Path: utzoo!mnetor!tmsoft!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!shelby!msi.umn.edu!cs.umn.edu!ux.acs!oleary From: oleary@ux.acs.umn.edu (Doc O'Leary) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc Subject: Re: NeXT | I love my SE (was:68040 for the Mac? Message-ID: <3287@ux.acs.umn.edu> Date: 16 Feb 91 23:33:03 GMT References: <1991Feb16.020056.11742@NCoast.ORG> <1e3G7w*o@cs.psu.edu> Organization: University of Minnesota, Academic Computing Services Lines: 62 In article <1e3G7w*o@cs.psu.edu> melling@cs.psu.edu (Michael D Mellinger) writes: > >In article <1991Feb16.020056.11742@NCoast.ORG> allbery@NCoast.ORG (Brandon S. Allbery KB8JRR) writes: > Most people do NOT really need NeXTs, or IIfx's. In fact, most people don't > need 386 boxes, but most people go out and get them (to run DOS, which doesn't > even *use* the 386's capabilities except in the most minimal ways (assuming > QEMM, 386^MAX, Windows 3.0, or etc.)!) anyway. Because everyone has been > trained to jump through their hoops and go buy the biggest, fastest, most > expensive thing they can regardless of whether they need it or not. > >Most people don't need more than 64K of RAM, right? At least that's >what you were probably saying 5 years ago. You obviously haven't used >Windows 3.0 if you think PC users don't need a 386. And to use >Toolbook, the PC equivalent of Hypercard, I definitely recommend a 386. One of my jobs is as a lab attendant in the computer lab for the Veterinary College here. The lab has recently been overhauled and our old XT's have been replaced by 386SX's (Our Mac's are back-ordered and I (being an insignificant attendant as far as the administration is concerned) don't know what kind we're getting, but I'm quitting if they're Classics). They came bundled with all of Microsoft's wonderful software, including Word and Excel for Windows (Toolbook, Softtype, blah, blah, too). Now, I'm not saying that Window's isn't a good product. I'll agree that, yes, it *is* a huge step up from MS-DOS. However, this is not a Computer Science lab!! It is a Veterinary lab! The kind of software we run here (for classes) is PigChamp. For those who don't use it, PigChamp does not need Windows to run. Here, a 286 would have been fine. If the students wanted to use a GUI to write papers when we re-open, they could use a Mac's. I'm willing to bet that Hypercard, even on a Classic, is much faster than Toolbook on a 386SX. Where am I going, you ask yourself. Well, imagine my surprise when I walk in and find a newly acquired 486 tower! It's a wonderful, beautiful machine. It's also complete overkill. This is a > $17,000 machine (BTW, all PC's are PS/2's from IBM). Sure, with the educational discount it probably only cost $15,000, but you don't need a Ferrari to go to the corner market and you don't need a 486 to run PigChamp! (To be fair, I found out that it would be used as a fileserver; what a wonderful waste of 33MHz) Some things are unjustified. A University computer lab needs better than Classics, but our does not need more than a IIsi. I would be equally surprised if I were to have walked in and found a IIfx staring me in the face. Or a NeXT. Some people need a 386, but if their only need for it is to run Windows, they should get a Mac (even a Classic). Yes, certain things are nice. A IIfx is nice. A 486 is nice. A NeXT is nice. It's hard for me to justify the purchase of a IIfx (just because I could afford it) when I know that some people can't even afford my SE, or a place to live, or clothes for their children. For some people, the above computers are necessary to do their jobs, but an SE is all I need right now. Don't tell me I need a NeXT or a 386/486 or even a IIfx, because I don't. Flame away. ********************** Signature Block : Version 2.1 ********************* * | * * "Was it love, or was it the idea | If at first you don't succeed . . . * * of being in love?" -- PF | you have failed. * * (Which one *is* Pink?) | * * | oleary@ux.acs.umn.edu * ****************** Copyright (c) 1991 by Doc O'Leary ********************