Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!clyde.concordia.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!lavaca.uh.edu!menudo.uh.edu!sugar!peter From: peter@sugar.hackercorp.com (Peter da Silva) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: NeXT Intro (Was ) Message-ID: <6811@sugar.hackercorp.com> Date: 16 Oct 90 11:54:43 GMT References: <1990Oct14.215059.12461@csmil.umich.edu> <38267@ut-emx.uucp> Reply-To: peter@sugar.hackercorp.com (Peter da Silva) Organization: Sugar Land Unix - Houston Lines: 64 In article <38267@ut-emx.uucp> greg@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Greg Harp) writes a lot of downbeat stuff about the NeXT. Look, it's not just for students any more. I don't know about it not coming with Mathematica, they're probably bundling Lotus Improv instead. Here are some real advantages of the NeXT over those other workstations: (a) It doesn't run native BSD UNIX (AKA kitchen sink). They still run the standard stuff under BSD emulation, but new drivers and services don't have to go into the kernel. (b) It's not running Ecch Windows. For people actually interested in getting work done instead of hacking, this is a huge improvement. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of playing "what does this mouse button do in this application". > First of all, if I ever needed a reason to dislike Steve Jobs, I've got one > now. Using (M)isleading (I)ndications of (P)rocessor (S)peed has got to be > one of the most dishonest ways to benchmark a computer. So why pick on Steve Jobs for that? Does this mean you hate his opposite numbers at Sun, DEC, MIPS, etc... as well? > Second of all, referring to the underlined phrase: Not even in Steve Jobs' > wettest dreams. The 040's fast, but it's no RISC. It's more than that. 040+DSP+better O/S. > No color for this model. If your primary output device is videotape, color is vital. If it's a laserprinter, color is a distraction. > These people are afraid of Multimedia... The NeXT is *shipping* multimedia mail, and it works. For them Multimedia is a productivity tool, not the main application. > For the price, I'd buy a Toaster... The Toaster and NeXTdimension are completely different products with different markets. The Toaster is a video processing board for TV resolution images. The NeXTdimension is a Postscript accelerator and high-res display card. Comparing the two is like comparing a Porsche 911 and a Mercedes Benz. Now I get to comment two levels up: > >I think this really is the beginning of a new era, just as PCs brought down > >the price of individual computing, this will bring down the cost of > >individual multi-media... The Amiga created the multimedia market, really. And it's a lot less than the NeXT. I'm not sure that the NeXT is that good for the sort of TV-class stuff the Amiga excells at, but it's a lot better at getting everyday multimedia on people's desks. Not for production work, but just to help them get their everyday work done. Superior e-mail and financial projection software, not Digiview and Sculpt-4d. The NeXT is very like a high-end Amiga... and it *does* do a lot of stuff a lot better than Ami. Some stuff Ami does better. But apart from the Amiga UNIX offering they're in completely different markets. They're complementary, not competition. -- Peter da Silva. `-_-' .