Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
From: lshaw@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (logan shaw)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc
Subject: Re: Revised Amiga line
Message-ID: <48393@ut-emx.uucp>
Date: 3 May 91 23:35:52 GMT
References: <4778@orbit.cts.com>
Sender: news@ut-emx.uucp
Reply-To: lshaw@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (logan shaw)
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin
Lines: 53

In article <4778@orbit.cts.com> chucks@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Erik Funkenbusch) writes:
>peterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY) writes:
>>In article <1991Apr29.165747.10393@sbcs.sunysb.edu> dtiberio@eeserv1.ic.sunysb.edu (David Tiberio) writes:
>>>In article <4702@orbit.cts.com> chucks@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Erik Funkenbusch) writes:
>>>>1) An EXTREMELY low cost 500.  this would be a totally re-designed 500
>>>>motherboard with ECS, NO Zorro expansion, built-in scsi, and a Pizza box
>>Hmm, you want to *add* things: SCSI, separated keyboard. How on earth
>>do you think that will make it *cheaper*???
>
>Peter, (i hope you don't mind my getting on a first name basis, if so, please
>tell me) i said add scsi, but take away expansion.


How much money do you think is going to be saved by taking away the
expansion port?  It's not all that complicated a bit of hardware.

>                                                   i didn't say the keyboard
>needed to be detatchable, as obosed to just being on a cord.  it could be set
>up so that it was difficult to dis-connect the keyboard.  thus reducing the
>chance that people would remove the keyboard while the system was on.  the
>expensive parts of a removable keyboard over a non-removable are that they
>must have safeguard circuitry in case the keyboard is removed with the power
>on.  if this were made much more difficult, the circuitry need not be there. 

The problem with having a detachable keyboard (whether unpluggable or
not) is that it requires you to have twice as many pieces of plastic
and you can't use the current 500 case.  It would cost C= money to
design the new case, and to get the mass production of it up to speed.

>i also said, in my original post that adding SCSI WOULD increase the cost but
>i felt the net cost reduction from removing the expansion would make it
>cheaper.

That's nice and everything, but I think the cost of designing your
product, getting it in mass production, and continuing to produce two
versions would probably dwarf any of the cost savings gained by
eliminating the expansion port.

Personally, I think they ought to drop the A501 idea, and just put 1
megabyte in every machine while they're at it.  _So_ many people buy
A501s that's it's silly to not include them.  (It would be neat if
they put space for maybe 2 megs of fast ram on the motherboard...)

At any rate, I'm not so sure Commodore's going to do it anyway, so
this whole thing probably doesn't matter one bit...

  -Logan

-- 
   //  # "He said that He had your number; you cut the telephone line.
 \X/   #  You said you needed a reason; He said 'there ain't much time.'
 Logan #  You kept trying to avoid it; He kept knocking on the door.
 Shaw  #  In a flash it was over; you were a prisoner of war."  -Rez Band