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- Newsgroups: comp.arch
- Path: sparky!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!eff!ibmpcug!exnet!dhd
- From: dhd@exnet.co.uk (Damon)
- Subject: Re: What's in a name?
- Message-ID: <Bs0Kw4.6zE@exnet.co.uk>
- Organization: ExNet Systems Ltd Public Access News, London, UK
- References: <1992Jul20.181618.18981@crd.ge.com> <1992Jul22.170228.424@darkcube.radig.de> <GLEW.92Jul23225243@pdx007.intel.com>
- Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1992 20:57:39 GMT
- Lines: 40
-
- In article <GLEW.92Jul23225243@pdx007.intel.com> glew@pdx007.intel.com (Andy Glew) writes:
- >> |> 1) Backwards compatability is a waste of everyones time.
- >> >
- >> > Fortunately for the vendors, consumers disagree with that statement.
- >> > In millions.
- >>
- >> You're right. Fortunately *for the vendors*.
- >
- >
- >12 years ago, my dream was to build cheap high performance RISC
- >processors that brought really high performance computing power to the
- >masses. My parents (non-computer nerds) in particular.
- >
- >Through all of those years, there was never built a cheap high
- >performance computer system using a RISC that my parents would want to
- >use. (Sure, I know about the BBC Micro - I mean *use*, not play
- >with.) All of the RISC companies concentrated on high margin
- >workstations that only companies and universities could purchase.
-
- Now steady on! Both my parents use BBC micros to write. My father and mother
- have brought in a substantial portion of their income from books/scripts
- written in VIEW (and that won't even each all fit on one disc). My father has
- *only just* bought an x86 portable. Both *still* use the BBC Micros. Not
- everyone thinks using a computer is doing intensive floating-point arith on
- nnnMB files. I'm trying to pursade my mother to upgrade to a *Sun-3/50*; she
- remains unconvinced she needs the extra power. I'm using an 8088 in my palmtop
- and a 680?0 in my Sun-3/60 I write at now.
-
- So the current and previous generation of RISC is *streets* ahead of what any
- of us use to make our living day by day. (BTW our family and businesses
- between us own and use 4 BBC Micro variants + Acorn Electron, many (>6?) PC
- clones, several Suns, plus now-unused things like MZ-80Ks, etc. RISC/CISC
- about 1:1, nearly all about 5 years or more behind the bleeding edge.)
-
- Damon
- --
- Damon Hart-Davis | Tel/Fax: +44 81 755 0077 |1.21|| ALL MAIL FREE.
- Internet: dhd@exnet.co.uk | Also: Damon@ed.ac.uk || Hotrod motor groups soon.
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