From: hazen@athena.cs.uga.edu (Mark)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc,comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Atari Falcons $799... WHO CARES! Just try to emulate it.
Date: 12 Sep 92 17:52:10 GMT
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens

In article <1992Sep11.213433.2480@dartvax.dartmouth.edu> abs0@coos.dartmouth.edu (Kelvin Leung) writes:

>>>Falcon has 16 mhz 68030, 32 mhz 56001 DSP, SCSI2, 8 channel 16 bit stereo
>>	    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

>>What?!!!  That's _all_?  Man if it's only 16Mhz then forget it!! You
>>can't do anything on a 16Mhz computer these days.
>
>I don't mean to respond to this posting... but this is very ridiculus.  

You have to realize one thing, PC users (and I will be the first to
tell you, I have owned a number of machines. My folks own a Mac II
which I am teaching my dad computer literacy on, I used to own a PC
and now I own an Amiga) are quite ignorant of the processor power of
other chips than the Intel set. So here it is, in plain black and
white (Or green and black, or whtever color it is your screen is):

CPU CHIP SPEEDS HAVE NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY BLOODY NOTHING, TO DO WITH A
COMPUTER'S PROCESSING POWER. 

Huh? Did you folks get that? If you'd like proof, pull up an
Ultraforce dem on a 386 33Mhz, and you'll see vector plotting at about
2/3 the frame rate my little 7.14 Mhz 68000 does in any of the common
demos. Why? Because the chips WORK differently. It's kinda like
comparing a lawn tractor to a Mustang; the lawn tractor may have a
much more POWERFUL engine, but it's geared for torque, not speed. I'd
hate to try and pull a tree out of the ground with a Mustang, however.

I can tell you folks one thing, there is a severe lack of proper
information on the table here. Don't ask what a cpu does in Mhz, that
is only a multiplier for the processor istelf, not the down to earth
basics of what the machine can do. I'm sure Clive Sinclair would tell
you his 50Mhz 4 bit processor can stop anything, too.

Try asking a MIP rating, that is a little more objective, however it's
not quite so. There are a LOT of commands the 68000 has that don't
have a counterpart on the Intel chipset, and vice versa, though I have
always found that having 16 registers is a whole lot nicer to the
programmer, and the addressing on the 68000 is a lot smoother and
faster due to these numerous registers and the commands granted by
them, and by the 68000, for dealing with information. 

In conclusion, I'd let one thing filter through: I use my Amiga
mainly for music composition, grpahics and music demos, and the like.
I would not trade it for the world, even if I decided to switch solely
to term software. If you ask me if I'd prefer something else to do
desktop publishing or write a term paper on, give me a Mac any day. If
I was going to run my life with spreadsheets and Quicken(tm) I'd take
a PC. 

Computers are tools, not religions. If you have the mind to tell me
your wrench can pound a nail as easily as my hammer, you have every
right to that illusion. I won't even TRY to take it from you. But
leave me content to use my hammer in peace.

Ergo, I'd request all you ST and PC folks remove the "comp.sys.amiga"
from your Groups: line, because little has been said from us on this
whole thread.

And to quote Disraeli, Power means not having to respond.

Amen.

Repectfully bored with this thread,

	-Mark
-- 
This is just a sigment of your imagination. |  -hazen@athena.cs.uga.edu-
(Oh, okay. A funnier quote for you then:    | Mark Hazen -Reverb/Megawatts- 
The computer loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. 
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc