mikeb@wdl1.UUCP (Michael H. Bender) (04/13/88)
PLEASE - if you have any experience with the TI Explorer environment, or have made any comparisons between it and the SUN environment, please help us by lettin us know .... An associate of mine is debating between the purchase of a Mac-II with the TI Explorer board, or a Sun workstation. Currently, he has a Sun, and he wants to buy 2 Mac's and link them togehter (NFS? IP/TCP?). He will be running Knowledge Craft Primarily. QUESTION 1) How hard is it to learn to use the Lisp environment on the Explorer? Is it as difficult as the Symbolics used to be? In the past - people have told me that it takes close to a year to become expert on the Symbolics (much less on the Sun) ... is this true for the Explorer also? QUESTION 2) How hard is it to maintain the software and environment? He is afraid that if he gets a Sun he will need to hire a Unix guru.... Will he have to hire an Explorer/Zeta-Lisp expert if he gets a MacII with the TI board? QUESTION 3) Does the TI environment (which I assume will completely run on the Mac-II) provide a large number of libraries that would otherwise have to be developed on the SUN workstations? Please share your experiences with us... Mike Bender mhb@ford-wdl1
barmar@Think.COM (Barry Margolin) (12/07/89)
I just saw a TV commercial for a home computer called "Explorer". At first
I thought, "What? TI is marketing their Lisp Machine to home users?" From
the rest of the commercial I found out that it is a completely different
machine by a different manufacturer.
So, did TI forget to trademark the name "Explorer"? Or are these new guys
about to get their asses sued?
Barry Margolin, Thinking Machines Corp.
barmar@think.com
{uunet,harvard}!think!barmarart@bu-cs.BU.EDU (Al Thompson) (12/08/89)
In article <32052@news.Think.COM> barmar@Think.COM (Barry Margolin) writes: >I just saw a TV commercial for a home computer called "Explorer". At first >I thought, "What? TI is marketing their Lisp Machine to home users?" From >the rest of the commercial I found out that it is a completely different >machine by a different manufacturer. > >So, did TI forget to trademark the name "Explorer"? Or are these new guys >about to get their asses sued? No kidding, there is a company marketing a vacuum cleaner called "VAX". What is DEC going to do? (sorry about the group, just following up).
barmar@Think.COM (12/09/89)
In article <44090@bu-cs.BU.EDU> art@cs.bu.edu (Al Thompson) writes: >No kidding, there is a company marketing a vacuum cleaner called "VAX". >What is DEC going to do? That's not a problem (although I remember being startled when I saw that commercial, too), because trademarks are only valid within a particular industry. You could name your computer Corvette and not have to worry about Ford coming after you. But if you come out with a new car and call it Corvette you can expect to be in court pretty soon. Barry Margolin, Thinking Machines Corp. barmar@think.com {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar
art@bu-cs.BU.EDU (Al Thompson) (12/09/89)
In article <32093@news.Think.COM> barmar@Think.COM writes: >In article <44090@bu-cs.BU.EDU> art@cs.bu.edu (Al Thompson) writes: >>No kidding, there is a company marketing a vacuum cleaner called "VAX". >>What is DEC going to do? > >That's not a problem (although I remember being startled when I saw that >commercial, too), because trademarks are only valid within a particular >industry. You could name your computer Corvette and not have to worry >about Ford coming after you. But if you come out with a new car and call >it Corvette you can expect to be in court pretty soon. Yeah, but isn't Beretta going after Chevrolet right now? Sorry about the group, again.
gat@robotics.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Eran Gat) (12/09/89)
In article <32093@news.Think.COM>, barmar@Think.COM writes: > You could name your computer Corvette and not have to worry > about Ford coming after you. Maybe, but GM would probably not be amused.
dsueme@chinet.chi.il.us (dave sueme) (12/09/89)
cross-industry trademark disputes are possible on the theory that the infringing new mark "dilutes" the public perception of a "secondary meaning" of the mark. That is the basis of the Beretta - GM suit and was the basis of the Lexis/Lexus suit. Beretta argues that someday someone will wander into Joe's Guns, see a Beretta over/under and say "Hey - a General Motors shotgun - they want $900 for THAT?". dave sueme
ballanty@fornax.UUCP (Rob Ballantyne) (12/10/89)
In article <32093@news.Think.COM>, barmar@Think.COM writes: > In article <44090@bu-cs.BU.EDU> art@cs.bu.edu (Al Thompson) writes: ... > industry. You could name your computer Corvette and not have to worry ******** > about Ford coming after you. But if you come out with a new car and call **** > it Corvette you can expect to be in court pretty soon. ... > > barmar@think.com > {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar As it turns out Corvettes are made by Ford - It's all a communist plot :-) Rob Ballantyne Department of Mathematics & Statistics Simon Fraser University Burnaby, BC Canada ballanty@css.cs.sfu.ca