holland@cbmvax.commodore.com (Fred Holland - Ed Marketing) (08/22/90)
For more information
contact Noam Gelfond at
Fleishman-Hillard, Inc.
202-659-0330
VIRGINIA TECH CHOOSES COMMODORE FOR UNIX PLATFORM
REPLACES MAC AS REQUIRED MACHINE FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJORS
WEST CHESTER, Pa., August 7, 1990 -- Commodore Business Machines,
Inc. launched its effort to bring UNIX into education with the
delivery of its first order of UNIX-based Amiga computers to
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia
Tech).
The university, which for the last three years has required
incoming computer science majors to buy Apple's Macintosh running
A/UX, chose instead Commodore's Amiga 3000 with AT&T's UNIX System
V.4 operating system after seeing the power and capabilities of
the new Commodore Amiga 3000 with a UNIX implementation.
Virginia Tech's purchase comes during the product's beta test
phase, in preparation for this fall's worldwide Amiga 3000 UNIX
launch. Following that launch, Amiga UNIX platforms will be made
available to the education community at large.
"This is a significant win for Commodore, because it clearly
demonstrates that power and price-performance superiority of the
Amiga 3000," said Howard Diamond, Commodore's Director of
Education. "The marriage of the Amiga and V.4 technology is an
exciting development for us and for our customers in higher
education and other markets," he added.
"Commodore's UNIX passed every one of our tests," said Dr. James
Arthur, chairman of the computer science department's selection
committee. "From the Amiga technology to V.4 delivery to the
Amiga's unbeatable price performance, Amiga UNIX was the clear
choice for our department. We're also very pleased with
Commodore's willingness to work closely with us to produce a
solution tailored to our needs."
UNIX technology is significant because it establishes common
standards for the exchange of information between dissimilar
hardware systems, an especially critical need for computer
science and other university departments.
Commodore's configuration is also important because version V.4's
"open system" integrates into one package all the features of the
various UNIX technologies and is expected by many to become the
standard to which future systems will comply. In fact, over 150
companies have declared their support for V.4.
Since 1985, Virginia Tech has required its incoming computer
science students to purchase a personal computer. UNIX was
selected as the operating system standard because it provides an
ideal environment for experimentation and because it is largely
platform-independent.
Over the years, technology advances have prompted constant re-
evaluation of the required platform. The selection of the
Commodore Amiga is a realization of that re-evaluation process.
According to Dr. Arthur, Virginia Tech is the only university in
the country which requires its computer science majors to purchase
a particular UNIX platform. Computer science students become
intimately familiar with the UNIX operating system and underlying
concepts found on a wide range of computers from mainframes to
micros, and will use the Amiga to perform homework, in-class
projects and term papers.
Commodore Business Machines, Inc., based in West Chester, Pa.,
manufactures and markets a complete line of computers and
peripherals for the business, educations, government and consumer
markets. The multitasking Amiga (R) line includes the Commodore
Amiga 500 (TM), the Commodore Amiga 2000 (TM), two enhanced
products: the Commodore Amiga 2000HD (TM) and the Commodore Amiga
2500/30 (TM) and the Amiga 3000 (TM).
--
==========================================================================
Commodore International Ltd.
PHONE 215-431-9100 UUCP ...{uunet,allegra,rutgers}!cbmvax!holland
EDUCATION DEPT. 1200 WILSON DRIVE, WEST CHESTER, PA 19380
CUSTOMER RELATIONS DEPT. (215) 436-4200 CBM FAX (215) 431-9156
==========================================================================jose@hpsad.HP.COM (Jose Gomez-Rubio (SEED Student)) (08/22/90)
There is more information, especially about the price (very competitive!) and the configuration, in the August 20th issue of Unix Today! Interesting reading.
flutter@vtcc1.cc.vt.edu (Lloyd Eldred) (08/23/90)
Let me clarify some things. The Computer Science department at Va. Tech
is the organization that has chosen the Amiga 3000s. They ordered slightly
under 150 machines. The College of Engineering on the other hand is
requiring its 1000 or so freshmen to buy 286 clones.
As SysOp of the main Amiga BBS in Blacksburg, I'm preparing for an
onslaught, but it's worth it!
%% Lloyd Eldred -- The Coconut Telegraph BBS %%diamond@cbmvax.commodore.com (Howard Diamond - Ed Marketing) (08/23/90)
Actually, when you include the faculty systems, its considerably more than 150. In point of fact, more than 150 student systems, and over 180 systems total. hsd
unhd (Nick C Fitanides) (08/23/90)
In article <169@vtserf.cc.vt.edu> flutter@vtcc1.cc.vt.edu writes: > > Let me clarify some things. The Computer Science department at Va. Tech >is the organization that has chosen the Amiga 3000s. They ordered slightly >under 150 machines. The College of Engineering on the other hand is >requiring its 1000 or so freshmen to buy 286 clones. ^^^^^^^^^^ Ho ho ho. So applications users like "engineers" of all flavors and varieties go with the boring, conservative solution which has been obsolete for several years. It's a good thing for your school that the CS dept. knows about technology. I'm thinking about Grad School there--I like their attitude! >%% Lloyd Eldred -- The Coconut Telegraph BBS %% -- ............................................................................... . / . Nick Fitanides . UUNET: uunet!ncf@unhd.edu . . \/ Amiga users unite!. CIS Lead Vax Consultant . BITNET: N_FITANIDES@UNHH . ...............................................................................
flutter@vtcc1.cc.vt.edu (Lloyd Eldred) (08/24/90)
In article <1990Aug23.162049.26537@uunet!unhd>, ncf@uunet!unhd (Nick C Fitanides) writes... >In article <169@vtserf.cc.vt.edu> flutter@vtcc1.cc.vt.edu writes: >>... The College of Engineering on the other hand is >>requiring its 1000 or so freshmen to buy 286 clones. > ^^^^^^^^^^ >So applications users like "engineers" of all flavors and varieties go with >the boring, conservative solution which has been obsolete for several years. >It's a good thing for your school that the CS dept. knows about technology. >I'm thinking about Grad School there--I like their attitude! >..Nick Fitanides . UUNET: uunet!ncf@unhd.edu . Yeah. The Engineering school unfortunately is rather conservative. As a freshman in 1982, I used Holorith (sp?) cards for my freshman engineering classes. Later, when they started requiring freshmen to buy PC's (the PC Portable (sic) the first year) I got myself an Amiga 1000 instead. The College of Engineering is being truely bold and daring this year and going with a clone (Epson, perhaps? I've lost track.) instead of going true blue. I'm saving my pennies to buy a used 3000 at the end of the year. The CS curriculum is tough! %% Lloyd Eldred -- Aerospace Engineering graduate student
vle@pnet01.cts.com (Vinh Le) (08/24/90)
Will other university students be offered systems similar to the ones offered
at VPI? At around the same price? Do these systems also run AmigaDOS 2.0, or
are they strictly UNIX?
Vinh Le
UUCP: {hplabs!hp-sdd ucsd nosc}!crash!pnet01!vle
ARPA: crash!pnet01!vle@nosc.mil
INET: vle@pnet01.cts.comdiamond@cbmvax.commodore.com (Howard Diamond - Ed Marketing) (08/25/90)
In article <4083@crash.cts.com> vle@pnet01.cts.com (Vinh Le) writes: >Will other university students be offered systems similar to the ones offered >at VPI? At around the same price? Do these systems also run AmigaDOS 2.0, or >are they strictly UNIX? > > Vinh Le > > >UUCP: {hplabs!hp-sdd ucsd nosc}!crash!pnet01!vle >ARPA: crash!pnet01!vle@nosc.mil >INET: vle@pnet01.cts.com I keep answering this, but I'll try again. The VPI deal is a part of our beta process. We have not yet announced the final products OR pricing...nor have we said when we will. What we have said is that the deal with VPI is special, and relates to: 1) Them making a significant committment to Commodore, even though the product was still in beta....and 2) The fact that they REQUIRE all their incoming students (in CS) to purchase. Questions about what the pricing will end up being for anybody, what the exact configurations will be, what will run or be included in whatever bundles will exist are premature, and will not be answered. In fact, if somebody thinks they know the answers to any of these questions, they are wrong, since a good bit is still not finally resolved. As soon as it is annouceable...... it will be, and we will post it on the net. Howard S. Diamond Director of Education CBM
xanthian@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Kent Paul Dolan) (08/26/90)
diamond@cbmvax (Howard Diamond - Ed Marketing) writes: > vle@pnet01.cts.com (Vinh Le) writes: >>Will other university students be offered systems similar to the ones offered >>at VPI? At around the same price? Do these systems also run AmigaDOS 2.0, or >>are they strictly UNIX? >I keep answering this, but I'll try again. The VPI deal is a part of our beta >process. Just wanted to comment about this part. This can be an _excellent_ deal for a vendor, and is well worth cutting a one time deal that wouldn't be affordable in the long term. Back in the dark ages, my first UNC computer science class were part of the beta release testers for IBM's PL/1 compiler releases. Nobody can beat on a compiler like a bunch of students, and we were required to _prove_ that things that wouldn't work right were the compiler's fault, not our bugs, and to write up bug reports and minimal programs showing those bugs, as part of the beta deal. This was an excellent deal for all concerned; we students learned not to give unbridled trust to compilers, and to really use .asm dumps for debugging aids; the vendor got lots more input and testing of "most frequently used" code than an in-house QA could have afforded to do; i.e., free labor. Moral: don't feel hurt if the VPI prices don't hold later, Commodore is getting a lot out of this deal to compensate for selling the hardware at a low profit margin. Kent, the man from xanth. <xanthian@Zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> <xanthian@well.sf.ca.us>
U3364521@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au (Lou Cavallo) (08/26/90)
G'day from down under, HD> In article <13985@cbmvax.commodore.com>, diamond@cbmvax.commodore.com HD> (Howard Diamond - Ed Marketing) writes: VL> In article <4083@crash.cts.com> vle@pnet01.cts.com (Vinh Le) writes: VL> Will other university students be offered systems similar to the ones VL> offered at VPI? At around the same price? Do these systems also run VL> AmigaDOS 2.0, or are they strictly UNIX? VL> VL> Vinh Le Vinh, the following remarks are not related to your specific questions. HD> I keep answering this, but I'll try again. [...deleted for brevity...] Thanks for the efforts too Howard. I hope the enthusiasm of your net.readers isn't overwhelming you. I never cease to be impressed by the improving marketing developments by CBM and more so by the increased net.presence by CBM employees. I appreciate the efforts and I'm sure that many, many others do too. HD> Howard S. Diamond HD> Director of Education CBM ^ ......| now this I find impressive. :-) When I originally read of your appointment, in several Amiga computer mags. it did not occur to me that we'd hear from you on the net someday. yours truly, Lou Cavallo. PS: I'm hoping to see moves here in Oz for the Education Market. :-) It is hard for we `Oz' Amiga enthusiasts to see what is happening in the US while similar developments here are still unannounced.
diamond@cbmvax.commodore.com (Howard Diamond - Ed Marketing) (08/27/90)
In article <975@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au> U3364521@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au (Lou Cavallo) writes: >G'day from down under, > >HD> In article <13985@cbmvax.commodore.com>, diamond@cbmvax.commodore.com >HD> (Howard Diamond - Ed Marketing) writes: > >VL> In article <4083@crash.cts.com> vle@pnet01.cts.com (Vinh Le) writes: >VL> Will other university students be offered systems similar to the ones >VL> offered at VPI? At around the same price? Do these systems also run >VL> AmigaDOS 2.0, or are they strictly UNIX? >VL> >VL> Vinh Le > >Vinh, the following remarks are not related to your specific questions. > >HD> I keep answering this, but I'll try again. [...deleted for brevity...] > >Thanks for the efforts too Howard. I hope the enthusiasm of your net.readers >isn't overwhelming you. > >I never cease to be impressed by the improving marketing developments by CBM >and more so by the increased net.presence by CBM employees. > >I appreciate the efforts and I'm sure that many, many others do too. > >HD> Howard S. Diamond >HD> Director of Education CBM > ^ >......| now this I find impressive. :-) > >When I originally read of your appointment, in several Amiga computer mags. >it did not occur to me that we'd hear from you on the net someday. > >yours truly, >Lou Cavallo. > >PS: I'm hoping to see moves here in Oz for the Education Market. :-) It is >hard for we `Oz' Amiga enthusiasts to see what is happening in the US while >similar developments here are still unannounced. Thanks for the kind words....I watch the net daily (at least on those few days when I am in the office.... gee, if there were an Amiga laptop with a modem???) I learn alot about what is really going on out there from the nets.... you all have more impact on the ivory towers than you will ever realize. Howard S. Diamond Director of Education CBM
perley@galaxy (Donald P Perley) (08/30/90)
In article <13985@cbmvax.commodore.com>, diamond@cbmvax (Howard Diamond - Ed Marketing) writes: >In article <4083@crash.cts.com> vle@pnet01.cts.com (Vinh Le) writes: >>Will other university students be offered systems similar to the ones offered >>at VPI? At around the same price? Do these systems also run AmigaDOS 2.0, or >>are they strictly UNIX? > > What we have said is that the deal with VPI is special, >and relates to: > >1) Them making a significant committment to Commodore, even though the product >was still in beta....and > >2) The fact that they REQUIRE all their incoming students (in CS) to purchase. I don't know if this was part of the deal or not, but I know that the supplier in this type of deal can give a better price if there is an agreement that the sponsoring organization (VPI in this case) will supply at least the first line of support (and maybe more, like a repair center). If that IS part of the deal, then you can expect a higher price for the general educational market (in addition to the considerations Howard Diamond listed). Special deals aren't special if everyone gets them. On the other hand, time is the great equalizer when it comes to computer prices.... so if you wait long enough, you CAN get a unix 3000 for the $3700 price. By that time you will be slobbering over something else. Is any CS department requiring sudents to buy a lisp machine? -don perley perley@trub.crd.ge.com