From: falavi@bach.mth.kcl.ac.uk (Farrukh Alavi)
Subject: Re:  Falcon is an Ape
Organization: J. Random Misconfigured Site
Keywords: Me Too!
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 11:55:05 GMT
X-Posted-From: bach.mth.kcl.ac.uk
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol.ctr.columbia.edu


In response to hyc@hanauma.jpl.nasa.gov (Howard Chu)

>>At this point, I started to pity him. I started to ask him about the  
>>sound 
>>capabilities, but one of his colleagues came over and interjected on his  
>>behalf. This guy looked quite unfriendly. He affirmed, with a sense of  
>>finality, that the Falcon still uses the same 8-bit sound chip as in the  
>>STe, and 8-channel 16-bit audio is possible only through the DSP. I  
>
>The Falcon's audio is completely compatible with the ST and STe's audio
>because the same components as used in those older systems are still
>present in the Falcon. The ST's YM-2149 PSG is still there, and the STe's
>microwire 8 bit stereo DMA audio chip is still there. But in addition,
>there is a 16 bit stereo CODEC which can be used independently of the DSP
>and the other devices. It can also mix the YM-2149 output into its input,
>as well as select input from a number of other sources.

Yes, since my visit to the ECTS show, I have found this out through other  
sources. At the time of the visit, my knowledge of the Falcon's sound  
capabilities was less complete.

>>decided to say goodbye at this point, and picked up some of the  
>>literature  
>>being given out. It says in there that the Falcon is incompatible with  
>>the  
>>STe, and that Atari is confident of selling 20,000 this year (worldwide  
>>or  
>>in the UK?). As for software availability, it mentions forthcoming stuff  
>>like D2HD recording and conferencing software that uses the DSP. Atari  
>>is  
>>leaving no doubts, however, that this machine is being aimed squarely at  
>>the consumer market.
>
>The Falcon is incompatible with the STe? Hm. I would say that the STe is
>the machine the Falcon is *most* compatible with. The "ST-compatible"
>graphics modes are all STe modes (12 bit palette instead of 9 bit ST  
>palette),
>the machine includes the STe analog controller ports, etc...

Read my original post again. I was quoting OFFICIAL ATARI LITERATURE. It
genuinely surprised me as well to see them claiming the incompatibility. 

>>Verdict: The Falcon is an Ape - you know, imitate everyone. A bizarre  
>>cocktail (pun intended:) of a machine whose hardware is a combination of  
>>features inspired mainly by the Amiga and the NeXT, plus a few others.  
>>For instance:
>>
>> The colour palettes and resolutions are very much SVGA-like  
>>(8/15/16-bit colour from an 18-bit palette). The 32K/65K "TrueColor"  
>>modes remind one of some of the cards you can get to run Windows in. 
>
>Yes

Ah, agreement finally :-)

>> Mucho NeXT emulation in things like their choice of DSP, the SCSI-2  
>>port, the black colour of the case. Even things like BLiTTER and MiNT  
>>are dead giveaways. Again, in the aforementioned interview, Sam was  
>>quoted as saying that he hoped that the TT would "clobber" the NeXT.  
>>Imitation is the sincerest form of plagiarism....
>
>Sincerest form of flattery, I thought the line went... Blitter and MiNT
>have nothing to do with the NeXT box. The ST blitter has been around in
>some form or another since 1987, and MiNT arose merely because someone
>who was fed up with a single-tasking OS decided to do something about it,
>and didn't feel like running ST-Minix.

Yes, the line does go as "sincerest form of flattery" - sorry to see that 
you didn't get the joke in "sincerest form of plagiarism" (plagiarism is  
not sincere; for Sam Tramiel to include features in the Falcon that he has
seen fit to criticise in other machines in the past is not very sincere 
either - geddit?)

I never claimed that BLiTTER and MiNT have anything to do with NeXT. It  
_is_ clear, however, where they got the inspiration to SpELL them that way 
rather than just BLITTER, blitter, MINT or mint.

>> That built-in LocalTalk networking port appeared very similar to  
>>AppleTalk ports you find on any Mac
>
>Nothing new here, that's what "LocalTalk" means, after all, and that port
>has been present on the Mega STe and TT as well.

Good, more agreement.

>>I don't mean to incubate :) another Falcon flame war here, so any Atari  
>>fans reading this please note that the above does not include anything  
>>other than raw facts. I will, however, say the following (mainly because  
>>it is too difficult to resist:):
>
>Hm, I would say the article contained a number of raw facts followed by
>a number of ludicrous conclusions.

Well, you would, wouldn't you...

I invite you to point out what "ludicrous conclusions" were drawn in my 
original post - you yourself seem to agree with my major verdict
on the machine, namely that there is very little in the Falcon that has  
not been done on other machines already.
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