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From: mitsu@well.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.micro.amiga
Subject: Re: A wierd thought...
Message-ID: <1313@well.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 20-Jun-86 20:23:33 EDT
Article-I.D.: well.1313
Posted: Fri Jun 20 20:23:33 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 22-Jun-86 07:21:45 EDT
References: <8606171712.AA03947@cory.Berkeley.EDU> <864@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>
Reply-To: mitsu@well.UUCP (Mitsuharu Hadeishi)
Organization: Whole Earth Lectronic Link, Sausalito CA
Lines: 34


	In re: VAX vs. SuperAmiga . . .
	First of all, the 68020 CAN support virtual addressing if the
proper support hardware is available.  But the real point is that
the Amiga is a microcomputer and as such is designed for one user and
one user only.  This is the beauty of the microcomputer concept; one
user, one computer.  Having the raw processor power of a VAX for one
user at a relatively reasonable price is quite a real comparison; a
single user doesn't need 48 serial ports, but s/he might like a
150 megabyte disk drive, four or so megabytes of RAM, and MacSyma
or Home SMP at her/his disposal, plus telecommunications, graphics,
etc. . . The applications for so much power at so small and compact
a scale are yet to be imagined but certainly not beyond the human
imagination to conceive.  There is a real, tangible comparison possible
for the VAX timesharer vs. the SuperAmiga; having the computer on
the desk can really increase productivity if used intelligently.
With a single user you don't have to worry about such things as
system crashes so much; rebooting an Amiga, even a SuperAmiga (Ranger
or A2000) takes only seconds.  "Task helds" can be sent to the back until
you've cleaned up your work, at which point you can reboot; of course,
properly written software should not crash at all, so this is a problem
that should be common only to the developer.  Running data analysis on
a Ranger-class microcomputer can be significantly faster than on a
timeshared VAX; plus the data can be incorporated into a word processor
and printed on the spot, perhaps with a page layout program, etc., etc.;
All of this is very possible and doable now or in the near future
on an Amiga; the new hardware boxes from Byte by Byte and CSA, to
mention two, are very fast (the CSA box is rumored to allow drives
with approx 18 us seek time), and, again, for a single user this is
tremendous performance.  The real comparison is: how much good work
can be done by a human being on a VAX vs. a SuperAmiga?  A Sun
vs. a SuperAmiga?  And what are the price/performance ratios involved?
The Amiga clearly comes out ahead for a wide variety of users.
			-Mitsu (mitsu@well.UUCP)