ftlja@acad3.fai.alaska.edu (AHERN LANCE J) (10/26/90)
Hi, I'm fairly ignorant of these matters (and about to prove it), but some of the messages I have been reading are ridiculous. IMHO, for what little it is worth, despite the number of SUNs already out, not even 1% of the risc systems (ie <1% of risc chips) have been sold. The 88100 is where the 68000 once was, and someday Apple is going to expand their pricey line of 88130-based "personal" workstations with an "affordable" 88100 'SLC' and all the Amiga owners are going to gloat about how their $500 88110-based systems are cheaper and more powerful ;^] Motorola has a very profitable communications business which will allow it to fund continued risc enhancements despite industry slowdowns. Its cisc line should also provide cash for years to come, and a customer base to upgrade. Same generation Sun architectures have lower performance, IBM risc is too expensive (or should be, Moto!), and MIPS will have ABI problems. Intel's risc may seem a bit strange now, but when polished and enhanced should be formidable given the 64 bit architecture and the customer base. Still, Moto needs single chip risc if systems are going to be cheap and have high(est performance). I think in 5 years you will have a very nice NeXT with multiple 881x0s, one or more of which will: drive the user interface; compute; high bw bus i/o; etc. Will risc chips coexist with DSPs or will more homogeneous systems prevail? I don't know, but I'm sure Moto will be profitable in the risc area; market share will be strong enough to fund future designs. - Lance