[SunRescue] NeXT speeds vs Sun (was: workstations list)

[ward at zilla.nu]

I would disagree with the speed comparison..  We had '030 cubes up through the
TurboColor stations, and they were all quite zippy, even compared to the SPARCs
of the time.  Remember, the NeXTCube shipped in 1988, and had an i860 based 32
bit framebuffer available, complete with svhs in/out.  I checked the Sun HW FAQ
on Sunhelp, but I don't see years of introduction.  What was Sun shipping in
1988?  I'll have to check on the intro dates of the other models, but I do 
recall our TurboColor smoking an early SS10 (single proc, forget clock speed).

But yes, they were designed to be workstations for the education masses.  When
Ross Perot sunk his $20mil into the project, the charter was to build the best
workstation for education.  The $10k pricetag made it rather pricy for the rest
of the world, though.  The Spooks bought a ton of 'em, probably 'cause they were
nifty, fast, and were rather secure for the time.

Reagen

On Wed, Jan 26, 2000 at 05:30:46PM -0500, Dave McGuire wrote:

>   While the NeXT machines did lag a bit behind in raw CPU performance (if I
> recall correctly, they were contemporary with the early SPARCs which ran rings
> around them), I've seen some really neat stuff done with that Motorola DSP56001
> chip that's inside those little buggers.  Between that and their really
> impressive (for the period) graphics capabilities, I'd say they were designed
> to be a "workstation for the masses".  Just my opinion.
> 
>              -Dave McGuire
> 
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-- 
"Power corrupts. Absolute power is kind of neat." 
	-- John Lehman, Secretary of the US Navy 1981-1987