Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ncar!gatech!purdue!haven!mimsy!mojo!SYSMGR@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU
From: sysmgr@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU (Doug Mohney)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Re: Snakebytes (HP process technology)
Message-ID: <00947448.7A748120@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU>
Date: 17 Apr 91 18:25:19 GMT
References: <40812@cup.portal.com>,<32580016@hpcuhe.cup.hp.com>,<00947104.8B2D8080@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU>,<1991Apr17.153036.27373@ni.umd.edu>
Sender: news@eng.umd.edu (C-News)
Reply-To: sysmgr@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU (Doug Mohney)
Organization: The U. of MD, CP, CAD lab
Lines: 30


>Rumor has it that HP will indeed introduce a "snakette" and a 90Mhz
>version of the current systems in the Fall.
>
Thanks, I can read the rumors column like anyone else ;-). I was hoping to get
a comment or two from an HP employee <carefully waving six-pack of beer around>

I'm also interested in the cost of the TI floating-point chip when compared to
the other HP-PA stuff, and if the floating-point chip could be made a socketed
option...

>>Will they be offering complementary low-end machines to the Snake? Have any
>>other companies considered licensing PA-RISC? 
>
>I don't think Hitachi is in anyway involved with the snakes and doesn't plan
>to be.  They will introduce their own line as I recall sometime in the not
>so distant future.

I am referring to marketing strategy. Sun has very successfully (to this date)
worked a "Middle of the Road" approach, letting Solbourne and others work on
either faster/stronger/multiprocessor options and affordable/cheaper/commodity
machines (such as the CompuAdd box). 

Hitachi and a Korean manufacturer (name escapes me) have licensed HP-PA. If
they don't have something which is binary-compatible with the HP-PA lines, I'd
be really surprised. Kinda waste of time and money....


     Signature envy: quality of some people to put 24+ lines in their .sigs
  -- >                  SYSMGR@CADLAB.ENG.UMD.EDU                        < --