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From: carlos@tybalt.caltech.edu (Carlos Salinas)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: NEXT and the 68040?
Message-ID: <1990Mar10.033031.6151@spectre.ccsf.caltech.edu>
Date: 10 Mar 90 03:30:31 GMT
References: <7910@tank.uchicago.edu> <8255@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> <11036@june.cs.washington.edu>
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hood@cs.washington.edu (Rick Hood) writes:

>>>>>> On 9 Mar 90 01:48:06 GMT, gerrit@nova.cc.purdue.edu (Gerrit) said:

>Gerrit> In article <7910@tank.uchicago.edu>
>Gerrit> phd_jacquier@gsbacd.uchicago.edu writes:
>>
>>This does not augur well of the commitment of NEXT to put out a version
>>of the Next with the 68040 any time soon. Does anybody know what is
>>going on behind the scene?

>Gerrit> My sources say that NeXT is definitely working with the 68040.
>Gerrit> If you have more specific questions about the directions of
>Gerrit> NeXT, talk with your local NeXT rep.  All of the NeXT reps I've
>Gerrit> dealt with know what is going on and are willing to discuss
>Gerrit> directions and products in at least some detail.

>Gerrit> I personally think that they are holding off on announcing
>Gerrit> release dates until they are positive that they will be able to
>Gerrit> make the new product available on that date.  For those who
>Gerrit> haven't talked to your NeXT reps lately, though, go ask them
>Gerrit> what NeXT expects to have available in the NeXT nine months or
>Gerrit> so, especially if you are worried that they aren't competing
>Gerrit> with some of the newly introduced or soon to be introduced
>Gerrit> machines.  Then add up the whole picture and see how it relates
>Gerrit> to you.

>Gerrit> gerrit

>Last week I attended a two day workshop on the IB wherein our regional
>sales manager responded to a question about an 040 machine.  Basically,
>he said that even if NeXT was working on such a machine, one shouldn't
>look for it anytime soon.  Those are pretty close to his exact words.

>Recent press reports have estimated that NeXT's sales have been less
>that spectacular.  I would guess that their dandy factory may have
>churned out quite a little inventory by now, and such statements may be

With all the new software being developed and color by the end of 1990,
NeXT sales will definitely pick up. As for the factory, NeXT does not
keep an inventory. NeXT practices just in time manufacturing.

>interest was that NeXT intends to build the best box overall, not the
>fastest; the best value for the money, not the cheapest.  Still, it's

Anybody can build a fast machine. The key to using the CPU power is
the user interface. NeXT has by far the best user interface on any Unix
machine (read the article in MIPS). However, user interface implementation
is still in its infancy. The responsiveness of interfaces such as NextStep
is increasing. Just compare .8 and .9 to 1.0 on the cube. 1.0 is noticeably
faster. (I hope the trend continues into later versions. It's not good to
develop a dependency on the hardware.)

>clear they recognize that price is important.  Given the agressive
>pricing of IBM's latest entries I would imagine 030 cubes will come down
>in price when 040's are available.  All the more reason to discourage
>folks from waiting for the 040's debut.

NeXT is a savvy corporation, they know that price is important. However, 
NeXT is a small corporation. NeXT can't afford to lower it's prices. One has
to consider all the intagibles when buying a NeXT, like support (ex: the 40meg
drive, and the 1 year warranty), and vision. Do the other corporations
offer you a better more productive way of working with the computer? Sure
you get a faster box, but in most aspects you aren't any better off than you
were ten/fifteen years ago. NeXT is not merely a computer, its also a better
way of computing.

>What are others hearing out there?

Carlos Salinas					carlos@eeyore.caltech.edu
NeXT Campus Consultant				(Above is a NeXT account.)
Caltech