From: jalkio@cc.helsinki.fi
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: Atari Falcon Discount Supermachine  Re: Sydnes is gone?!!
Date: 21 Aug 92 14:44:03 GMT
Organization: University of Helsinki

In article <1992Aug21.084853.27709@uwm.edu>, gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Gregory R Block) writes:
> hyc@hanauma.jpl.nasa.gov (Howard Chu) writes:
> : Stealth paint, that's got a nice ring to it.  }-)  The Falcon case is black,
> : last I saw. Funny how folks arrive at the same ideas like that... (Anyone
> : remember Bell & Howell Apple ][ clones?)
> 
> Now I feel old.  ;)  Yeah, I remember.  As a matter of fact, I had
> one.  I had my IIc with a full 256k extra ram (wow!) and clock, and my
> Bell & Howell.  I used my IIc mostly for terminal stuff & wp, and my
> B&H was hooked up to a color monitor, and for a long time ran Bard's
> Tale II and III night and day for hours on end.  ;)
> 
> I miss those games, to be honest.  ;)

Hmm. My last computer was also black, and really beautiful. I just
couldn't afford to keep it (yeah, it was a NeXTstation). Now I have an
ST as a budget choice. 

> 
> : In the OS releases up to 1.0, there were no interlocks in the OS. I haven't
> : played with the 2.0 or newer stuff, but I recall running their mandelbrot
> : demo and some music programs at the same time. It was pretty spectacular.
> : Likewise with trying to run two different music players, or playing music
> : and getting a printer alert. But with such a glaring problem, I'd expect that
> : it's done better in the current OS.
> 
> What would you consider "spectacular"?  What happened?  I'm curious.
> Details, details!  ;)

As I recall, the NeXT still required the DSP to be "reserved" before use
in the OS 2.1.

> 
> : The goal of the MiNT project has always been to be a complete replacement
> : for TOS. I'd say it's been pretty largely successful, even though current
> : releases still rely on TOS in some areas.
> 
> But this is only the OS.  I'm more disappointed by the actual
> hardware, which seems to be getting less and less spectacular as it
> gets closer and closer to release (if it makes it that far).

Hmm. Wasn't it you who complained mainly about the MultiTOS earlier? Well, I
guess not, then. Anyway, I don't think Atari has ANNOUNCED anything
about the Falcon that hasn't been in the latest specs. Actually I was
very positively surprised that they seem to allow you to record 16-bit
digital audio straight out of the box. In this respect, the system would
be even more useful than a NeXT for me.

> 
> : Not very much. I'd really like to get something similar to the Falcon, but
> : I'd prefer to wait for one in an expandable case...
> 
> I seriously believe that they've shot themselves in the foot by not
> giving the users a real bus from the start.

Well, I don't miss the bus so much (actuall, I never miss the bus :-).
Especially, if the price is $1000 or less. I would then have a really
good workhorse for electronic music production (of course, I would need
a HD and monitor, too) for quite a reasonable price. And, that's what
Ataris are mostly used today, at least in Europe.

BTW, the NeXTstation doesn't have a bus either, and I would still say it
is a VERY reasonable computer. (Does it even have a processor slot?)

> 
> : Ok, taking the "realistic" viewpoint - how can you expect a particular
> : computer system to be the key? When the ST was introduced in '85 it was
> : leaps and bounds ahead of the Mac, as a hardware system. Higher screen
> : rez, sharper video (higher refresh rate), DMA, more peripheral ports,
> : expandable to up to 4M of RAM compared to the wimpy 128K Mac, etc. etc.
> 
> The DMA was done poorly, in my opinion.  The ST was obviously a
> single-tasking system.  That's why I see it lacking in so many places
> today.

Well, the ST is soon past. And still, I have found it to be a valuable
machine for the things I have done. I.e. music and small-scale desktop
publishing.

> 
> Greg
> 
> --
> (: (: (: (: Have you overdosed on smileys today?  Why NOT!?! :) :) :) :) :)
> (:	  "Flesh-pressing:  It's not just for politics anymore."         :)
> (:	gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu			Gregory R. Block         :)
> (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)


						Jouni Alkio
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy