Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Path: utzoo!utstat!philip
From: philip@utstat.uucp (Philip McDunnough)
Subject: Re: Info on new low-end Mac
Message-ID: <1990Jul23.000142.26294@utstat.uucp>
Date: Mon, 23 Jul 90 00:01:42 GMT
Distribution: usa
References: <26401@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> <1990Jul22.011427.1065@utstat.uucp> <13353@cbmvax.commodore.com>
Organization: Statistics, U. of Toronto

In article <13353@cbmvax.commodore.com> martin@cbmvax (Martin Hunt) writes:
>In article <1990Jul22.011427.1065@utstat.uucp> philip@utstat.uucp (Philip McDunnough) writes:
>>    
>>Appletalk is a very nice networking system. Note that the protocals
>>can run at Ethernet speed(EtherTalk). But for a simple, and easy to
>>use network, the Mac's Appletalk interface is great. It comes in
>>quite handy on a Unix network.
>
>Except that UNIX networks don't speak Appletalk.
 
Well tell that to the residence dorms that are equipped with Appletalk
outlets. There are many good gateways between Unix and an Appletalk based
network. One advantage is that this brings the Mac interface, way of
printing,mail,etc...to Unix. We have such a setup at our university and
to use it is a joy.
>
>>    
>>The A3000 is technically a nice computer. The software base is rather
>>limited, so the extra $1500 is more than worth it for 90% of the
>>users. Commodore could help the Amiga by cutting its price in half,
>>bundling software for specific markets(eg. AmigaTeX,Maple, good terminal
>>program,...for university types). At its current price, it simply will
>>not sell well. There is not enough software to justify it. 
>
>I like the bundling idea, but Commodores been doing that.  The rest of
>your statement doesn't make any sense.  Most people buy a computer to do
>a few specific tasks.  If software is available to do those tasks, then
>who cares if there are more packages available for another computer.
>By your argument, everyone should only buy PCs because they are cheaper
>and have more software.
 
Well Commodore has not been bundling scientific software for the Amiga
at the university where I work. The bundling that we see is games/video
oriented.
 
As for the price issue, you must realize that the Amiga must establish
itself. It is trying to break into a very competitive market. The analogy
to use is not the PC one, but Sun. Sun is virtually giving away its
hardware in order to establish a leading marketshare for its OS. They
have now largely succeeded(I can get a 12.5 mips Sparcstation-I for less
than an A3000) and people are writing all kinds of software for it. The
amount of scientific software for the Amiga is very limited. There are
no major statistical programs for it, there is no WYSIWYG technical
word processor for it, Maple is a good package but few Amiga users are
aware of its existance. So when you tell me that only a few packages
are typically used, I have to agree. But if I am a mathematician, those
packages don't exist on the Amiga, and this is true for many other areas.

Philip McDunnough
University of Toronto
philip@utstat.toronto.edu
[my opinions]
