Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!apple!julius.cs.uiuc.edu!rpi!crdgw1!passaret From: passaret@copernicus.crd.ge.com ("Mr. Mike" Passaretti) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Let's drop all this, shall we? Message-ID: <14606@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> Date: 7 Dec 90 17:13:16 GMT References: <4617@disk.UUCP> <21969@well.sf.ca.us> <1990Dec5.195334.17986@sbcs.sunysb.edu> <22015@well.sf.ca.us> Sender: news@crdgw1.crd.ge.com Reply-To: Organization: GE Corporate Research & Development Lines: 88 In-reply-to: yoo@well.sf.ca.us's message of 7 Dec 90 07:10:54 GMT In article <22015@well.sf.ca.us> yoo@well.sf.ca.us (Young-Kyu Yoo) writes: # # First, the NeXT is easier to use in many ways than a Mac. I think it # compares very favorably to an Amiga. You see, the NeXT hides Unix. No # greps, no vi, no ls is necessary (but it's all there if you want to use it). # [...] Look, folks. The NeXT is a wonderful computer. So is the Amiga. If you need UNIX(tm) right NOW! buy a NeXT or a Sun. If you don't ever forsee needing more computer than you have now, buy a *Station. If you aren't into hardware hacking, and have no designs on making expansion products, buy a *Station. Sparc, NeXT, I don't really care. You wil get UNIX and a nice high-rez mono display and you can play 'till your heart's content. But let's not argue the point. If you want a bus, and want to do experimentation with one... I'd go (and I did) with the Amiga. A NeXT or Sun with a bus was just too bloody expensive. And even if they weren't, VMEBus, NUBus, and SBus all are a little hairier to design for than Zorro (Thanks for ZIII, Dave!). NUBus is neat. I really like it. The implementations of it I've seen so far, however, leave a lot to be desired. VMEBus I've worked with a lot. It's good for a lot of things, but its got a lot of hair on it. SBus is good too, but so far limited in scope (mostly number of 'slots' wise). I work on SBus machines a lot now. I thinks there's a lot of potential there. For conventional business and engineering stuff, anyway. I plan to put UNIX on my box RSN |-). That won't make it a workstation. The fact is, the philosophies make them Amigas entirely different computers in more ways than you think. The Amiga was designed to do nifty stuff, not just code and use, but "play" and "hack" as well. That's why I like it. (Also a lot of why I bought it). The people who work on it appreciate the "Nifty quotient". I can count on more nifty stuff in the future. Just about any sort of media production can be done cheaply and professionally on the Amiga. Sometimes not both at once, but at least you can get your feet wet without breaking your pocketbook. That's the idea behind the machine. Enough philosophy here... Custom chips aside, the NeXT DOES have more co-processor power that the Amiga for many things. That DSP is a big win. I expect to stick one in a Zorro III slot RSN. The '040 is a big win for speed. I expect to stick one in a processor slot RSN. AND run my '030 if I'm lucky (And I haven't totally misread the specs and schematics). A nice, slow, easy on the pocket upgrade path. I couldn't afford to drop 7.5K on a box right now, but by the time the toaster(grr)* and a few other goodies are in there, I will have. The difference? I can't do as many nifty things NOW! That's the price I pay. Meanwhile, I can still do development work on the intended platform for my software concept. And play MindWalker when I'm burned out from that. I like that. Ask the Mac 128 owners how they feel about the *Station concept. Ask LC Owners how they feel about having to use their only slot for a math chip. Most don't care. They can do what they want NOW!, and the future will take care of itself. Some do care, and they will get something that will grow a bit. If it works for you, buy a (mostly) non-expandable machine. If it doesn't, go for the whole enchilada. Simple as that. If you like the NeXT, and can afford a slab/cube/whatever get one. If you like the Amiga and can afford a 1000/500/2000/3000, get one. Don't blame me for making my choice. And don't assume I'm an un-informed boob. And THAT flame goes out to both camps. Ahem. If you want to educate about the capabilites of your favorite box, do it with FACTS and not rhetoric. Thanks. - MM UNIX(tm) is a trademark of the folks who tried to trademark the letter "D". (grr)* means that anyone who develops a product like the toaster without at least making sure it will FIT, let alone work, in all models of a machine should be shot. And the software should multitask properly too. So there. -- passaretti@crd.ge.com {whatever}!crdgw1!brahe!passaret