moore@PULSAR.FAC.CS.CMU.EDU (Dale Moore) (07/15/88)
Here is something that I found in a trade rag called Digital News July 11, 1988, page 67-69. I thought that it might make interesting and amusing reading. Portions of the article are copied here without permission. ---------------- The Art of Buying a Laser Printer ... To help you sort out the details, we also asked printer vendors about common misconceptions that buyers have and errors they make when evaluating laser printers. Among the responses received: ... Talaris - "The most common misconception that Talaris sees in the marketplace today is that a PostScript printer is the panacea that will solve all of the customer's problems. PostScript not only doesn't provide application software compatibility but it also was not designed to operate efficiently in the multiuser computing environment. There is very little VAX/VMS software that supports PostScript. WPS-Plus, for example, does not support PostScript. Currently the only VAX/VMS application package that requires PostScript is Interleaf. Because PostScript was designed for single user desktop publishing, integrating PostScript into a multiuser VAX/VMS computing environment is acheived only at very high cost (such as with the $50,000 Digital PS-40) or with major sacrifice in performance." "The best approach is to purchasing a laser printer is to examine your application first, the select the printer that provides the throughput, functionality, connectivity and flexibility required to support the application. If you know what application software you will be using with the printer, then you have a head start. Find out what the software vendor recommend. In the VAX environment, it probably wont be a PostScript."
steve@halley.UUCP (Steve Williams) (07/15/88)
In article <2273@pt.cs.cmu.edu> moore@PULSAR.FAC.CS.CMU.EDU (Dale Moore) writes: >Here is something that I found in a trade rag called >Digital News July 11, 1988, page 67-69. > >I thought that it might make interesting and amusing reading. > > .........PostScript not only >doesn't provide application software compatibility but it also was >not designed to operate efficiently in the multiuser computing >environment. .............. I think we can infer from this that Talaris (at least in the speaker's understanding; maybe Talaris isn't to blame) is on the verge of introducing a true multitasking printer. That would certainly cool tempers around here at deadline time. ======================= Steve Williams USENET: ...!cs.texas.edu!halley!steve Tandem Computers TELE: (512)-244-8252 14231 Tandem Blvd. Austin, Texas 78728
aad@stpstn.UUCP (Anthony A. Datri) (07/16/88)
In article <2273@pt.cs.cmu.edu> moore@PULSAR.FAC.CS.CMU.EDU (Dale Moore) writes: > >Talaris - "The most common misconception that Talaris sees in the >marketplace today is that a PostScript printer is the panacea that >will solve all of the customer's problems. True enough. >PostScript not only >doesn't provide application software compatibility but it also was >not designed to operate efficiently in the multiuser computing >environment. I'd really love to hear an explanation of this one from them. >There is very little VAX/VMS software that supports >PostScript. WPS-Plus, for example, does not support PostScript. >Currently the only VAX/VMS application package that requires >PostScript is Interleaf. I'd say that *any* package that *required* *any* kind of a laser printer was a lose. Interleaf on our Suns works with an Imagen, but I didn't even know they had it for VMS. >Because PostScript was designed for single >user desktop publishing, integrating PostScript into a multiuser >VAX/VMS computing environment is acheived only at very high cost >(such as with the $50,000 Digital PS-40) or with major sacrifice in >performance." I'm sure you're all echoing "Huh?" with me. At Scribe Systems, we had a VMS machine spooling two Postscript engines, usually a laserwriter and a &$@$$* TI Omni. Ran lpd on the machine and spooled to them from pcs and suns. Sounds pretty good to me. You want a bigger printer, without paying for an imbedded microvax and DECnet dependency, get a Dataproducts or something. Good bit less than $50,000. > "The best approach is to purchasing a laser printer is to examine >your application first, the select the printer that provides the >throughput, functionality, connectivity and flexibility required to >support the application. If you know what application software you >will be using with the printer, then you have a head start. Find out >what the software vendor recommend. In the VAX environment, it >probably wont be a PostScript." Does the "VAX" environment (I assume they assume VAX==VMS), support their printers any better? My view of talaris printers is admittedly limited to one x2700-based machine, that had a proclivity for charring paper. It understood QUIC codes. (I'm not at all ragging on Dale; just making comments on comments) -- @disclaimer(Any concepts or opinions above are entirely mine, not those of my employer, my GIGI, or my 11/34) beak is beak is not Anthony A. Datri,SysAdmin,StepstoneCorporation,stpstn!aad