Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!lll-winken!uunet!munnari!muller
From: muller@munnari.oz (Paul Muller)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: NeXT alternatives
Summary: My feelings about NeXT vs. the big boys (Apple, IBM & M-Soft)
Message-ID: <2721@munnari.oz>
Date: 6 Apr 89 12:34:07 GMT
References: <12192@reed.UUCP>
Lines: 37



I feel fairly strongly about the NeXT and what it stands for, which is
funny, as I have never used one (being in Aus, I don't think they are even
thinking about selling them here... :-(  ) but maybe I have just become
brainwashed by all the mag articles....

The thing that strikes me as important about the NeXT is that Steve could
have quite easily called on some industry heavyweights to add punch to his
creation, but it seems he has chosen not to. Can anyone from Microsoft, Lotus
, Ashton-Tate, Borland tell me if the company has been given a 'freebie' to get some software
action going? I would guess not, looking at Steves decision to go University
only smells to me as though Steve is trying to give some bright new talent
(like himself and Wozniac) a go at making the industry more interesting,
which God knows it needs, DOES ANYONE CARE ABOUT OS/2 ANYMORE?

I think that IBM come out with some nice hardware (mainly compatible mfrs),
boring, fast, nice. Apple have done a nice thing with the Mac, fast, clean,
and much more interesting than IBM stuff. There are other mfrs, but they
can't stand a chance against the big two in the micro game, and let's face
it, not even Sun has the volume of these guys, different markets, but with
the speeds of the lower end stuff creeping up, I wouldn't let marketing people
try and calm me if I was in Sun's shoes.
Now Jobs has a GREAT machine, fast, new, interesting (read:buggy!) and just
happens to be a new face that may just pump some much needed chaos into
the game.

This may be a rather naive view, and if you are buying hardware in the next
(NeXT?) year, my sympathies, but I do feel that the NeXT is more than good
enough to do the Job (ha!) and could well get some Uni students playing
some nice tricks in a California garage somewhere, they could call themselves
Grape or something juicey....... (sorry :-(  )
paul

Please note that everything I said above was a product of my mind and
therefore subject to the natural disaster act. For assistance recovering from
reading the above call a local emergency service of your choice.