Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!world!boris
From: boris@world.std.com (Boris Levitin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: The New Macs: Greedy Compromises?
Message-ID: <1990Dec2.084149.25494@world.std.com>
Date: 2 Dec 90 08:41:49 GMT
References: <1990Nov29.203507.25984@grape.ecs.clarkson.edu> <46966@apple.Apple.COM>
Organization: The World @ Software Tool & Die
Lines: 27

das@Apple.COM (David Shayer) writes:

>In article <1990Nov29.203507.25984@grape.ecs.clarkson.edu> anthonjw@clutx.clarkson.edu (Jason W. Anthony) writes:
>>* "OK the LC has at 68020 so that puts it in line with Mac II power, but
>>oh, is has 16-bit pathway instead of 32-but, but it does has 32-bit to
>>the ROM."
>The CPU spends a large percentage of time executing code out of ROM,
>so it has a wider path to the ROM.  It has a 16 bit path to RAM to
>save a little money.  Believe it or not, you run out of room for
>traces on a PC board, and either you have to make a bigger board
>(which costs more for the board material and the bigger case to hold
>it) or you cut out some traces.  

Are you saying the extra inch of board space and the extra inch of case
required to accomodate the extra traces would significantly add to the cost
of making the LC?

>Anyway, why do you care?

Because a 16-bit data path slows the LC down.  Perceptibly, according to
those reviewers who actually tested one.

Regarding your assertion that the average user doesn't do anything that
uses an FPU: besides spreadsheets, there are Adobe Type Manager and TrueType
(I don't know for a fact that TrueType makes use of the FPU, but if it doesn't,
it must be really slow).  Using quadratic (TrueType) or cubic (ATM) splines to
display text on the screen is a very floating-point-math-intensive process.