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From: alan@oz.nm.paradyne.com (Alan Lovejoy)
Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.os.misc,comp.arch
Subject: Re: TRON (message from the project leader)
Keywords: TRON, standards, operating systems, distributed systems
Message-ID: <6350@pdn.paradyne.com>
Date: 8 Jul 89 16:52:13 GMT
References: <389@h.cs.wvu.wvnet.edu> <6340@pdn.paradyne.com> <2296@trantor.harris-atd.com>
Sender: news@pdn.paradyne.com
Reply-To: alan@oz.paradyne.com (Alan Lovejoy)
Organization: AT&T Paradyne, Largo, Florida
Lines: 37

In article <2296@trantor.harris-atd.com> chuck@trantor.harris-atd.com (Chuck Musciano) writes:
>In article <6340@pdn.paradyne.com> alan@oz.paradyne.com (Alan Lovejoy) writes:
>>TRON's technical merits
>>(or lack thereof) will simply be irrelevant.  The first economically-viable
>>infrastructure will always swamp any and all competition.
>
>     This is not always true.  Witness Edison and his promotion of DC power,
>which was supplanted by Tesla's AC system, or CBS's attempt to standardize
>on spinning wheel color television, or Sony Betamax videotape systems, or even
>Ford's planetary-gear transmission used in cars from the 1920s.  While all of
>these systems were in place first as a "standard" and showed great promise,
>they were all replaced by later, better technology.  Being first is not always
>a guarantee of success.

You misunderstood.  But that appears to be my fault for not saying what I
meant more clearly.  If what you think I said were true, then we'd still
live in caves, walk to work and use stone tools.  Obviously, a new technology
which is sufficiently better than that currently in use will become very
popular.

What I meant to say is this:  A technology which creates an economically-viable
infrastructure will always win out over all competing technologies which DO NOT
CONSTITUTE OR BENEFIT FROM such an infrastructure.  Fords and Chevys have
an unassailable advantage over a car which gets its energy from solar-energy
absorbing asphalt on specially designed roads.  Until such roads are built,
very few people will buy a car which cannot be operated on existing roads.
The Japanese are going to be marketing TRON PC's, TRON audio equipment, 
TRON video equipment, TRON ovens, refrigerators, dishwashers, hot-water
heaters and central heating/air-conditioning systems, TRON security systems
and TRON lighting fixtures.  With all that in your house, will you really
be interested in buying an Intel HDTV system that is NOT TRON compatible?
Don't forget you'll need a second remote control!  

____"Congress shall have the power to prohibit speech offensive to Congress"____
Alan Lovejoy; alan@pdn; 813-530-2211; AT&T Paradyne: 8550 Ulmerton, Largo, FL.
Disclaimer: I do not speak for AT&T Paradyne.  They do not speak for me. 
Motto: If nanomachines will be able to reconstruct you, YOU AREN'T DEAD YET.