PostMaster@LLL-MFE.ARPA (07/11/84)
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Date: 5 Jul 84 0132-EDT
From: Dave Steiner (The Moderator) <WorkS-Request@Rutgers>
Reply-to: WORKS@RUTGERS
Subject: WORKS Digest V4 #28
To: WORKS@RUTGERS
WORKS Digest Thursday, 5 Jul 1984 Volume 4 : Issue 28
Today's Topics:
Miscellaneous - Workstation Trends (3 msgs),
Hardware - Xerox dolphin
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Date: 2 Jul 84 22:58:21 EDT (Mon)
From: Mark Weiser <mark@umcp-cs>
Subject: workstation trends
To: shneiderman@umcp-cs, marks-people@umcp-cs, andy@umcp-cs,
To: lsd@umcp-cs, mvz@umcp-cs, agrawala@umcp-cs
I am currently in the middle of a big workstation procurement. I
have noticed a couple of interesting trends in workstations that I
would like to share and get comments on.
First, color. Quite a few of the newer workstations come with color
standard, even to excluding B/W even as an option (Metheus). The
older workstations are only B/W (xerox) or color as a second thought
add-on (Sun). (Exception: color is well integrated into Apollo.) Is
color the trend of the future even for non-CAD/CAM engineering
workstations? Given that no one really knows how to use color except
in specialized applications, color is not now a particular advantage
in a general workstation. But it may be soon, if color becomes a
standard part of unix systems and we learn how to use it. But for
the next five years, is color worth the premium in cost ($7-10k)
without a specific application?
I don't think so.
Second, multiple processors. A lot of workstations these days have
multiple more-or-less general-purpose processors. (Not counting
bit-sliced graphics do-dads.) Generally, one is general purpose and
one handles the display. For instance: 3B2 (main processor and blit
processor), Metheus (main processor, peripherals and paging
processor, display processor), Symbolics 3600 (peripherals processor
and main processor), Masscomp (main processor, paging processor,
display processor). Graphics look very good on these systems,
without the big pauses for process switching that one sees on a Sun
when running multiple graphics jobs. Paging and heavy i/o may be a
little better, but not more than 10%, I think. For color,
apparently, these processors are more-or-less necessary.
Xerox and Sun and Apollo seem behind the times in forcing their
single processor to do all the work. True?
My own opinion is that the extra processors won't help a bit in 99%
of what a software engineering workstation is used for: compiles and
editing and text processing and software building. That means that
they are probably not worth their extra cost at this time.
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Date: 3 Jul 84 13:16:24 EDT (Tue)
From: Ben Shneiderman <ben@umcp-cs>
Subject: Re: workstation trends
To: Mark Weiser <mark@umcp-cs>,
To: shneiderman@umcp-cs, mvz@umcp-cs, marks-people@umcp-cs,
To: lsd@umcp-cs, andy@umcp-cs, agrawala@umcp-cs
I'm pleased to participate in a discussion about workstation design
issues.
Color... looks good but is generally not that advantageous unless
there has been ample effort to include it as part of the system
(CAD/CAM etc.) If the bulk of the material is text then higher
resolution, sharper letters, more screen space, and faster processing
are the critical variables. Color is often misused, costs more,
generates more heat, requires more volume, and is less reliable. I
agree to push for high resolution B&W and get a large screen.
The choice of single or multiple processors is secondary to the
performance of the system for typical tasks. I think we should
prepare a benchmark set of tasks and then measure the performance
time for the benchmark.
Other issues - advanced windowing concepts to allow concurrent
processes and coordination across windows. Communications to allow
cooperative problem solving across workstations (allow a user to send
a windolw to a consultant, allow one user to execute a command on
another workstation and both can watch the effect).
Also...pointing devices (mouse etc.) or touchscreen.
Also..graphics, animation, fonts.
Ans while we're at it whynot Dvorak keyboards?
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Date: 4 Jul 84 14:39:53 EDT (Wed)
From: Glenn Pearson <glennp@umcp-cs>
Subject: Re: workstation trends
To: Ben Shneiderman <ben@umcp-cs>,
To: shneiderman@umcp-cs, mvz@umcp-cs, marks-people@umcp-cs,
To: Mark Weiser <mark@umcp-cs>, lsd@umcp-cs, andy@umcp-cs,
To: agrawala@umcp-cs
There's a certain chicken-&-egg problem to the use of color for
workstations: There's not enough software that uses the color
effectively, and there's not a common-enough availability of color
equipment (except moderate resolution home computers) to encourage
software development. Mostly, this has to do with price. For a
particular resolution and precision of image, color will probably
always cost more than B&W; but its reasonable to expect the cost
differential for hi-resolution monitors to become less significant in
the future.
So for the present, if you're talking about a BUNCH of
workstations, why not put some eggs (to further mutilate this
metaphore) in both baskets... say, purchase 75% B&W and 25% color?
Many of the vendors (Sun, Apollo...) offer both types, so in theory
you could avoid cross-vendor incompatabilities if that consideration
was important.
Also, in my opinion a workstation without a pointing device
{mouse, trackball, joystick, or touchscreen} is like a car with a
starting crank; vis, OLD TECHNOLOGY. I'm particularly fond of the
mouse or trackball choices.
Oops, I forgot bitpads. They're good too.
Glenn
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Date: 1 Jul 84 02:52:45 EDT
From: Louis Steinberg <STEINBERG@RUTGERS.ARPA>
Subject: Re: Xerox dolphin
To: bakin@HI-MULTICS.ARPA
You suggest getting another "top level" (i.e. Lisp read-eval-print)
window by typing an (ADD.PROCESS ...) command. The problem is, where
are you going to type it? That's LISP, and would have to be typed to
some read-eval process, but your only read-eval-print process is
already busy (that's the whole problem in the first place)!
There are two solutions:
1) get the ongoing process in the original top level window to go
into a "break", which you can do with the ctl-H or ctl-B key, execute
the ADD.PROCESS, and then exit the break.
2) customize your Lisp so that the "background menu" that you get
when you click on the background (i.e. not in any window) contains a
command to create a new "top level" process and window. Such code
has been written by Jeff Shulman here at Rutgers.
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End of WORKS Digest
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