🚀 go-pugleaf

In <id.TX9W.FC3@ferranti.com> peter@ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) writes:

>In article <1992Dec26.003022.25532@bilver.uucp> wbeebe@bilver.uucp (Bill Beebe) writes:
>> >Now I won't say I was happy with the performance on the 286, but the current
>> >systems with moderately old 386es are adequate, and our 486 box screams.

>> Maybe I *really* am dumber than a box of dirt, but why, in this day of
>> networking, would anyone do team development on a single box when it would
>> appear that team development on networked single-user boxes would be a lot
>> more efficient?

>Because team development on networked multiuser boxes is better than either.
[ valid points regarding development deleted ]

>> Why do we still need multi-user boxes except to support obsolete business
>> practices?

>Because they work?

It's more efficient and practical, technologically and in
terms of organizational topology to have multi-user boxes
for sharable resources such as the non-computing business's
main operational database (truly distributed databases are
still (IMHO) research toys or vapourware) and a really fast
compute engine.

For small organizations with limited computing staff (yes,
even none!), a multi-user box is often the way to go.
Networking introduces many complications which are often
difficult to diagnose from off-site using anything less than
a megabit/second link and a voice link to have a "slave" do
the physical checks.

Finally, let's not forget the ultimate reality check: Cost!
There is no cheaper way to provide computing access to those
with well-defined requirements, than a multi-user box with
character-cell terminals on each desk. It's not pretty, but
it's just as productive (some say more productive) than a
graphics workstation for the majority of business users.

-- 
+-----+ Bernd Felsche                     _-,_|\  #include <std/disclaimer.h>
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