Squonk@UMass.BITNET (07/18/86)
In WORKS Digest Volume 6, Issue 20 (Wed 16-May-86) Jonathan Clark (jhc@mtune.UUCP) replies to my comments and brings up some interesting points which I comment on herein. Dont get me wrong; I LIKE the AT&T Unix PC and would seriously consider one at a lower price. >> >A few digests ago I requested information on the AT&T Unix PC. I >> >recieved [sic] 4 responses. >> I don't think that we ever got this article, and we are pretty >> well connected. If we didn't get it then half of AT&T didn't get >> it either. The article arrived in WORKS Digest, Volume 6, Issue 17 (Wed, 14-May-86). One response was from an AT&T employee who was VERY happy with his Unix PCs. Two were for the 3B2, which is indeed another beast. >> >a sizable sum for the 23M tape backup unit (which is essential), >> Actually we have found that a mixture of backing up to floppies >> and via uucp works tolerably well. Most of the disk space is taken >> up with the supplied software, which needn't be backed up at all. Scenario: My 67M disk has 10M of Unix 'stuff', say another 5-10M of database code. I then fill say 30M of the disk with database entries. If your floppy takes ~330k and you have to back off 30M of data, you will be wanting a tape backup unit. >> >and an Ethernet iterface [sic] (I have no evidence one exists), >> No comment is a comment. Someday.. The way I understand it, you can get 2 serial ports per card. If you want a 5 user system you will use up two of your three card slots. If you need the tape backup will that not take up your third slot? Where does your network (Ethernet or otherwise) fit in? Could you 'not comment' on an expansion box? >> > If you are buying a brand new 40M drive and 1M of 256K parts >> > (150ns) you might pay half of what AT&T charges (my price >> > based on prices in the back of BYTE... If these people can >> > sell this stuff at those prices so can AT&T). >> Perhaps. Actually you get a new motherboard for the money, and a >> certified drive and memory, which means that your maintenance >> contract covers it if/when it breaks. That costs. Is the cheaper non-AT&T 40M drive in the 7300 that AT&T is willing to sell me certified and will it be covered by the maintenance contract? The fact that you need a new motherboard is news to me. Knowing that 256k parts would be coming out (even BYTE suggested AT&T would just pop in the 256k parts) it seems rather short sighted not to include that in the design. >> > -InfoWorld (June 9,1986) has an article. The way I >> > interpreted the points made in it were thus: AT&T will be >> > promoting the boxes multiuser ability. >> True. The demonstration system I worked with was a 7300 with 1M ram, 20M disk, and an VT100. When I was on the VT100 I wasnt able to use the telephone functions to dial out. I also found entering <esc>1 for function key one to be a minor annoyance. If you want to take advantage of the graphics and mouse capablities you will need something a little more advanced than a VT100.. >> > The 6300+ (a 286 machine) will make the 7300 obsolete because >> > it will run MSDOS and Unix. (Though Id MUCH rather deal with >> > a 68010 than a 286...) >> Well the unix pc runs DOS and unix via the DOS card. I have no >> comment on the perceived market clash between the unix pc and the >> 6300+. Check my comment on Ethernet above. You are still limited to three slots as far as I can tell. >> >It simply costs FAR too much to be considered competative in the >> >micro or workstation market, and as my wallet says Im a micro >> >market buyer I probably wont be using a Unix PC. "Oh well.." >> > -Stephen Halpin >> We have to talk philosophy here. The unix pc is aimed towards >> neither of the markets you mention, but rather towards the office >> automation and VAR/ISV markets. Both these markets are deemed to >> be rather less price-sensitive than the ones you name. There are >> other products which are supposed to compete in the micro and >> workstation markets. Also the unix pc features a SVID-compatible >> UNIX, which is supposed to thrill the VAR/ISV market by making >> programs and packages developed for it easily portable to other >> SVID-compatible machines. Im afraid you are right about the targeting of the system. I still say that for a reduced price it could have sold very well as a micro.. >> -- >> Jonathan Clark >> [NAC,attmail]!mtune!jhc ~~~~~~~~~~ <<Flame on>> Its my less than humble opinion that its a rediculous waste running a multiuser micro. Silicon is too cheap now to worry about running a CPU 100% of the time. I can get 68000L8s qty1 for under $10. I can get 1M of 150ns RAM for under $100 (these out of BYTE). The Unix PCs most significant resources (graphics and phone interface) arent REALLY sharable. Why buy a system that shortchanges 4 out of 5 users when the technology is there to give them a full 'workstation' of their own.. Check out the July '86 BYTE for a 12.5mhz 68020/68881 card with a meg of memory and two serial ports for $1094. It also has a socket for the 68851 PMMU. I say that AT&T has the power to put 5 in a box ($5000), give it a decent sized disk, and 5 'terminal' (keyboard, mouse, monitor, and graphics hardware w/drivers) units for the same price of a 3B1 with 5M of ram (not possible) and 4 external terminals. Maybe Im wrong. ~~~~~~~~~~ <<Flame off>> -Steve Please accept these opinions as nothing more than opinions. ~~~~~~~~~~ Squonk@UMass.BITNET Squonk%UMass.BITNET@WiscVM.Wisc.EDU