Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!munnari.oz.au!uniwa!vax6!chooper
From: CHOOPER@acad.cut.oz (Todd Hooper)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Low-Cost Macintosh
Message-ID: <1926@acad.cut.oz>
Date: 6 Feb 90 04:40:17 GMT
References: <126900165@p.cs.uiuc.edu> <25c8e25c.62bb@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU>
Organization: Curtin University of Technology
Lines: 36

In article <25c8e25c.62bb@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU>, rcfische@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Raymond C. Fischer) writes:

>[stuff deleted]
> 
> As for the 68000 being outdated, nonsense!  Video game machines and
> word processors are still being developed with 8-bit 6502's and Z80's.

Hmmm. Not strictly true. Remember Atari's 'Pole Position'? That came out
quite some time ago and it used THREE fast Z80 processors plus a whole
bunch of graphics and sound hardware. A friend in the industry tells
me that some of the new machines use 32 bit CPU's and extremely high speeds
to achieve realtime 3D e.g. Namco's 'Polygonizer'.

> The fact that the 68000 has been around a while is irrelevent; it
> still gets the job done.  Most programs run just as well on a 68000 as
> on a 68030 (maybe better considering some of the problems people have 
> been having with the IIci  :-) ).
> 
> Some people are so hard to please.

The fact is the 68000 Macs are outdated, and a PC priced at half the cost
of a Mac will blow the Mac socks off. I should know, I have the misfortune
to use twin-floppy networked Macs often. Believe me, they are SLOW! It seems
to take forever to startup, open the Control Panel or Chooser, etc.

I believe Apple will have to produce a lower cost Mac II level machine in
the near future. Isn't there a product release this month??

--
Todd Hooper                                                Computing Centre
                                            Curtin University of Technology
PSImail: psi%050529452300070::CHOOPER                     Western Australia
ACSnet : CHOOPER@acad.cut.oz
Bitnet : CHOOPER%acad.curtin.edu.au%munnari.oz@cunyvm.bitnet
UUCP   : {enea,mcvax,uunet,ubc-cs,ukc}!munnari!acad.curtin.edu.au!CHOOPER
Phone  : +61 9 351 7467 (24 hour messaging system) Fax +61 9 351 2673