Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!olivea!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!smsc.sony.com!dce From: dce@smsc.sony.com (David Elliott) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc Subject: Re: System 7.0 vs. NeXT Step Message-ID: <1991Feb8.175918.27732@smsc.sony.com> Date: 8 Feb 91 17:59:18 GMT References: <16568@venera.isi.edu> <1991Feb5.013654.4045@NCoast.ORG> Sender: dce@smsc.sony.com (David Elliott) Reply-To: dce@smsc.sony.com (David Elliott) Distribution: comp Organization: Sony Microsystems, San Jose, CA Lines: 32 In article <1991Feb5.013654.4045@NCoast.ORG>, allbery@NCoast.ORG (Brandon S. Allbery KB8JRR) writes: |> ...and until NeXT comes up with a machine that doesn't have stuff I don't |> need, like Ethernet, and therefore don't want to pay for. (I can find a use |> for the DSP chip --- see my .signature --- but I bet many others wouldn't know |> what to do with one if it were dropped in their laps.) How about a low-end |> NeXT upgradeable in separate pieces, i.e. get the bare box and add Ethernet |> and DSP later? If they did this in a way that reduced the price sufficiently, |> I could almost see myself getting one. If the original Mac had come without a bitmapped display, a mouse, a speaker, serial ports, and a floppy drive, it would have been much cheaper than it was. But, the result would have been that application writers would not have been able to assume anything. If the NeXT had an optional DSP chip, application writers wouldn't be able to assume that one would be available. Also, other companies wouldn't be working to add sound capabilities to their systems. The end result of NeXT going with the DSP chip is that future generations of machines will have it standard. As for Ethernet, I agree with you for functionality needs, but it's much cheaper to put Ethernet into the design than it is to make it an add-on board or module. -- ...David Elliott ...dce@smsc.sony.com | ...!{uunet,mips}!sonyusa!dce ...(408)944-4073 ..."His lower lip waved poutily with defiance..."