SEWALL@UCONNVM.BITNET (Murph Sewall) (02/25/90)
In response to laments that ambiguous "subject" lines have caused
readers to overlook this column in the clutter of other newsgroup
messages, I have switched to a more visible (if mundane) subject
identification that clearly identifies the column.
Perhaps as a consequence of the most recent shake-up in Apple's senior
management, there are an unusual number of Apple II rumors in this
month's column (even without the persistent MacWeek "Apple plans to
discontinue the Apple II one of these days" rumor). An alternate
explanation if that several inside sources have elected to furnish
me with some original tips about Apple II developments. Would that
similar input arrived about Amiga and Atari (for instance). Support
your local rumor mill :-) <Sewall%UConnVM.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu>
IBM's introduction of the new RISC System/6000 has diminished
(short-term not doubt) Big Blue rumors for the moment.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VAPORWARE
Murphy Sewall
From the March 1990 APPLE PULP
H.U.G.E. Apple Club (E. Hartford) News Letter
$15/year
P.O. Box 18027
East Hartford, CT 06118
Call the "Bit Bucket" (203) 569-8739
Permission granted to copy with the above citation
Quicker, Redesigned Apple IIgs.
The new Apple II CPU Promised by John Sculley for September
1989 (if Microsoft is frequently a year late delivering
promised new products, should Apple be any different?) has
finally shipped to beta test sites. Currently known only as
the ROM 04 machine, it's not a radical departure from the
current ROM 03 IIgs. Some features are subject to change.
The video resolution will be improved to 600 by 400 and the
one MHz video problem has been fixed by adding a new
graphics processor. Writes to the video screen are at full
CPU speed and the improvement is dramatic. The beta test
model is shipping with a 5.8 MHz chip (being pushed to 7
MHz), but an even faster version may be installed by the
time the product is announced. Apple is experimenting with
the slot architecture. There may be some sort of 16-bit
extension to the current 8-bit Apple II standard, or the
slot speed may simply be a separate control panel option.
Although the beta version doesn't have the SWIM chip to make
it possible to read IBM and Macintosh high density 3.5 inch
formats, it's not too late to add that feature. Most
existing IIgs programs which are copy protected fail to run
on the ROM 04 machines. Deprotected versions work. A
decision to market a new IIgs hasn't been finalized, but the
planning date is September 1990.
- found in my electronic mailbox (note: there are more
details here than I gave Cringely for the 29 January
InfoWorld column; I did want one of his coffee cups, but
I also saved some of the good stuff for my friends)
Even More New Apple II Products From Apple.
Operating System 6.0 for the IIgs featuring some new sound
tools and other toolsets should be released in the near
future. HyperCard IIgs (see columns from last month, last
December and last August) is likely to be delayed. The beta
test version is too slow and requires too much memory (would
you believe 2 Mbytes of RAM and 4 Mbytes of disk space?).
On the plus side, the new DMA SCSI card should be announced
this Spring (possibly along with OS 6.0). It will transfer
1 meg per second on a IIgs and 1/2 meg per second on a IIe
for an apparent speed increase 3 times greater than the
existing Apple SCSI card (the ROM 04 IIgs described above
may come with this SCSI capability built in). Along with
the new SCSI card, look for drivers for the Apple scanner,
the LaserWriter 2SC, the new Apple laser printer described
below, and a streaming tape backup system. The new card
will retail for $129.
- more goodies found in my electronic mailbox
<Sewall@UConnVM.BITNET>
Mac IIxi.
The enhancement to the Macintosh IIx expected this month
will be more than simply a CPU speed increase to 25 MHz.
Upgrading a IIx will require a motherboard swap, and don't
be surprised to find LaserWriter SIMMs ($700 per Mbyte;
available only from Apple) inside. - InfoWorld 12 February
An Order of Magnitude Faster.
Motorola's new 25 MHz 68040 CPU processes 20 million
instructions per second (MIPS) which is about one-third
faster than the originally anticipated 15 MIP performance.
A 25 MHz 68030 delivers about 6 MIPS. Even more impressive
is the floating point performance of 3.5 megaflops (compared
to 0.25 megaflops for the 25 MHz 68030 with 68882 math
coprocessor). The 68040 is a 32-bit microprocessor with 8K
bytes of internal cache memory and built in math coprocessor
- features shared with the Intel i486. Samples should be
available this month at a price of $795 - almost four times
the combined price of a 68030 and 68882 math coprocessor
combination. Motorola expects to offer a 50 MHz version of
the 68040 in about a year. The first computer using the new
Motorola CPU could appear in the form of the NeXT color
computer announcement as early as next month.
- PC Week and InfoWorld 22 January
What to do (with) NeXT.
Steve Jobs' NeXT computer desperately needs applications
software and peripherals if it is to be taken seriously by
the mass market it needs for economic survival. As many as
six (oh wow!) major new applications are expected by
summer. Third party developer Dyna Communications plans to
supply one truly needed peripheral - a 3.5 inch floppy drive
(due to be announced this month).
- Wall Street Journal 18 January
Look Ma, No Modem!
IBM and Motorola have announced a joint venture firm, ARDIS
(Advanced nationwide Radio Data Service), to develop a
wireless hand-held computer that can communicate with a
network host using radio waves. The new online service
would utilize IBM's existing network which already covers
90% of the U.S. The proposed hand-held computer would have
instant access to the network at 4800 baud (speeds up to
19.2K bits per second have been documented in metropolitan
areas). IBM wants to use the technology in buildings and
will offer wireless networking in future products.
- InfoWorld 5 February and Computer Chronicles 10 February
Laptop Workstation.
Toshiba is developing a SPARC-based Unix laptop for later
this year. A unit with 4 Mbytes of RAM will retail for
about $7,000. - PC Week 12 February
"Phonebook" Laptops.
NEC, Toshiba, and Zenith all are working on a new
"phonebook" class of portable computers for release later
this year. These eight to ten pound laptops will be built
around the 80386SX CPU and use 2.5 inch instead of 3.5 inch
floppy drives. - InfoWorld 12 February
Vest Pocket Lotus.
Texas Instruments and Lotus have joined to produce a hand
held 1-2-3 pocket computer. Small enough to fit in an
inside jacket pocket, the 512K RAM with 1-2-3 version 2.2 in
ROM and two optional 1 Mbyte RAM/ROM card slots unit
features a (very small) QWERTY keyboard and a 55 column by
16 line LCD display. Optional PC-Link software permits file
transfers with the desk PC back at the office.
- InfoWorld 22 January
The Osborne Lives.
Adam Osborne, president of Paperback software, for whom the
famous (or infamous) Osborne portable computer was named,
has joined a partnership with Silicon Valley Technology to
market Indian-made i486 motherboards in the U.S. Osborne
says an i486 system with 4 Mbytes of RAM, a floppy drive and
a small hard drive will retail for $4,200.
- InfoWorld 5 February
New Apple Printers.
Even though Apple sold it's Adobe stock, the two companies
continue to cooperate. Apple will soon announce a new
low-end ($2,500) four page per minute LaserWriter
(Postscript printer) that actually produces pages at nearly
that speed. At the high end, a color LaserWriter is planned
for the end of the summer. Also, there is likely to be an
Apple version of the Adobe fax board that turns any Adobe
Postscript printer into a plain paper fax machine.
- InfoWorld 29 January
Atari's STacey is for Real.
After a couple of false starts, Atari's portable ST (known
as the STacey) is finally on the market (see last June and
October's columns).
- Seen on the Computer Chronicles 10 February
New Apple II Accelerator.
Applied Engineering will be replacing the current Transwarp
II accelerator with a new model (that will cost $20 more)
during the second quarter. Company spokespeople deny that
Zip Technologies' successful suit against the Rocket Chip
had any bearing on the redesign (uh huh).
- found in my electronic mailbox <Sewall@UConnVM.BITNET>
What will "Ivan" Think of Sticky Bear Bop?
A Canadian group will be marketing Apple II compatible
computers in the Soviet Union.
- An advanced peek into the May 1990 InCider from
Joe Abernathy <jabernathy@pro-houston.cts.com>
Latest on the "Golden Gate."
InfoWorld's Cringely still believes in the simultaneous Mac
and Apple IIgs computer code-named Golden Gate (see the
November 1988 column), but Apple insiders tell me that what
Cringely hears comes from engineering while the marketing
types have "concept tested" the product with K-12 educators
and found the whole idea seriously wanting. The problem is
the Golden Gate will cost nearly as much as a Mac SE and a
IIgs. At those prices, educators say they'd rather buy two
computers rather than only one.
- found in my electronic mailbox <Sewall@UConnVM.BITNET>
When Ingenuity Fails.
Third party developer Applied Ingenuity has had a falling
out among partners. The departure of the firm's technical
wizard has shelved the Apple II video tape backup card
(advertised last Fall), the 100 Mbyte Innerdrive, and
several other products.
- found in my electronic mailbox <Sewall@UConnVM.BITNET>
Pagemaker 4.0 for Windows 3.0.
Aldus has made it clear that it will follow up its
announcement of Pagemaker 4.0 for the Macintosh with an
MS-DOS product as soon as Microsoft releases Windows 3.0
(currently projected for April, but the date has slipped so
often already that any month after this one is credible).
Once Windows 3.0 is released, look for a Windows version of
Adobe Type Manager (bringing something resembling Display
Postscript to the MS-DOS world).
- PC Week 22 January and InfoWorld 12 February
dBase IV 1.1 Update.
Beta testers say to expect delivery of dBase IV version 1.1
(see last month's column) in the second quarter. Apparently
there are problems with the program's installation procedure
as well as some remaining unresolved bugs. Meanwhile,
Ashton-Tate has shipped the dBase compiler to beta testers.
Insiders expect a long test period.
- PC Week and InfoWorld 5 February
/s Murph <Sewall%UConnVM.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.Edu> [Internet]
or ...{psuvax1 or mcvax}!uconnvm.bitnet!sewall [UUCP]
+ Standard disclaimer applies ("The opinions expressed are my own" etc.)