dzzr@beta.UUCP (Douglas J Roberts) (02/07/88)
A previous article in this group inferred that a Sun 4/60 (diskless, one-board SPARC workstation) may be in the pipe. Anybody else heard rumors?
guy@gorodish.Sun.COM (Guy Harris) (02/07/88)
> A previous article in this group inferred that a Sun 4/60 (diskless, > one-board SPARC workstation) may be in the pipe. Anybody else heard > rumors? 1) @Begin(Pedantry) The article would have *implied*, not *inferred*, that such a machine was in the pipeline. @End(Pedantry) In fact, it didn't necessarily imply that; all it said was that the author was "waiting for the cut-price 4/60". This could have meant that he was waiting for such a beast to come along, under the assumption that it would, someday, not that he knew such a beast was in the pipe and that he was waiting for that particular machine. 2) *I've* not heard any rumors about a cheaper "4/60". This doesn't mean there isn't such a machine in the pipeline, although I'd say it means it's less likely to be in the pipeline. This also doesn't mean there is no intention of ever coming out with such a machine, of course; unless we go out of business, there will presumably be smallerfastercheapercuter Sun-4s at some point in the future, as there will presumably be smallerfastercheapercuter VAXstations, DNxxxx'es, Mac IIs, etc., etc., etc.. Guy Harris {ihnp4, decvax, seismo, decwrl, ...}!sun!guy guy@sun.com
jaw@aurora.UUCP (James A. Woods) (02/08/88)
# "anything too stupid to be said is sung." -- voltaire of course it was just a model number inference, ala the "complete this series" "intelligence" tests. but you'll never get any advance product plan information from sun micro technical types. that is, they only get told codenames, like every other computer business. e.g. the internal codename for the 4/110 was "cobra". like automobile animals, you might guess the next one will be "python", or "anaconda" or whatever. codenames themselves serve the additional purpose of helping pinpoint project leaks in a parallel development process. the model number, as well as the "marketing mips" gets stamped on only at the end.
hwe@beta.UUCP (Skip Egdorf) (02/08/88)
In article <1685@aurora.UUCP>, jaw@aurora.UUCP (James A. Woods) writes: > > ... e.g. the internal codename > for the 4/110 was "cobra"... > ... > the model number, > as well as the "marketing mips" gets stamped on > only at the end. How many remember when the new smaller VAX was about to be announced. It was well known to the trade that the code name was the "comet", however the press (You know, Computermation and Dataworld) assured us that the machine would be known as the VAX-680, with the follow-on super ECL VAX (The "Venus", just being designed) being the VAX-980. It was rumored that the name VAX-11/750 was chosen a) at the very last minute, and b) because it was the name/number LEAST chosen by the rumor mills. How much of the sales generated by a new machine are due to its architecture, and how much are due to choosing the proper name :-) Skip Egdorf hwe@lanl.gov
guy@gorodish.Sun.COM (Guy Harris) (02/08/88)
> that is, they only get told codenames, like every other > computer business. Well, actually, no, we *do* find out the real model numbers before it's announced; the only delay in finding out the model number is that involved in *deciding on* a model number, and believe me, around here the model number doesn't just get stamped on at the end, it gets *chosen* at the end. Then again, I haven't heard rumors about a "4/60"-flavored machine under any particular code name, either. Guy Harris {ihnp4, decvax, seismo, decwrl, ...}!sun!guy guy@sun.com
roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) (02/09/88)
In article <41239@sun.uucp> guy@gorodish.Sun.COM (Guy Harris) writes: > there will presumably be smallerfastercheapercuter Sun-4s at some point > in the future, as there will presumably be smallerfastercheapercuter > VAXstations, DNxxxx'es, Mac IIs, etc., etc., etc.. Reading this, it occurs to me that in the entire progression from the original 128K Mac to the Mac-II, the new introduced models have been monotonicly increasing in just about any parameter you care to look at (memory capacity, speed, price, etc). Should be expect a change in the future? Of course, there has been a slow but steady decrease in list prices of existing models, but that's not what I'm talking about. Sun seems to take the opposite approach; start with top-of-the-line machines first and then undercut themselves with newer versions (like the 3/50 did to the 3/75). -- Roy Smith, {allegra,cmcl2,philabs}!phri!roy System Administrator, Public Health Research Institute 455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016
torben@dorsai.ics.hawaii.edu (Prof. Torben N. Nielsen) (02/11/88)
In article <15349@beta.UUCP> dzzr@beta.UUCP (Douglas J Roberts) writes: >A previous article in this group inferred that a Sun 4/60 (diskless, >one-board SPARC workstation) may be in the pipe. Anybody else heard >rumors? Isn't that the Sun-4/110? I thought that was already announced. And at a price of around $19K. I've seen the model number in newer software distributions for the Sun-4. It appears that there are really two models of the Sun-4 right now. The 260 and the 110.... This probably means that there's room for a couple of add-on boards in the base; just like the Sun-3/110. The configurations stuff seems to indicate that too. ---Torben