From: rpomeroy@aunext1.amd.com (Ron Pomeroy x(Coop))
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.advocacy
Subject: Re: Mac vs. NeXT (was Mac Multitasking?)
Date: 23 Dec 92 17:01:02 GMT
Reply-To: rpomeroy@aunext1.amd.com
Distribution: usa
Organization: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.; Austin, Texas

In article <1992Dec15.011936.3923@athena.mit.edu> zmonster@athena.mit.edu (Eric  
M Hermanson) writes:
>>In article <1992Dec14.231636.522@athena.mit.edu> mflafeer@athena.mit.edu  
(Mohamed F. Lafeer) writes:
>>
>>>
>>>I agree that the NeXT is great. But now that I am going into the real world
>>>I have to make decisions based on more than just "get the best." 
>>>
>>>Buying a Mac and buying/developing Mac software means more flexibility than
>>>NeXT. Mac software runs on cheap computers, computers with big monitors and
>>>68040s, and computers that weigh 4lbs and fit in a briefcase.
>>
>>Runs on computers with big monitors??  What does that have to do with the
>>price of cheese?  So what, you can go out and buy a 21 inch Radius monitor
>>for Mac and pay $3000.  That doesn't make the OS any better.  And you
>>are right, Mac software runs on 68040's (as overpriced as they may be).
>>
>>>
>>>The Mac market is large. It is fed by hundreds of companies. It is not as
>>>large as the PC market, but it is large enough to be stable and trustworthy.
>>>Macs are not just found in advertising firms any more, they have found a 
>>>place in every segment of the computer industry. 
>>>
>>>If NS486 is everything you say it is, and if NS486 sells a million copies, 
>>>then I'll look at NeXT and think about investing in it. 
>>>
>>>NeXT is a small privately owned company. It does not have any significant
>>>partners. Apple is a large, publicly-held company with a known stable  
financial
>>>situation. Apple has significant dealings with another pair of large,  
stable,
>>>publicly held companies, Motorola and IBM.
>>
>>Canon Inc. owns roughly 40% of NeXT.  Ross Perot Owns around 12%.  Steve Jobs
>>owns around 45%.  Stanford and Carnegie Mellon Own the Rest.  NeXT has plans
>>to become a public stock company next year.
>>
>>Now lets take a look at the major Apple partners in crime (just a metaphor).
>>
>>IBM:  Just laid off thousands of people.  In dire financial trouble.
>>Motorola:  Has not produced any new chip lines since the 68040, which is 
>>           already almost two years old.  The 88110 series is almost dead.
>>           There are no companies that I am aware of that plan to use that
>>           "buggy" chip in their future systems (even NeXT has given up on 
>>           them).  End result:  Motorola is in trouble.  They are two years
>>           behind Intel in chip design.  They are even further behind
>>           DEC (Alpha) and HP (PA-RISC).
>>
>>>
>>>Who knows exactly what will happen in the computer market in the next few
>>>years? All of this talk about NS486 sales, PowerOPEN, and Taligent are  
purely
>>>speculation. The bottom line is that I need to solve certain business needs
>>
>>
>>
>>At least NS486 will be available within five months to turn that speculation
>>into hard proof.  
>>
>>
>>>
>>>In summary, I do not share your optimism about the future of NeXT in the
>>>mainstream of computer users and purchasers. I think that MS-DOS, Windows,  
and
>>>MacOS, and future derivatives of these systems are the present and future
>>>mainstream. This is not to say that these OSes are better than NeXT or even
>>>as good as NeXT. These are just market realities.
>>>.
>>>
>>>-Firoze
>>>
>>I still think you are making a huge mistake by basing your optimism on 
>>market realities!  In the high tech field, if you do not produce faster
>>and better technology, then you will die a slow, cruel death.  Why is
>>Texas Instruments out of business today?  What about Radio Shack (Tandy)?
>>They seemed to have a big share of the market about 10-12 years ago, and now?
>>They just didn't produce quality stuff, and they were pushed out of the 
>>market not due to market share, but due to shitty technology.  People put
>>up with DOS and Windows because they don't know there is something better
>>out there.  NeXTstep486 will put a pretty nice dent into Windoze market  
share.
>>
>>Eric

Errr...I feel pretty much the same as you do but TI and Tandy are still in 
business (and doing pretty much ok - both fortune 500 companies).

--
Ronald Pomeroy		[Objective-Cruntime: [Smalltalk runtime]];
Advanced Micro Devices	[self dream-on];
CAM Applications Group
rpomeroy@aunext1.amd.com (NeXTmail preferred)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.advocacy