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From: glenn@heaven.woodside.ca.us (Glenn Reid)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: 20 Meg Floppies
Message-ID: <484@heaven.woodside.ca.us>
Date: 4 May 91 18:06:12 GMT
References: <1991May3.103620.14757@gmuvax2.gmu.edu>
Sender: glenn@heaven.woodside.ca.us
Lines: 26

ppham@gmuvax2.gmu.edu writes
> I agree 2.88 is not much of an improvment over 1.44s and much of a
> disappointment after the 256Meg ODs. 20-80megs w/ decent access times
> sounds like the perfect solution.... 

Perfect for some things, not for others.  There are several uses for
removable media, but the most important ones are these:

	* software distribution
	* system backup
	* file exchange

For software distribution, the cheaper the media, the better.  To
distribute a 200k application on a 256Mb optical disk was ridiculous.
To put it on a 20Mb disk isn't as ridiculous, but it will fit
nicely on a 1.44Kb floppy.  The main reason NeXT went to the
2.88 floppy disk drive was because everybody asked for it, and
software developers were among the more vocal.  Even if you can
factor the media price into the cost of the software, you have to
consider updates, bug fixes, and so forth.  That adds up to a lot
of disks over time.

--
 Glenn Reid				RightBrain Software
 glenn@heaven.woodside.ca.us		NeXT/PostScript developers
 ..{adobe,next}!heaven!glenn		415-851-1785 (fax 851-1470)