Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!munnari.oz.au!uhccux!bmartin
From: bmartin@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu (Brian Martin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Perceptions of speed (was Re: MIP rating for the Mac II)
Keywords: performance
Message-ID: <6195@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu>
Date: 17 Jan 90 18:38:01 GMT
References: <2788@mtuno.ATT.COM> <15663@haddock.ima.isc.com>
Reply-To: bmartin@uhccux.UUCP (Brian Martin)
Organization: University of Hawaii
Lines: 37

a digression...

I recall reading somewhere (probably some IBM sales literature for
one of their "mainframes") that the user's perception of a machine's
speed is directly dependent on the time it takes a message to
appear on screen after the user presses a key. They made the point
that on a heavily loaded processor, printing a "processing your request"
message within 1/2 second of the user pressing a key would fool
the user into thinking that the machine was not loaded down. That's
one of the reasons they put I/O processors on their "multi-channel" machines.

Here's the point: my Apollo, which is an old 12MHz 68020, feels a whole
lot faster than the Mac IIci running Multifinder, even though the Apollo
runs various benchmarks much slower than the mac. With a backup across the
network to a tape drive running in one window, a compile running in background
in a another window, and an editor in the foreground, the machine
still gives me the perception of responsiveness. With a couple of
programs loaded under Multifinder on the mac (word, spelling coach, wingz,
and statview) the mac feels real sluggish, and tends to crash at very
inopportune moments.

-- Brian
====
    Brian K. Martin, M.D.
    Assistant Research Professor (hat #1)
    University of Hawaii/ Cancer Research Center of Hawaii,
      and
    CEO (hat #2)
    Martin Information Systems, Ltd.
    1103 9th Avenue, Suite 203
    Honolulu, Hawai`i 96816-2403
    Voice (808) 733-2003
    Fax (808) 733-2011

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