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From: rca@cs.brown.edu (Ronald C.F. Antony)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.next
Subject: design choices (was Re: What do I want to see in the Apple of the 90's?)
Message-ID: <23331@brunix.UUCP>
Date: 19 Dec 89 18:51:12 GMT
References: <23147@brunix.UUCP> <3362@hub.UUCP>
Sender: news@brunix.UUCP
Reply-To: rca@cs.brown.edu (Ronald C.F. Antony)
Organization: Brown University Department of Computer Science
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>Rather, I was trying to show that putting Ether on the motherboard and not
>also including enough open architecture features was probably not the best
>design decision.

I think what NeXT was considerd was the LAN's in the businesses.
About 50$ more per system does not matter (50$=my estimation of
the ethernet controler chip) if you consider the price of the
machine. However if ppl discover the use of the network without
expecting it (they buy the machine without networking in mind)
they will consider that it is a real bargain (think of the 500$
you would have to pay for a ethernet card...). This again should
be good for the sales.

I hope of course, that when it becomes more pressing to have 
solutions for the issues you raised (networking cities/states 
over the phonenet/fiber optics) that there will be solutions in
form of adapters or add-in boards.

Ronald
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists
in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the
unreasonable man." - Bernhard Shaw | rca@cs.brown.edu or antony@cogsci.bitnet