Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!rutgers!network!ucsd!ucbvax!agate!apple!oliveb!amiga!cbmvax!daveh
From: daveh@cbmvax.UUCP (Dave Haynie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Ami Fantasy Wishlist
Message-ID: <7728@cbmvax.UUCP>
Date: 22 Aug 89 18:45:53 GMT
References: <6203@ingr.com>
Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA
Lines: 57

in article <6203@ingr.com>, phil@ingr.com (Phil Johnson) says:
> Keywords: Ami future fantasy (long)

>    3.  A 32-bit, 68040-based Amiga with 8 megabytes of CHIP ram, 32 megbytes
>        of main memory, 1280 x 1024 screen resolution, 16 million colors with a
>        16 million color palette, built-in SCSI-2 interface, 2 serial and 2
>        parallel ports, a Digital signal processor-based audio subsystem, 
>        enhanced graphics and a hardwired unit ID that can be queried by  ID 
>        encoded software (This should eliminated the majority of the piracy 
>        issues).  It has worked elsewhere.

At least this one is only around $25,000 -- that $200,000 "Alpha" really had me
wondering.  Since the monitor would go for another $3000 or so, plus other 
goodies, you'd have a $30,000 workstation.  The only place hardwired IDs have
worked is in similar places like Apollo machines in the same price range, so I
guess this fantasy is at least self-consistent.  Of course, the OS will be UNIX,
all workstations are moving there if they aren't there already, and they're not
looking back.

> 
>                          How about Adobe illustrator?  There is one DTP 
>                          package that approaches the OTHER systems, but
>                          nothing to legitimize the Amiga as a world-class
>                          DTP system.  

You have to start thinking Workstation.  Most if not all PC tools aren't out
for workstations.  Something like Interleaf is what I'd expect here, maybe.

>                          How about a world class 2D/3D drafting package like
>                          Microstation, AutoCAD, or GenericCAD.  Again this
>                          would legitimize the Amiga as a CAD system.

Again, you're not on a PC.  None of these PC folks are likely to port their
software to an Amiga workstation any more than they'll port it to a Sun or 
Apollo.  There just aren't enough Sun/Apollos compared to the number of '286
or '386 boxes for these guys to worry about it.  I'd like to see the Mentor
Graphics folks get interested in such a box.  Not that I could afford $1000
a year or whatever for it, but I couldn't afford this machine, either.  You'll
see AutoCAD on one of the 1/2 million or more Amiga PCs sold each year long
before you'll see it on one of the 10,000 Amiga Workstations you'd sell each
year (if it WAS accepted as an alternative to Sun, Apollo, Hp, Sony, etc. See
the NeXT experiment for details).


I certainly hope the Amiga moves forward; probably more than most of you --
if they don't want new technology, I'm out of a job.  But try to keep a grip
on just what kind of machines we're building here.  I don't really want to
build anything that's not affordable, at least in base-model form, by the
same folks buying high-end PClones.  Though it's certainly NICE to be compared
with expensive workstation machines.

> Philip E. Johnson                    UUCP:  usenet!ingr!b3!sys_7a!phil

-- 
Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Systems Engineering) "The Crew That Never Rests"
   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh      PLINK: hazy     BIX: hazy
            We have no choice.  We are, after all, professionals.