From: andrew@cubetech.com (Andrew Loewenstern)
Subject: Re:   100 Mips Intel NeXT (moved from comp.sys.next.misc)
Organization: Cube Technologies, Inc.
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 05:17:09 GMT

In article <dillon.0sv3@overload.Berkeley.CA.US> dillon@overload.Berkeley.CA.US (Matthew Dillon) writes:

>    The point is to make it work on low end
>    486 boxes as well as high end 486 boxes, not to skip the low end boxes
>    (thus locking out half your market and getting people mad at you)
>    because you don't like their video or memory architectures.

>    NeXT is making one mistake
>    after another... initial press releases about NS486 looked promising,
>    but they've slowly destroyed their advantage (and cut their potential
>    market massively) by restricting the types of 486 machine
>    configurations NS486 can run on.

>    I want to see NS486 work on *any* 486 box with an intel processor in it
>    and I truely believe that it is the only thing that will save NeXT.
>    THEN I want to see it run on lightning OEM'd workstations.

Perhaps you do not comprehend the magnitude of the problem.  You can't
just say "OK were going to support every video, network, and
hard-drive cards along with every motherboard, processor, bus, and
peripheral that exists for PC's."  This just doesn't happen.  Somebody
has to write the drivers.  About 500-600 people work for NeXT
worldwide.  Of them, there are probably only 80 at _most_ who are
software engineers.  Even if you put every one of them to the task of
writing drivers, it would never happen.  Plus, nobody would be left to
work on the rest of the system muchless implement anything new.

Microsoft, and to a lesser extent IBM gets away with this because they
own the PC market.  Bill Gates says "JUMP!" and everyone says "how
high?"  Bill says a new Windoze is coming out that will require all
new device drivers and all the hardware manufacuters get busy working
on them.

Computer companies for the most part don't give a shit about NeXTSTEP.
Just because NeXT is coming out with a new operating system for PC's
doesn't mean 3Com is going write a driver for their network cards.
Look at Lotus.  They were an early believer in NeXTSTEP.  They claim
Improv would have never really happened without NeXTSTEP.  But they
just slapped each and every one of us, and _especially_ Steve Jobs, in
the face by bringing out Improv 2.0 for Windoze only (which was
probably largely prototyped on NeXSTEP).

Because of this, NeXT has to make whatever allies it can (Dell and
Intel) and sit down and decide which systems and peripherals will be
most popular with big companies who have the $$$$ for NS486 and just
write those.  I should say "and write as many as they can," but there
are some major timing issues with NS486.  At this point, NeXT simply
cannot afford to even attempt to cater to people like you and I who go
through Computer Shopper looking for the best deal.  Big Sales.  When
you are as small as NeXT is trying to sell something as big as
NeXTSTEP, you have to go for the big sales or you will loose.  NeXT
can't go for both.


andrew
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Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.advocacy