ee65xdh@sdcc7.UUCP (JAMES HAYES) (01/18/85)
While is Las Vegas, I had the experience of seeing what I think will be a problem to Apple. A big problem. They are billed as the ATARI 130ST (128K) -and- ATARI 150ST (512K).. {Sound familiar so far?} Here's the poop: Disk-Drives: 3.5 inch with 250K or 500K(REALLY!) 3.5 inch HARD-DISK. (OPTIONAL) Printer: Color Dot Matrix, Non Impact, 50CPS (Thermal Transfer) Daisy Wheel Letter Quality, 12CPS (Impact, what else?) Dot Matrix, 80CPS (Impact) Monitors: 12" High Resolution, Monochrome 12" RGB Color (High resolution, needless to say..) Memory: 128K 512K (No specs. on speed given.) 196k OF ROM!!! (Expandable to 523k of ROM!!) {No more loading!} Display: Individually addressable 32K bit-mapped screen 3 graphics modes 329 x 200 in 16 colors \ -512 Colors (8 levels of Red, Blue, Green) 640 x 200 in 4 colors / 640 x 400 in monochrome Architecture: 16/32 bit Motorola 68000 microprocessor 8 32 bit data regs. 8 32 bit address regs. 16 bit data bus 24 bit address bus 7 levels of interupts 56 instructions 14 addressing modes 5 data types Data Storage: High-speed hard-disk interface DMA at 1.33 Megs a second! Cartridge access Integrated Floppy Disk controller (IFD=IWM from Apple) Sound and Music: 30 Hz to above audible range 3 voices (channels for tri-phonic sound) Separate frequency and volume controls Dynamic envelope controls, ADSR, and noise. "MIDI" (?) interface to hook up synthesizers Keyboard: Ergonomic height and angle 18 key-numeric keypad Separate CPU to run keyboard 10 function keys Undo, Help, Backspace, Insert, Clear/Home, CTRL, ESC, Caps-lock Video Ports: Standard Television (RF) Low-res composite video (NTSC) Medium-res (RGB) High-res (ATARIchrome monitor) Communications: Centronics RS-232C High-speed hard disk interface Joystick ports (2) one for mouse (TWO BUTTONS.) Languages: BASIC LOGO (more to be announced.) BASIC SYSTEM: ************** * < 1,000 $$ * ************** Overall impressions? Favorable. When I walked by the Atari booth, I mistook the display for a MacIntosh. My curiosity was piqued. (at least!) The Atari Finder was up and running while an Atari rep. was demonstrating. I wanted to play, but go caught. "DON'T TOUCH PLEASE!" Anyway, Apple has something to worry about. -------------------------------------------------------------------- If you would like anymore information on new products anounced at C.E.S. I will be happy to reply. Me: James Hayes US Snail: P.O. Box 7378, La Jolla CA 92037 Ma-Bell: (619) 455-1195 Net: {ucbvax,sdchema,inhp4,ucivax, bmcg,sdcrdcf,akgua}!sdcsvax!sdcc7!ee65xdh ~Speed isn't everything. You have to be right sometime... :-) ~ --------------------------------------------------------------------
furuta@uw-beaver (Richard Furuta) (01/21/85)
In article <1346@sdcc7.UUCP> ee65xdh@sdcc7.UUCP (JAMES HAYES) writes: >While is Las Vegas, I had the experience of seeing what I think will >be a problem to Apple. A big problem. > >They are billed as the ATARI 130ST (128K) > -and- ATARI 150ST (512K).. {Sound familiar so far?} ... >Overall impressions? > >Favorable. When I walked by the Atari booth, I mistook the display >for a MacIntosh. My curiosity was piqued. (at least!) > >The Atari Finder was up and running while an Atari rep. was >demonstrating. I wanted to play, but go caught. "DON'T TOUCH >PLEASE!" > >Anyway, Apple has something to worry about. > > There have been a number of articles posted to this group and to fa.info-mac recently describing this machine. A number of the authors have also indicated that they think that "Apple is in trouble." I tend to doubt it. For one, if I remember correctly, the Atari machine is promising to deliver in the last quarter of this year. That's quite a time away and given the history of this past year, I'd expect that there are going to be many new interesting price adjustments (that will probably annoy those of us who've already purchased Macs) as Apple announces new versions in the line. Second, this is capitalism we have here and Apple is talking about spending something like $100 million on advertising this year. I doubt that Atari is going to even come close to matching it. I tend to hold my judgement on a machine that exists in prototype form with a configuration that isn't stable enough that passers-by aren't allowed to touch. There's a couple of pretty subtle factors that play in here, in addition to the sledgehammer of $100 million advertising. One is that the packaging of the Atari system sounds like it is going to be far more traditional one with many little pieces as opposed to the Macintosh's bundled design. This might not seem important to us, but I suspect that the more pieces you break the computer into, the more potential customers you alienate. I don't know if Apple really understood what they were doing with the Mac's packaging, but they seem to have wound up with a unit with an appearance that is surprisingly non-threatening to the computer novice. The early reports sound like Atari's system isn't as strong in this respect. My belief is that Consumers' Reports is right this time. The power of the Macintosh is that it has managed to provide an easily accessible entry for the many people who want to use computers but who are put off by the complexity of other systems' hardware and software. I've heard too many stories about people who had previously refused to use computers who subsequently enjoyed using the Macintosh to doubt Consumers' Reports this time. The things that bug us, like the slowness in starting up an application, are quite irrelevant. The indication seems to be that Apple plans to go for the high end market (read "business") this year (witness the fact that they actually ran that heavy handed ad with the lemming-like business people walking off of a cliff). I suspect the effect of this on the low-end market is going to be that the 128K Mac is still going to be viewed as a high quality computer by the general public and one that one should aspire to own. I doubt that Atari is going to be able to get a similar kind of image for their system. --Rick
spector@acf4.UUCP (David HM Spector) (01/22/85)
One problem. Its not compatible with the Macintosh. That alone will ring its death knell. Remember, by the time Tramiel's machines make the marketplace (IF they make it there), it will be late spring. There will be many hundreds, of not thousands of packages for the Macintosh. There are already hundreds of commercial packages, and thousands of public domain programs out there. Another important point. Lotus is not going to re-write Jazz for Atari. - David HM Spector NYU/acf Systems Group Arpa: Spector@nyu-cmcl1.ARPA UUCP: ...!allegra!cmcl2!cmcl1!spector