Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!cmcl2!esquire!sbb
From: sbb@esquire.UUCP (Stephen B. Baumgarten)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: A Few Good Rumors...
Keywords: A/UX Unix FullWriter
Message-ID: <330@esquire.UUCP>
Date: 18 Feb 88 04:32:55 GMT
References: <1406@csib.csi.UUCP> <1575@uhccux.UUCP>
Reply-To: sbb@esquire.UUCP (Stephen B. Baumgarten)
Organization: DP&W, New York, NY
Lines: 28

In article <1575@uhccux.UUCP> uhccux!medix!martin (Brian K. Martin, M.D.) writes:
>I've heard rumors of a 68030 workstation from Apollo priced under $5,000, due
>out some time this year. Considering that Apollo supports BSD4.3, System V.3,
>X windows, NFS, a sophisticated user interface management system that you can
>use to build mac-like interfaces, network computing (an implementation of
>course-grained parallel computing using workstations on the network as parallel
>processors), and that Apollo supports an AT bus (so that you can add cheap
>peripherals) and bundles in your choice of an Ethernet or token ring board,
>I wonder if Apple will be forced to drop their Mac II prices. Or would people
>be willing to pay a premium just because it's a Macintosh?

That's exactly it.  Remember, your Mac II running A/UX can also run real live
useful applications as well (not that Unix isn't useful, but...).  The Apollo,
on the other hand, runs what in the way of software?  I don't know, but it
sure ain't as good as Illustrator, PageMaker, etc., etc.  And please, no
flames from the TeX/troff junkies...  :-)

To paraphrase Mr. Oster, "A Mac II makes a poor Apollo, and an Apollo makes a
poor Mac II."

By the way, the only "sophisticated user interface management system" I've seen
running on an Apollo (or a Sun for that matter) looks suspiciously like
multiple color windows with lots of scrolling text in them.  Whoopee!  :-)

-- 
   Steve Baumgarten             | "New York... when civilization falls apart,
   Davis Polk & Wardwell        |  remember, we were way ahead of you."
   ...!cmcl2!esquire!sbb        |                           - David Letterman