Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!remus.rutgers.edu!declan From: declan@remus.rutgers.edu (Declan McCullagh/LZ) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2 Subject: Re: IIgs ROM revisions (was: Support Apple IIs) Message-ID: Date: 1 Apr 91 02:19:21 GMT References: <8259@crash.cts.com> <13917@darkstar.ucsc.edu> <22184@yunexus.YorkU.CA> Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J. Lines: 54 In article <22184@yunexus.YorkU.CA>, philip@yunexus.yorku.ca (Phil McDunnough) writes: > In article declan@remus.rutgers.edu (Declan McCullagh/LZ) writes: > >In article <13917@darkstar.ucsc.edu>, unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (The Unknown User) writes: > > > >> The GS has better sound capabilities than IBMs, Macs, Atari STs, > >> or Amigas.. The only computer I can think of that has better sound > >> capabilities is the NeXT, and that's a workstation and not a PC. > > > >And what, pray tell, is the difference? > > > Well Declan, the difference is that workstation hardware is becoming > less expensive than higher end PC's. The catch is that, with the > possible exception of the NeXT, workstation vendors then get you on > maintenance contracts, software costs, peripheral costs,etc...It does > you very little good to be given a workstation only to discover that > it will cost you more to maintain it than the price of a micro. I'm quite aware that workstation prices are dropping, and that PC prices are far from competitive in the MIPS/$ market. However, I hesitate to draw an arbitrary line separating the two; it's just not possible. In ease-of-use? A NeXT is worlds ahead when compared to any MS-DOS machine. (though not as far ahead of one running Windows). In speed? A 50 MHz 486 running Windows will be faster - in MIPS - than a 25 MHz 68040 NeXT or a SPARCstation 1. In software costs? Perhaps. But there's a lot of good, free, UNIX stuff out there if you care to look: EE CAD software, for instance. Berkeley alone has SPICE and MAGIC. In peripheral costs? SCSI is SCSI. Laser printers are laser printers. Again, it's just not possible to arbitrarily label computers as "workstations" or "PCs". They can be both. > Prices of PC's are going way down. The numbers are unbelievable. They > do have the momentum. People should think very carefully about buying > into the workstation world. Prices of PCs are going way down? Sorry, but you're wrong. This is the price for the IIfx *after* Apple just lowered it: Macintosh IIfx: 80 MB HD, 4 MB RAM, 21" Monitor $5644 NeXTstation: 105 MB HD, 8 MB RAM, 17" Monitor $3100 Those are common academic prices for the two systems. Needless to say, the NeXT is much faster. Prices for SPARCstations are similar. This thread, too, is no longer appropriate for comp.sys.apple2. -Declan