morgan@JESSICA.STANFORD.EDU (01/05/90)
Here's a little unbridled rumor-mongering to start the new decade (sure, I count starting from 0, don't you?). Like many people, I've been hoping that Apple would come out with a LaserWriter that could be attached to an Ethernet. It certainly seems like it wouldn't be all that difficult to add Ethernet to an LW, do you printer gurus out there agree? Given the high price of other networked laser printers (yes? no?) and the criminal lack of a generally-accepted IP-based printing protocol (lpd notwithstanding), I'd think an Ethernet LW would sell like le caques hotte. I figured for a long time that Apple was waiting for AppleTalk Phase 2 to introduce such a thing, rather than having to upgrade it soon after release. But now that AT2 has been out for a while, I'm growing more suspicious. Though I've often said (half in jest) that Apple and the LocalTalk-Ethernet gateway box companies must have a secret agreement about this, since we are obliged to install a goodly number of FastPaths simply to connect to LWs, I think it's much more likely that Apple realizes that an Ethernet LW would further cement the hold that PostScript has on the networked printer world. I'm now guessing that Apple won't release such a product until its much-debated "new print architecture" is ready to see the light of day. From recent reports, (see this week's InfoWorld) that could be a year or more away. The free enterprise system being what it is, I'd expect to see other companies rush to fill this gap. Or maybe such products are out there already and I haven't heard about them? It would certainly make sense for the Adobe folks to push hard for such a thing. Hmm, I think I've got to stop reading so many PC pundits' columns . . . - RL "Bob" Morgan Networking Systems Stanford