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From: ogawa@orion.arc.nasa.gov (Arthur Ogawa)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: gold-plated 040, (was: NeXT comment)
Message-ID: <1991Mar12.202240.19299@news.arc.nasa.gov>
Date: 12 Mar 91 20:22:40 GMT
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In article <rx7G4h.$@cs.psu.edu> melling@cs.psu.edu (Michael D Mellinger) writes:
 [ prices for Mac only; none for NeXT]
 [ implicit comparison of 030 Mac with 040 NeXT]
| The NeXT bomb comes when Apple releases their 040 machine with builtin ethernet.

Comparing a Mac IIfx (40Mhz 030) with a NeXT (25Mhz 040) is an apples-and-oranges
comparison, sorry 8-D. Preliminary gossip in MacWeek has it that Apple's 040 will
first be offered as a tower costing ~10k$. This will have to be "compared" to a 
NeXT at, maybe, half the price. 

Come fall, when this new puppy hits the streets, there will be
SparcStations and NeXTstations waiting for it at considerably
advantageous price points. Too bad, but by selecting that price point
for the 040 Mac, Apple has convinced this consumer to buy a Unix box _now_.

One interesing thing that will come out when the 040 Mac accelerator boards hit
the street is a sad, disappointing, even nasty aspect of many Mac apps: the way
they've been programmed is not "040-savvy", so speed increases will be disappointing.
On the other hand Unix apps will pretty much fire on up at the  higher mips.

Mac app developers, especially those working in Redmond: please stop writing
self-modifying code. Think about the advantages of separate code/data spaces.

"Power" Mac users: try before you buy: try out your candidate software
on an 040-based Mac (and insist on seeing the 4X power increase (at
equal clock speed) over the 030) before plunking down your hard-earned dollars.

OK, net flamers, here comes the signoff, but remember, the only reason I
posted this is because I noticed the "straight facts" and "Mac vs. Amiga"
flame wars were dying down ;->
Arthur Ogawa        Internet: ogawa@orion.arc.nasa.gov  Ph: 1/415/691-1126
TeX consultant      AppleLink: ogawa                    FAX:1/415/962-1969