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From: melling@cs.psu.edu (Michael D Mellinger)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: AMIGA
Message-ID: <=-bG-!+=1@cs.psu.edu>
Date: 4 May 91 17:29:55 GMT
References: <1991Jan10.194127.20625@rice.edu> <17564@cbmvax.commodore.com>
	<1991Jan15.015644.24380@rice.edu>
	<1991Jan15.024807.25384@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu>
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In-Reply-To: rjc@pogo.ai.mit.edu's message of 15 Jan 91 02:48:07 GMT
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In article <1991Jan15.024807.25384@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> rjc@pogo.ai.mit.edu (Ray Cromwell) writes:


    If would be useful if the NeXT actually used it effectively, and shared it.
   Wouldn't it be nice if NeXT software could be compiled to multiprocess with
   the DSP and the 68040? Wouldn't it be nice if someone implemented a software
   version of the Discrete Cosine Transform so all NeXT users could have
   JPEG compression instead of just NeXTDimension?

What do you mean by multiprocess the DSP and 68040?  They both run at
the same time(this can't be what you meant).

     MIPS and MFLOPS are pretty much meaningless as benchmarks. I've heard
   motorola quotes of 25mips and 3 mflops on a 68040, this was 1 year ago.
   It has yet to be seen.

Moto. claimed 20 mips and 3.5Mflops.  NeXT tells you what you get:
15mips and 2.5Mflops

    Maybe I should reciprocate?
    The NeXT makes a great...umm..uh..I dunno, it really has no market, I guess
   its a great Unix Workstation, but I'll hold off on that until I see
   the next generation of Sparc Machines.

Hang on.  Let's what till...doesn't cut it.  The new Sparc II's are
out.  Waiting for the NeXT generation doesn't cut it.  We'll compare
EVERYONES next generation with everyone elses when the time comes.

    I seriously doubt you were being sincere in saying something nice. Everyone
   knows the 'game machine' image is something Amiga has been trying to get
   rid of for years. Its more of an insult. The Amiga does have great games,
   but that's not all it is, clearly its one of the best multimedia machines
   around, and has enjoyed a great hardware architecture for years, before the
   NeXT was even dreamed of.

True. The Amiga used to look damn impressive.  Now the Mac is starting
to move into it's market.  What exactly do you do with a multimedia
machine anyway?  Play the "Killing Game Show"?

    When 68040 boards are released for the Amiga soon, what will be your
   arguement then? The DSP? What if the 68040 board contains a 96001/2 DSP
   (surpassing the NeXT) Then what?

Soon.  I've got Amigoids telling me the 040 is here.  I bet Amiga OS
2.0 is almost here for the entire Amiga line too.  And to answer your
last question, what if the Sun explodes and we all die tomorrow?

     I think comparing machines with faster cpu clocks/newer processors is
   dumb. Just as soon as 040s ship, 040 cards will be out for the Amiga, so
   for now, how about comparing the NeXT/030 to the Amiga3000? Or how
   about ending this thread. If you don't want to buy an Amiga, you can
   always by a NeXT. Hanging around in Amiga constantly bombarding
   Amiga users with comparisions presents a negative image to potential
   buyers Try bugging the IBM groups, or the Sun/Sparc groups and see what
   they think of Sun Sparc vs NeXT.

Because NeXT doesn't sell an 030 machine!!!!  Therefore, you're going
to have to wait longer for it than the 040 machine.

-Mike