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From: gillies@p.cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: What's coming?
Message-ID: <116900003@p.cs.uiuc.edu>
Date: 19 Jun 89 00:48:00 GMT
References: <65100001@tippy>
Lines: 29
Nf-ID: #R:tippy:65100001:p.cs.uiuc.edu:116900003:000:1464
Nf-From: p.cs.uiuc.edu!gillies    Jun 18 19:48:00 1989


> NeXt should redesign the optical drive to take tiny weeny small disks
> that cost only $5, like the cheap small CD's that have come out,
> or break down and install a real floppy for distribution purposes.

It's too bad NeXT is not so well-organized.  I own a Mac II with a
modem, and I NEVER use the floppy drive for software distribution.  I
get mostly PD software off the net and off BBS's, using a 2400 baud modem.

I'm surprised that NeXT, which has several former Xerox employees,
hasn't implemented some encryption software to make commercial
distribution just as simple.  Xerox does this with its product
factoring software.  

All that the box of software really needs is an instruction manual and
a cryptographic key, written on a slip of paper.  The vendor can make
the software available on a BBS, to customers who have correct
software keys, enabling them to download the software.  There are so
many advantages to this scheme (trivial to supply vendor upgrades, no
lag-time in floppy printing, essentially constant cost to publish a
release v.s.  linear cost to publish 3 floppies/customer, etc etc
etc).  If the NeXT had the 56000 DSP chip working as a modem, then the
modem would essentially substitute as a floppy.  It's too bad NeXT is
not pioneering this technology.


Don Gillies, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Illinois
1304 W. Springfield, Urbana, Ill 61801      
ARPA: gillies@cs.uiuc.edu   UUCP: {uunet,harvard}!uiucdcs!gillies