Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!helios!tamuts!n177ac
From: n177ac@tamuts.tamu.edu (Daryl Biberdorf)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: A3000UX - Born to run UNIX SVR4
Summary: a processor does not a computer make
Message-ID: <11964@helios.TAMU.EDU>
Date: 9 Feb 91 04:01:48 GMT
References: <1991Feb7.151106.4795@cc.helsinki.fi> <32530@auc.UUCP> <1512@pdxgate.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@helios.TAMU.EDU
Organization: Texas A&M University
Lines: 64

In article <1512@pdxgate.UUCP> hal@eecs.UUCP (Aaron Harsh) writes:
>In article <32530@auc.UUCP> rar@auc.UUCP (Rodney Ricks) writes:
>
>  The last time I checked (when I wanted an Amiga and didn't know about the
>NeXTstation) the 25 Mhz '030 Amiga cost about the same as a NeXTstation.
>(This was ed. price for both of them, about $3200 each).  What makes you think
>that an '040 Amiga will be competitive with a '040 NeXT when the Amiga with
>an inferior processor costs the same?

Since when does the processor alone determine the total capability
of the machine?  We had an 030 NeXT in the integration lab at my
last co-op assignment.  As long as you wanted to run ONE job at a time
the machine's performance was excellent.  But try feeding a score file
to the DSP (yes, teh sound *is* wonderful) while doing one or
two other tasks and watch the whole thing grind to a halt (INCLUDING
the music).  The NeXT's architecture must be such that the *CPU* is
responsible for feeding data to the DSP (and, by analogy, to the
other specialized chips).  With that kind of architecture, the NeXT
will absolutely have to have an 040 to get any kind of performance
at *all*.  I do not know all the details of the NeXT's innards, but
after watching it react to my actions, I'd say that it has very little
custom chips to handle DMA and I/O.  The 3000UX *does*.

I'd be willing to bet that the 3000UX is more than a match for the
040 NeXT after having seen a 3000 running AmigaDOS (Gee is that fast)
versus the NeXT choking under its version of Mach.  Putting the
overhead of UNIX on the 3000 won't slow it down as much as
that 030 NeXT did. 
>
>  Maybe Commodore will lower the price of these systems so they'll be able
>to compete with NeXT.

When will everyone here who keeps griping about the price point that
companies have to make a profit to SURVIVE!  Has it occurred to
*anyone* that NeXT's low prices are a near-money-losing venture
in order to get MARKET SHARE?!  Market share is crucial if you
want your product to get the third party support it needs to survive
on the long haul.  Why has it taken so long for the Amiga to
get development tools that have existed in the PC (a technically
inferior machine) for years?  Market share.  The PC had it; Amiga
didn't.

UNIX is not cheap to license.  I expect that Commodore is paying
a LOT for the rights to SVR4.  Couple that with the cost of
manufacturing the 3000 PLUS (here's where the costs really go up)
decent support (you want UNIX without any backing?)?  You figure
that if you have even two UNIX masters on your staff, each earning
$40,000 per year, that's $80,000/year that is going to have to
come from somewhere...and that somewhere is PROFIT.  And I'm
not talking development personnel here; I'm talking tech support
only.  Do the math to see what it costs for a team of capable
UNIX people to keep fixing bugs and improving the OS (congrats
to the team at C= for seeing this thing through!).

And who says NeXT's prices are going to stay low if their machine
actually succeeds?  I'll bet $10 they won't.


>
>Aaron Harsh
>hal@eecs.cs.pdx.edu

--Daryl Biberdorf,  n177ac@tamuts.tamu.edu  OR dlb5404@rigel.tamu.edu
  Texas A&M University