lgy@seismo.css.GOV@pupthy.PRINCETON.EDU (12/18/86)
The following information has been gleaned from conversations with
various people at Ridge. It is offered for your enlightenment
without any implied warranty.
1) The good news: Anticipated for release next fall - the `Sunrise'
processor. This is an upgrade of the Headwall (or Ridge 3200).
Roughly speaking, it should provide at least a factor of two increase
over the performance of the Headwall. (Figures ranging up to 3 Mflops
have actually been heard.) This upgrade will be a simple swap of
a few boards.
2) The bad news: Apparently someone in Ridge is trying to redirect their
marketing toward systems aimed at large groups of people (> 100).
As a result, the list price for the Sunrise may approach $100,000, and
upgrade prices from a Headwall of up to $60,000 are under consideration.
This seems crazy to me. Ridge seems to be moving toward the dismal
price/performance level of DEC. DEC may be able to get away with it
but can Ridge ? In my opinion, this sort of change is tantamount to
Ridge turning their back on most of their existing customers.
Fortunately, this future pricing strategy is not yet completely firm.
If you think that this pricing strategy is as outrageous as I do
(especially when applied to academic customers), then you may wish
to call up your Ridge salesman and let him know what you think.
A reasonable amount of negative customer response can go a long way
toward convincing the powers-that-be at Ridge to change their minds.
If the actual price for a Sunrise upgrade turns out to be on the order
of $10,000 or less, then it should be a pretty hot item.
Laurence Yaffe
Physics Dept.
Princeton Univ.
{astrovax,princeton,ihnp4}!pupthy!lgy