Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!bu.edu!transfer!lectroid!angmar.sw.stratus.com!jmann
From: jmann@angmar.sw.stratus.com (Jim Mann)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: NeXT Religion
Message-ID: <2444@lectroid.sw.stratus.com>
Date: 25 Sep 90 14:48:09 GMT
References: <20467@orstcs.CS.ORST.EDU> <448@news.nd.edu>
Sender: usenet@lectroid.sw.stratus.com
Reply-To: jmann@angmar.sw.stratus.com (Jim Mann)
Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc.
Lines: 24

In article <448@news.nd.edu>, flynn@cse.nd.edu (Patrick J. Flynn) writes:
|>They don't seem willing to drop the OD concept entirely, but it's
|>clearly less important (now) than getting CHEAP machines OUT THERE.
|>Either OD prices haven't fallen to a level which makes them the medium
|>of choice for the low-end market, OR access times are still higher than
|>those attainable with hard disks, OR capacities haven't doubled like
|>everyone expected them to (how many of you heard the rumour that the
|>next NeXT would have a 512M optical with 16ms access time?).  Coupled
|>with the precipitous drop in the prices of hard disks, it looked like
|>the optical no longer had the `edge'.  Perhaps the notorious
|>optical-drive problems scared them a little.
|>
I don't think the price of ODs can EVER drop enough to completely replace
floppy disks. If I have something that I want to send to a few friends,
I'm quite willing to put it on floppies (cost $0.30 to $1.00 each) and send
it off to them. Even if optical disks dropped down to say $20, I would not
be willing to just use them to pass information to friends. It's too
much of an investment. They're great when you need that much data, but
expensive overkill when you just want to transfer a few hundred K or
even a Meg or two.                                                          

Jim Mann
Stratus Computer
jmann@es.stratus.com