wws@rruxc.UUCP (W W Scott) (12/20/89)
Please don't flame me too badly for posting this: My wife and I were walking through a Sears store recently when a salesperson tried to stop us to demonstrate a new vacuum cleaner. It is called a VAX! I stopped, and stared, and asked, "is that spelled VAX?" (i thought maybe the X was a K). I asked if they cleared that name with Digital Equipment Corporation but he didn't know what I was talking about; I guess I didn't really expect him to. So he started to tell me that it's from a British company, etc. I had heard enough. And by now, so have you.
tlimonce@drunivac.uucp (12/24/89)
NOTE: Replying to this message WILL bounce. Try: rutgers!drew!tlimonce In article <289@rruxc.UUCP>, wws@rruxc.UUCP (W W Scott) writes: > [There's a vacuum cleaner called VAX] Yes, this comes up every once in a while. I'll add it to the monthly postings. Yes, there is a VACUUM named, trademarked, etc. "VAX". I think the vacuum came before the computer. Either way, both companies know about the other. They have for a long time. I don't think either will sue until: 1 -- The vacuum company claims that their VAX runs VMS. 2 -- The computer company claims that their computers... ahem... suck. If anyone can submit a really good (informative, followed by all the humor you want) I will put it into the monthly posting. -Tom NOTE: Replying to this message WILL bounce. Try: rutgers!drew!tlimonce --- Tom Limoncelli -- tlimonce@drunivac.Bitnet -- limonce@pilot.njin.net Drew University -- Box 1060, Madison, NJ -- 201-408-5389 :) Standard Disclaimer: I am not the mouth-piece of Drew University (: "DEC's All-In-1 isn't completely useless, but it's a nice attempt."
horstman@sjsumcs.sjsu.edu (Cay Horstmann) (12/25/89)
In article <289@rruxc.UUCP> wws@rruxc.UUCP (W W Scott) writes: > >My wife and I were walking through a Sears store recently when a salesperson >tried to stop us to demonstrate a new vacuum cleaner. It is called a VAX! So now you truly know the meaning of "My computer sucks!" Cay
rosen@schizo.samsung.com (MFHorn) (12/27/89)
In article <27913.25942aa3@drunivac.uucp> tlimonce@drunivac.uucp writes: > If anyone can submit a really good (informative, followed by all the > humor you want) I will put it into the monthly posting. There's a company in England (don't know the name) that started selling a vacuum cleaner called VAX years before DEC built the computer. They gave DEC permission to call their computer VAX. There hadn't been any problems until the English company started selling their VAX in the U.S. Apologies if you've seen this; I got it from a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend. Sue him.. VNS TECHNOLOGY WATCH: [Mike Taylor, VNS Correspondent] ===================== [Nashua, NH, USA ] New VAX Reseller Sears Expects To Clean Up With Its Latest Offering t( {Unix Today!, 16-Oct-1989, p47} VAX sucks. Don't gasp and assume we're committing libel. It's true. Even its manufacturer will agree. What we're talking about here is the VAX vacuum cleaner, a British machine that Sears began marketing this year. The introduction of the vacuum with the same name as a rather well-known line of Digital Equipment computers has created a malestrom of confusion among piles of programmers who are less than bright and don't know a suction hose from a dirtbag. "I just don't think it's right," said I.M.A. Weenie, manager of information services for the Institute for the Study of We're Not Quite Sure What at Pork Barrel University in Pentagon, N.D. "We spent three weeks trying to boot Ultrix 3.1 on the Sears VAX without any luck at all. Then, when we called the number for software support in the doc kit and asked for a patch tape, they asked, 'What color?' and told us Krazy Glue would probably work as well." Weenie did find one praiseworthy feature: "It runs Donkey Kong better than an Amiga." R.T.F. Immanuel, vice president of information services at the investment firm of Crosby, Stills, Nash and (sometimes) Young, said his company finds the Sears VAX far superior to the DEC product. "The VAXstation we were using just never got dirt out of those hard-to-reach corners and folds in the upholstery," he said. How did this confusing situation come to pass? According to DEC spokeswoman Nikki Richardson, when DEC trademarked the VAX name prior to introducing that line in 1977, it was with the full knowledge that the British firm VAX Appliances had been using the name for several years. The two companies reached an agreement that allowed DEC to use the name for computers and the British firm to continue using the name for household appliances. Because the VAX vacuum cleaner had not been distributed in the United States, the two firms never clashed. Until now. But DEC takes a game view of the situation. "We felt there was no likelihood of confusion with the appliances," said Richardson, reading from a statement prepared by company attorneys. We asked Sears to supply specifications of the vacuum cleaner on the grounds that our readers are highly concerned with such issues as price/performance, processor speed, scalability, availability of applications and whether or not the machine has a flat-topped display you can rest a beer on. UT: What operating system does your VAX run? Sears: Operating system? UT: (quoting from the well-thumbed newsroom copy of 'Computers Explained For People With Extremely Tiny Brains'): "An operating system is the software that manages the computer hardware. Its development represented a giant step forward from the cumbersome binary I/O of the early ..." Sears: All you've got to do is plug the thing in and go. UT: (remembering something some marketing guy said once): Why, that would make your product... that would make it "plug and play." Sears: Yeah, you can just plug it in to any standard wall socket, and after that, you just turn it on. UT: (typing): "... compliant with all relevant standards... features include high user-friendliness..." What is the processor speed? Sears: Funny you should ask that. We have one at home, and we have a really big living room, and the other day my son had a party for his friends and the band he's in, Humongous Jet Flying Low Over Your House, and the Missus got the whole room clean in a half-hour with the VAX. It even sucked up those little parts that accidentally came off the dog. UT: (typing): "high...processor...speed...and...power..." Sears: And during the party, one of my son's friends dropped the VAX out the window, but the darn thing worked the next day! UT: "...robust..." Sears: It's very light. I'm not sure exactly how much it weighs, because we couldn't really get it to stay balanced on the bathroom scale. UT: "...though the VAX has limited scalability..." Sears: And it costs less than any one like it around! UT: "...offers a favorable price/performance point to any comparable machine of its class..." Meanwhile, in a move DEC says is totally unrelated to the VAX vs. VAX issue, the company announced last week that it is renaming its product lines. PDP computers still in circulation will henceforth be known as "Kenmore Side-by-Side Refigerator/Freezers." The DECstation line will be renamed "Sanyo Color TV With Full Remote Control." And all VAX computers and VAXstations will be recalled, so the following warning can be applied: "Do not use on delicate drapes and fabrics." {Unix Today!, 16-Oct-1989, p47} {contributed by Steve Lionel} -- Andy Rosen | rosen@samsung.com | "I got this guitar Samsung Software America | rosen@samsung.UUCP | and I learned how One Corporate Drive | (508) 685-7200 | to make it talk" Andover, MA 01810 | | -Thunder Road
KJCOLE@AUVM.BITNET (12/30/89)
Greetings from the other side... ("I'm baaaack".) Unfortunatly via CMS.
As to the "new" VAX machine, it seems I heard a story 'bout that beastie a
few years ago. Someone commented that he had seen an ad for said vacuum
cleaner which had the caption "Nothing sucks like a VAX"...
Kevin Cole CADS_COLE@GALLUA.BITNET or (if you must) KJCOLE@AUVM.BITNET
(You're all in luck: I haven't figured out how to append my 15-line signature
file... yet.)tris@alzabo.uucp (Tris Orendorff) (12/30/89)
wws@rruxc.UUCP (W W Scott) writes: >Please don't flame me too badly for posting this: >My wife and I were walking through a Sears store recently when a salesperson >tried to stop us to demonstrate a new vacuum cleaner. It is called a VAX! >I stopped, and stared, and asked, "is that spelled VAX?" (i thought maybe >the X was a K). I asked if they cleared that name with Digital Equipment >Corporation but he didn't know what I was talking about; I guess I didn't >really expect him to. So he started to tell me that it's from a British >company, etc. I had heard enough. And by now, so have you. It is featured in the Latest PC Magazine issue. They have a lovely picture and caption. -- Sincerely Yours Tris Orendorff tris@alzabo.uucp -----------------------------------------------------------------------
CMH117@PSUVM.BITNET (Charles Hannum) (01/07/90)
In article <89363.112933KJCOLE@AUVM.BITNET>, <KJCOLE@AUVM.BITNET> says: >Kevin Cole CADS_COLE@GALLUA.BITNET or (if you must) KJCOLE@AUVM.BITNET >(You're all in luck: I haven't figured out how to append my 15-line signature >file... yet.) Need help? Are you using Penn State's NETNEWS system? -- - Charles Martin Hannum II "Klein bottle for sale ... inquire within." (That's Charles to you!) "To life immortal!" cmh117@psuvm.{bitnet,psu.edu} "No noozzzz izzz netzzzsnoozzzzz..." c9h@psuecl.{bitnet,psu.edu} "Mem'ry, all alone in the moonlight ..." c9h@eclx.psu.edu c9h@hcx.psu.edu cmh@psuecl2.bitnet