Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ncar!bierstadt.scd.ucar.edu!hpoppe
From: hpoppe@bierstadt.scd.ucar.edu (Herb Poppe)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Low-Cost Macintosh
Message-ID: <6192@ncar.ucar.edu>
Date: 2 Feb 90 16:01:16 GMT
References: <126900165@p.cs.uiuc.edu> <25c8e25c.62bb@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU>
Sender: news@ncar.ucar.edu
Organization: Scientific Computing Division/NCAR, Boulder, CO
Lines: 46

In article <25c8e25c.62bb@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU> rcfische@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Raymond C. Fischer) writes:
>
>In article <126900165@p.cs.uiuc.edu> gillies@p.cs.uiuc.edu writes:
>>...
>>The time has come to bury the 8Mhz 68000.  Apple should use an 8Mhz
>>68030.  I am astounded that they are still trying to dump 8Mhz 68000's
>>on consumers -- the chip is more than a decade old.  A japanese
>>businessman would hang his head in shame.
>>
>This appears to be another one of those poorly thought out complaints
>along the lines of "I want a 30MHz 68040 and 4 mbytes of RAM with color
>for $1000".  You get what you pay for!
>
>The 68030 runs about $200.  A 68000 can be had for about $8.
>The cost of faster components and a 32-bit bus make it utterly
>unreasonable to expect Apple to sell such a system for under $1000.
>...
What Apple and Motorola need to do to tackle this problem is to take
a lesson from the PC world. From a software point of view, the 80286
became a dead dog (listen to Bill Gates; he's telling PC users what
they are going to get). But it has a 16 bit external bus. A lot of
cheap clones could be made and sold with a chip that had the 386
architecture, except with a 16 bit, rather than 32 bit, external data bus.
So Intel came out with the 386SX.

To a much lesser degree, the 68000 is also a dead dog, with respect to
future directions in Mac OS software. A "low cost", 16 bit external data
bus part, packaged in a cheap plastic DIP, that is software compatible
with the 68030 would make a great platform for a new line of Macs.
Make it a CMOS part and it could be used in a new Portable (it would
also reduce the power requirements or a non-portable, permitting a
cheaper power supply).

Apple must be Motorola's largest customer for 68000s. If Apple wanted
to build such a machine, Motorola would sell enough chips to make
it worth their while.

So get with it Motorola, and build a MC68HC036 in 8 and 16MHZ parts.
Apple, use the 8MHZ part in a K-12 Mac and an ultra-lite portable;
use the 16MHZ part in a new line of compact, modular Macs.
(Can a MC68HC046 be far behind?)

--
Herb Poppe      NCAR                         INTERNET: hpoppe@ncar.ucar.edu
(303) 497-1296  P.O. Box 3000                   CSNET: hpoppe@ncar.CSNET
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