ajb@cs.brown.edu (Atul Butte) (11/01/90)
Forwarded posting from Jonathan.Kruger@uc780.umd.edu ----------------------------------------------------------------- Greetings, I am really getting tired of people arguing about the NeXT and the Mac. I would like to suggest a more interesting line of discussion, specifically: How does the NeXT stack up against the Amiga? I know that there are a lot of people that have about $4000 to spend on a personal system, and are REALLY at a loss about which machine to invest in. I saw someone ask this question a few weeks back, but I never saw any response... Please direct your responses to the list, as I'd like to see it bounce back and forth for a while... Thanks for any useful information that you can provide. KRUGERJ@UC780.bitnet (preferred) Jonathan.Kruger@uc780.umd.edu
pmy@vivaldi.acc.virginia.edu (Pete Yadlowsky) (11/01/90)
In article <54976@brunix.UUCP> Jonathan.Kruger@UC780.UMD.EDU writes: > How does the NeXT stack up against the Amiga? I'd rather run them side-by-side than stack them, as they're really quite different machines, each having its own niche. I think, in its price range, the Amiga is the most sophisticated, programmer-friendly machine currently available (and I'm running an old A1000). It has many of the features one expects to find in `real' machines, without the massive OS overhead. On the other hand, I don't think the Amiga can hold a candle to the NeXT's work and development environments. Maybe things have changed with the new A3000, though. -- Peter M. Yadlowsky | "You know - when I talk to people, I try to Academic Computing Center | look more intelligent than I actually am. University of Virginia | Seems to work." pmy@Virginia.EDU | - LA
es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita) (11/01/90)
In article <54976@brunix.UUCP> Jonathan.Kruger@UC780.UMD.EDU writes: >Forwarded posting from Jonathan.Kruger@uc780.umd.edu > > >----------------------------------------------------------------- > >Greetings, > >I am really getting tired of people arguing about the NeXT and >the Mac. I would like to suggest a more interesting line of >discussion, specifically: > > How does the NeXT stack up against the Amiga? > I've been asking myself that a lot as well. I bought my Amiga 3000 back when it first came out, in early July. The NeXT is the first time I have ever questioned my decision to 'love' the Amiga. I think the NeXT is the best thing on the market, in general. Obviously some people will prefer the Amiga for some things, NeXT for others. The Amiga, now with the Video Toaster, is the best micro/home/PC/whatever computer for video work, for example. What impressed me most about the NeXT is not the interface, I like the 2.0 interface on my Amiga as much and you get tired of interfaces after looking at them for a month anyway. It was Improv and the Application Builder that impressed me most. And with a 68040 the speed is finally there, although my A3000 with 030 has an interface feel which is faster. Of course, it is the price which is the most attractive things about it. Yet the price is what bothers me. I don't think that NeXT can sell enough of them to EVER make a profit. Now, I've heard all the arguments about how rich Steven Jobs is etc. etc. However if NeXT doesn't turn a profit he'll find his corporate support dwindle down to nothing. He'll be left continuously keeping NeXT afloat with his personal money. This is what worries me. Steven Jobs may be committed to his dream to improve the quality of computing, but he will also have to be committed if he spends his entire life savings! In the end, I like the new NeXTs a lot. I still don't think they'll be as enjoyable as my Amiga. We have all sorts of pretty animations/pictures that probably won't be duplicated very soon, except on the NeXT with 32 bit color accelerator. Also, most of the things that make the next so nice, including lotus and mathematica and word perfect/write now require a laser printer to really enjoy, something I couldn't afford. Also, there are currently 2,000,000 Amigas world wide (or pretty damned close). There certainly will be 2M after christmas. I see support for the Amiga growing, and a lot of new devices out on the horizon. But I must tip my hat to NeXT. They have an excellent machine at an excellent price with excellent software. I must admit, though, how frustrating it is that Lotus will commit to making Improv for a machine with a user based of appr. 10,000 and not for a machine with a user base of appr. 2,000,000! 8( -- Ethan Ethan Solomita: es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu GorbachevAwards++; free (SovietUnion); IndependentRepublics += 15;
ddyer@hubcap.clemson.edu (Doug) (11/01/90)
ajb@cs.brown.edu (Atul Butte) writes: >Forwarded posting from Jonathan.Kruger@uc780.umd.edu >----------------------------------------------------------------- >Greetings, >I am really getting tired of people arguing about the NeXT and >the Mac. I would like to suggest a more interesting line of >discussion, specifically: > How does the NeXT stack up against the Amiga? >I know that there are a lot of people that have about $4000 to >spend on a personal system, and are REALLY at a loss about >which machine to invest in. >I saw someone ask this question a few weeks back, but I never >saw any response... Please direct your responses to the list, >as I'd like to see it bounce back and forth for a while... >Thanks for any useful information that you can provide. >KRUGERJ@UC780.bitnet (preferred) >Jonathan.Kruger@uc780.umd.edu Yes, the NeXT and AMIGA are closer cousins. I went with the A3000/16 (16mhz) and will later upgrade to the 68040 with clock (so the entire system will go at 25mhz - there is no difference between the 16 and 25 models). Both machines have a great looking GUI and true multitasking (both are effective MAC killers, as someone mentioned somewhere :) I come from an IBM background (sorry) and so I had to really study all the options (MAC was eliminated VERY early). I will eat the 16mhz performance until the 68040 comes along. That was the first hurtle (and saves a lot of $$ needed now). I've mentioned in various places that expandability is a safe thing to have, and that is a strike against the pizzaboxes. This includes color. Although the A3000 is not deinterlaced at the high level, there are rock-steady high productivity resolutions and all machines come with color. You really need a bus unless you are linked onto a net (which is my guess why the NeXTStatons come with an ethernet card...THIN wired only??). I also can't afford what UNIX wants. Memory and disk space. Much memory. Much diskspace. The AMIGA OS2.0 has far less demands than UNIX and still has nice things such as a unix-like cli. Another big issue is software. Amiga has incredible amounts of PD software. It also has wonderful professional graphics packages. All software, except the top of the line work, is affordable (I mean, Amiga is reaching UP, not DOWN, so the affordable software base is there). Want and afford UNIX, study the NeXT. Want an AMIGA? Good. The NeXT and Amiga are both great machines, but skewed to different markets. I do know about NeXTDimension, but you need a bus for this right? Anyway for my tastes, I want the AMIGA for my personal use. Will I get flammed for this? Well, slap a big IMHO for the NeXT and AMIGA evangelists who will tear this up. So long, Doug -- ---------------------------------//------------------------------------- Doug Dyer Clemson University // "Splunge!" - MP ddyer@hubcap.clemson.edu \\ // -----------------------------\X/----------------------------------------