Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!smsc.sony.com!amir
From: amir@smsc.sony.com (Amir )
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Yet Another Killer Micro?
Message-ID: <1990Mar1.175823.10643@smsc.sony.com>
Date: 1 Mar 90 17:58:23 GMT
References: <50437@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV>
Reply-To: amir@Sony.COM (Amir )
Organization: Sony Microsystems Corp.
Lines: 46

In article <50437@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV> brooks@maddog.llnl.gov (Eugene Brooks) writes:
>After seeing IBM's THREE PAGE add in the Wall Street Journal
>I guess that Motorola decided that it could not sit quiet any
>longer.  Motorola featured a full page add preparing us for an
>announcement (presumably in the same paper) on the 5'th.
 
Here is the info that I have heard Motorola has leaked in UK.  The workstations
are supposed to be based on 88000.  They are also supposed to have "higher
resolution" than IBM systems (whatever that means).  The killer is that
they claim the price would be 35% lower and would have comparable
performance!  I can't imagine how the current 88K would have this level
of performance.  Even the 33 Mhz version would not be able to match the IBM box
in floating point.

Talking about the price, I noticed that the hard disk is standard but
ethernet board is not in the IBM systems.  This doesn't make much sense.
Is this really true?  If so, how much is the ethernet card?  Also, if it
is a microchannel card, what are the chances of it being high performance?
Hopefully, it is not a PS/2 card....

>Any comments or speculations? Will it be an IBM killer?
>Will this monthly rabbit hop in performance between the vendors
>ever end?  Will Killer Micros reach a saturation point in performance
>any time soon?
 
I don't see how it is going to be an IBM killer.  Motorola still needs to
prove that it can be a computer company and not just a semiconductor company.
It has failed everytime in the past.  Also, it is not clear how it is going
keep its OEMs happy if it starts to compete with them.

Also, as I mentioned before, unless it uses the next generation 88K
(superscaler?), it is not going to win as far as absolute performance is
concerned.

>    NO ONE WILL SURVIVE THE ATTACK OF THE KILLER MICROS!

Agreed. Specially if they are standing still or taking a long time to come
out with a product....

>brooks@maddog.llnl.gov, brooks@maddog.uucp

-- 
Amir H. Majidimehr
Operating Systems Group
Sony Microsystems
amir@smsc.sony.com | ...!{uunet,mips}!sonyusa!amir