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From: grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Wishlist for A3000
Message-ID: <2729@cbmvax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 11-Nov-87 13:39:00 EST
Article-I.D.: cbmvax.2729
Posted: Wed Nov 11 13:39:00 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 14-Nov-87 02:28:37 EST
References: <74@mithras>
Reply-To: grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins)
Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA
Lines: 82
Keywords: Commodore A3000 Do it RIGHT!

In article <74@mithras> sims@stsci.EDU (Jim Sims) writes:
> This is not a lame, but an honest attempt to try to steer Commodore in the
> direction that Amiga owners want to go.
> 
>  I think a lot (evan a little!) prior planning and input from the USERS
> (that's CUSTOMERS to you marketing types) would go a long way toward:
> 
>  (1) Better machines for US
>  (2) More SALES for commodore

These are good things.
 
>  After seeing all the flames and dissappointment from the release of the 2000,
> I think it's up to US to speak out in a positive way to insure the next
> generation is what we want.

There have been a lot of flames and some expressions of dissapointment here,
but don't assume that this represents the universal opinion.  Lots of people,
A1000 owners among them have been buying A2000's.  Some of them even think
that the A2000 is a good idea and might even be better than the A1000!

> So, my list looks like this:
> 
>  (1) Use the 68030 CPU (sample quantities are available now)

	At the current pricing, the 68030 costs almost one hundred times
	the price of a 68000 and several times that of a 68020.  In time
	it will come down, but you probably won't see an affordable 68030
	based system for another year or so, regardless of any Atari smoke...
 
>  (2) Incorporate changes in ADOS to allow VIRTUAL memory

	A good idea, but fairly difficult.  Of course you want virtual memory
	without overhead.  Note that most of the people who want big memory
	aren't running one big program, rather they want to have a lot of
	programs resident and a big ramdisk, etc.  The availability of cheap
	hard drives should ease the need for this memory hogging.
 
>  (3) Use the NUBUS (I think apple made a pretty good choice and compatibility
>                     would only hurt IBM) (have you looked at uChannel? sick!)

	We would get shot.  The A2000 bus may not be fancy, but it gets the
	job done.  Changing it again, just when A2000 format I/O cards are
	starting to be available would be silly.  Perhaps some compatible
	extension is needed for 32-bits, or maybe it should be considered
	a 16-bit I/O bus, with 32-bit memory plugged in elsewhere.

>  (4) Built-in SCSI or ESMD controller (DMA, please)
 
	No problem.  Do you mean ESMD or ESDI?  Personally, I've got hundreds
	of megabytes of SMD disk at home, but I'm not sure this would be a
	big seller.

>  (5) 256 out of 16 meg colors (current industry standard IS good enough)

	Uh, it's a good starting point, however one needs to give attention
	to making it extensible, rather than designing in something that seems
	adequate, but can't be enhanced in a compatible fashion.

> That's my top five. I don't think COST is TERRIBLY important. I'd buy the
> above if it cost comparable to the MAC II.

	If Commodore *ever* sells something as overpriced as the typical
	Apple product, we deserve to be shot.
 
> P.S. Un*x support would be nice also. (notice I said nice, not req)

	No problem.  8-)

> Lets let Commodore know what we want and what we'll pay. Otherwise, we
> have only US to blame if they leave out YOUR favorite item.

	I don't mean to criticize your ideas, just to bring up some of the
	arguments surrounding them.  I think you might want to give some thought
	to whether you are trying to define a high-dollar workstation with a
	Commodore nametag on it, or an affordable computer system that can do
	all the things that a brand-x workstation can do today...

-- 
George Robbins - now working for,	uucp: {ihnp4|rutgers|allegra}!cbmvax!grr
but no way officially representing	arpa: out to lunch...
Commodore, Engineering Department	fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)