rcbamw@eutrc3.urc.tue.nl (m.waucomont) (06/30/89)
In article <9606@boulder.Colorado.EDU> fozzard@boulder.Colorado.EDU (Richard Fozzard) writes: >I personally think it would be wonderful to go to Compaq or AST or >whomever to buy a cheap powerful and flexible piece of hardware (maybe >even laptop :-)), then pay Apple $500 (*) or so for the OS+ROMs. This would >be the real victory for the consumer. (Ralph Nader, where are you?) > >Richard Fozzard "Serendipity empowers" Well, two days ago we have visited this kind Japanese person, who intends to market the Jonathan in Europe. In this article I will describe the machine and also discuss some of the legal aspects. Please note that the opinions expressed herein are strictly mine and not those of our Japanese contact nor of one of the companies mentioned in this article. Jonathan: the hardware. ----------------------- The Jonathan comes in a casing very similar to the ones being used for so called baby-AT's. It's dimensions are about the same as the average Macintosh external harddisk. But _this_ box contains a complete Mac, power supply, 3.5" drive _and_ a harddisk. When I opened it, I was impressed by the way they had managed to stuff it all in that small casing. When I lifted the frame with the drive and the harddisk, I was even more surprised. I saw a board having the same dimensions as the Macintosh board. But that was the only physical resemblance. The IC's were positioned in a completely different manner. Furthermore, the board had much more on it. There was a row of pins on each side of the 68000, allowing for much easier/less expensive installation of extension boards than the conventional 'clip-on' stuff that's commonly used in the Mac. It also had the AppleTalk hardware on board, with two AppleTalk connectors coming out of the back. Another striking feature was the Centronics port on the back, driven by a small Z8 microsystem to convert ImageWriter control codes to codes for EPSON compatible printers. Needless to say that the Z8 + ROM were on the motherboard too... It had all these extensions in addition to the standard connectors you normally find on the back of a Macintosh Plus. I have been told that the design is about 15% faster than the Plus, but functionally the same. The hardware has been reverse engineered. The software, legal problems? ----------------------------- On the motherboard as well as in the accompanying documantation there were notes in huge print, saying that ONLY THE ORIGINAL MACINTOSH ROMS were to be used in the ROM-sockets of the Jonathan. These can be obtained for about $100, but wether they will be included will depend on the answers to several legal questions. Once the Jonathan hardware is completed with such a ROM set, it actually behaves like a Plus. I have seen several packages run on it without any problems. The speed increase is barely noticeable. It all sounds very good. The hardware is reverse engineered. No problem with that. The original ROMS are used. Theoretically nothing wrong with that. But yet... sales of the product are being delayed in order to find out more about these issues. There are two companies that are _considering_ to sell the Jonathan, _provided_ that the legal issues are perfectly clear. One company is the 'A1 Group' from Belgium (currently selling all kinds of Macintosh peripherals, upgrades and original Macs). The other company is 'Chipmunk International' from the Netherlands (They are also in the market for peripherals. They are especially known for their kits to modify SE keyboards so they can be plugged into the classic Macintoshes and for their SCSI interfaces for classic Macintoshes). It definitely is true that if Apple does not like these plans, they can take legal action. And since Apple is huge, they can spend huge amounts on lawsuits. In such a situation right or wrong doesn't matter. The Big one wins. It's as simple as that. But does Apple really not like these plans? This brings me to a very interesting thesis. In Germany, the Atari ST is a pretty popular computer. One very important reason is, that Macintosh emulators for this machine are readily available. It also is a known fact, that once people have seen the Macintosh software, they can not easily be satisfied with less quality software. It is also a known fact that they always want more and better hardware. This theory is stressed by the fact that many Atari ST owners - after having used an ST with emulator for a while - switch to the more expensive Macintoshes. Indeed Apple does not mind this. It won't take long anymore until Apple does not make the Plus anymore. An entry-level Macintosh (to attract people to the Macintosh technology) would be most welcome to Apple, I reckon, regardless of the brand. But that's just a my humble opinion. Another area not covered by Apple's activities is the laptop market. Our Japanese contact has plans for a portable Macintosh as well. As soon as I know more about it, I will post it on the net. All we can do now is wait until the legal fog will clear up or until Apple clearly says they don't mind. Michel 'Mikki' Waucomont rcbamw@eutrc3.urc.tue.nl
bytebug@dhw68k.cts.com (Roger L. Long) (07/03/89)
In article <773@eutrc3.urc.tue.nl> Michel 'Mikki' Waucomont writes: >Another area not covered by Apple's activities is the laptop market. Our >Japanese contact has plans for a portable Macintosh as well. As soon as I >know more about it, I will post it on the net. You're pretty naive if you don't think that Apple has a laptop under development. I would guess that they will have one out before too long. -- Roger L. Long bytebug@dhw68k.cts.com
rcbamw@eutrc3.urc.tue.nl (m.waucomont) (07/03/89)
In article <24415@dhw68k.cts.com> bytebug@dhw68k.cts.com (Roger L. Long) writes: >You're pretty naive if you don't think that Apple has a laptop under >development. I would guess that they will have one out before too long. Right! Under development ... well, the 'other' laptop should be available by september. And it is not what you might think it is. In fact it is nothing more than a casing with a neat LCD display, power supply, drive and optional HardDisk, but without motherboard! It is supposed to appeal those who already have a (real, honest) Macintosh and would like to have a portable for business trips or so. But yet, that's just what I have picked up :-) > Roger L. Long > bytebug@dhw68k.cts.com Michel Waucomont rcbamw@eutrc3.urc.tue.nl
marc@rna.UUCP (Marc Johnson) (07/04/89)
In article <777@eutrc3.urc.tue.nl> rcbamw@eutrc3.urc.tue.nl (m.waucomont) writes: ] In article <24415@dhw68k.cts.com> bytebug@dhw68k.cts.com (Roger L. Long) writes: ] >You're pretty naive if you don't think that Apple has a laptop under ] >development. I would guess that they will have one out before too long. ] Right! Under development ... well, the 'other' laptop should be available by ] september. And it is not what you might think it is. In fact it is nothing ] more than a casing with a neat LCD display, power supply, drive and optional ] HardDisk, but without motherboard! It is supposed to appeal those who already ] have a (real, honest) Macintosh and would like to have a portable for ] business trips or so. But yet, that's just what I have picked up :-) ] ] > Roger L. Long ] > bytebug@dhw68k.cts.com ] Michel Waucomont ] rcbamw@eutrc3.urc.tue.nl I forget the name of the outfit, but a company is now shipping Mac laptops. They are apparently custom-configured, so you can get an SE brain with a 40 Meg hard drive, or whatever mix-and-match of features you want. Look in the "Late Breaking News" section at the beginning of the June MacWorld for further details. By the way, they ain't cheap (circa $4500 for a basic model). =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= = Marc Johnson BITNET: rna!marc@rockvax.bitnet = = Rockefeller Univ. Neurobiology UUCP: ...cmcl2!rna!marc = = New York City INTERNET: marc%rna@rocky2.rockefeller.edu = = (129.85.2.1) = = = = "Gimme the beat boys and free my soul, I wanna get lost in your rock & roll = = ...and drift away" = =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
CHOOPER@acad.cut.oz (Todd Hooper, Computing Centre) (07/04/89)
In article <24415@dhw68k.cts.com>, bytebug@dhw68k.cts.com (Roger L. Long) writes: > You're pretty naive if you don't think that Apple has a laptop under > development. I would guess that they will have one out before too long. There is one in the works right now, and they have actually shipped prototypes around the world, although they are remaining tight-lipped about it. About all I know is it comes with 2 meg standard and it's grey. Just enough to run System 7.0 :-) -- Todd Hooper Computing Centre Curtin University of Technology PSImail: psi%050529452300070::CHOOPER Western Australia ARPA : CHOOPER%acad.curtin.edu.au@uunet.uu.net ACSnet : CHOOPER@acad.cut.oz Bitnet : CHOOPER%acad.curtin.edu.au%munnari.oz@cunyvm.bitnet UUCP : {enea,mcvax,uunet,ubc-cs,ukc}!munnari!acad.curtin.edu.au!CHOOPER
captkidd@athena.mit.edu (Ivan Cavero Belaunde) (07/06/89)
In article <506@acad.cut.oz> CHOOPER@acad.cut.oz (Todd Hooper, Computing Centre) writes: >There is [a laptop] in the works right now, and they have actually shipped >prototypes around the world, although they are remaining tight-lipped >about it. About all I know is it comes with 2 meg standard and it's grey. You mean Apple's going to make us throw away *TWO* megs in 256K simms when upgrading higher???? I hope they have half a clue and drop 4 meg standard. For the money they're going to be charging for that baby, they might as well. Yeah, yeah, I know, this is Apple, they'll never do that. >Todd Hooper -Ivan "Please allow me to introduce myself; I'm a man of wealth and taste." -Mick Jagger and Alan Moore Internet: captkidd@athena.mit.edu
mithomas@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (Michael Thomas Niehaus) (07/07/89)
In article <12464@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>, captkidd@athena.mit.edu (Ivan Cavero Belaunde) writes: > There is [a laptop] in the works right now, and they have actually shipped > prototypes around the world, although they are remaining tight-lipped > about it. About all I know is it comes with 2 meg standard and it's grey. > > You mean Apple's going to make us throw away *TWO* megs in 256K simms when > upgrading higher???? I hope they have half a clue and drop 4 meg standard. > For the money they're going to be charging for that baby, they might as well. > > Yeah, yeah, I know, this is Apple, they'll never do that. Sorry to correct you, but "this rumored laptop," if it actually did exist, would have a 68000 processor. That means that memory would be installed in pairs of SIMM chips, like the Mac SE. So 2MB is an optimal configuration: you will be able to add two more 1MB SIMMs to go to 4MB, probably the limit for several reasons: the number of SIMM slots, the power consumption, etc. -Michael p.s. I don't know a thing about the portable except for what I have read in MacWEEK. -- Michael Niehaus UUCP: <backbones>!{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!mithomas Apple Student Rep ARPA: mithomas@bsu-cs.bsu.edu Ball State University AppleLink: ST0374 (from UUCP: st0374@applelink.apple.com)