Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!psuvax1!psuvm!UMSLVMA!C4898 From: C4898@UMSLVMA.BITNET (Larry Pickett) Newsgroups: bit.listserv.liaison Subject: Re: micro vs mini vs mainframe Message-ID: Date: 5 Feb 90 21:58:22 GMT Sender: Network Site Liaisons Reply-To: Network Site Liaisons Lines: 15 Approved: NETNEWS@PSUVM Gateway X-Acknowledge-To: In-Reply-To: Message of Mon, 5 Feb 90 11:48:32 PST from On Mon, 5 Feb 90 11:48:32 PST Richard Hintz said: >Our equipment classification people are trying to come up with a >way to distinguish among micro, mini, and mainframe computers >which is likely to be recognized as technology marches on. > >One metric suggested was number of users supported? Comments? Any absolute metric you care to come up with will lose its value quickly. Todays micro is yesterdays mainframe equivalent. The three levels are marks on a continuum and only useful in relation to each other. And you left out Super which seems to have developed a meaning of more than mainframe. For example is a MAC II a micro or a mini. Micro you say? What if it's running A/UX and more than one person comes in with a terminal? One of our past directors defined a micro as smaller than the mainframe and was teased about that simplistic definition for years - now I think he was as right as one could be.