andrewsr@u2.rutgers.edu (Rich Andrews) (03/13/91)
Hello! I was thinking about the advent of Zorro-III on the Amiga. I got a little concerned when I thought that few developers would *not* be developing Zorro-III boards for fear of a smaller market (ie. they might rather develop Zorro-II boards which are compatible with more Amigas). Any thoughts? (Personally, I would like to see boards with Zorro-III which fully utilize the A3000's 32bit bus.) I also wonder if a Zorro-III board on peripherals (say the JX300 scanner, for example) would significantly speed things up. Thanks again, -Rich -- // Rich | "Like any good philosophical discussion, the conclusion \X/ Andrews | is left unresolved." - B. McLaughlin
daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) (03/13/91)
In article <Mar.12.13.24.30.1991.6093@u2.rutgers.edu> andrewsr@u2.rutgers.edu (Rich Andrews) writes: > >Hello! >I was thinking about the advent of Zorro-III on the Amiga. I got a >little concerned when I thought that few developers would *not* be >developing Zorro-III boards for fear of a smaller market (ie. they >might rather develop Zorro-II boards which are compatible with more >Amigas). Any thoughts? Two things. First of all, there is less of a need for instant Zorro III boards in an A3000 than there was for Zorro II boards in the A2000. Basic A3000 motherboard logic takes care of the hard disk and memory needs for most people. Secondly, the Zorro III specification was released a little more than a year ago. Any non-trivial designs make take a much as a year to develop, especially if there's any significant software effort necessary to go along with the hardware. The market is certainly a concern. I wouldn't like to see companies spending vast resources on Zorro III cards and going out of business or anything. Another thing to consider is that it is possible to build a card that supports both Zorro II and Zorro III protocols. This would make sense for any high end device, but it also complicates matters somewhat. >(Personally, I would like to see boards with Zorro-III which fully >utilize the A3000's 32bit bus.) There are several companies known to be working on Zorro III designs. No one has officially announced one yet, but as soon as they do, I'm sure we'll hear about it here. >I also wonder if a Zorro-III board on peripherals (say the JX300 >scanner, for example) would significantly speed things up. Some I/O things would go faster as a Zorro III implementation, others not. In many cases the I/O interface itself, not the Zorro II bus adapter, is the gating item. In other cases, the interrupt service time may be the problem, rather than the bus bandwidth itself. Zorro III can help out here too. > // Rich | "Like any good philosophical discussion, the conclusion -- Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests" {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh PLINK: hazy BIX: hazy "What works for me might work for you" -Jimmy Buffett
ckp@grebyn.com (Checkpoint Technologies) (03/13/91)
In article <Mar.12.13.24.30.1991.6093@u2.rutgers.edu> andrewsr@u2.rutgers.edu (Rich Andrews) writes: > >Hello! Hi! >I was thinking about the advent of Zorro-III on the Amiga. I got a >little concerned when I thought that few developers would *not* be >developing Zorro-III boards for fear of a smaller market (ie. they >might rather develop Zorro-II boards which are compatible with more >Amigas). Any thoughts? OK, my thought: Personally, I think any developer who develops a Zorro III board which, by it's nature, does not *specifically* need the higher bandwidth or the larger address space, is nuts. Yes the primary reason is the market size. The number of Amiga board buyers is small enough as it is. To further restrict your market to A3000's is suicide. Or true love. >(Personally, I would like to see boards with Zorro-III which fully >utilize the A3000's 32bit bus.) Sure you would. And you'd love to see 24 bit megapixel graphics cards, multi-DSP cards, fiber-optic network cards, and Lotus 1-2-3. Problem is you wouldn't buy any of them. -- First comes the logo: C H E C K P O I N T T E C H N O L O G I E S / / \\ / / Then, the disclaimer: All expressed opinions are, indeed, opinions. \ / o Now for the witty part: I'm pink, therefore, I'm spam! \/