re: Christmas 1989 [message #417785 is a reply to message #417779] Wed, 16 November 2022 17:20 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: greymaus

On 2022-11-16, Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote:
> On 2022-11-16, songbird <songbird@anthive.com> wrote:
>
>> Jason Evans wrote:
>> ...
>>> Let's say you wake up on Christmas Day in 1989 and you can have any
>>> computer that you want that it available at that time. What do you choose?
>>> A shiny new 486? The latest Mac? A new Amiga? ...or maybe something more
>>> exotic?
>>

heavy phone charges mean little phone use in Ireland at that time,
and what was going on was on Amiga's. networking was the thing around
Dublin on lines local to the city. Amiga's. Nobody had HD's. So one got
an MSDOS machine with a HS stuffed with shareware, and enthusiasm waned,
a list of the shareware compared to the PD stuff available from the
Amiga's?.

I met that man later, he was doing publicity for a dodgy politician.

A guy called * Carroll was doing work with the Amiga, emigrated to
Minnesota.

There was a public event about the internet at about that time, 1994, so
I brought my son up. He showed no interest. Blackrock Collage, Dublin,
and the talk was by a man called Andy Mowett, who arrived onstage
wearing an Army coat and frayed jeans.

It turned out that there was more going on in Blackrock Collage that
time than a group of nerds discussing what turned out to be the
internet.

I remember about that time that Bill Gates published a book, `The Way
Forward' which saw an Internet-like system dominated by Microsoft.

I met a man later who knew the late Paul Allen, and said that he was an
OK guy. There is something about a yacht he owned being hard to sell
recently.

--
greymausg@mail.com

Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum, I smell the stench of an Influencer.
Where is our money gone, Dude?
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