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[various comments on the momentous significance of TRON.]

My specialty is Japanese history. I cannot claim any particular
expertise on TRON. As an historian with some interest in Japanese
science and technology, I can say Japanese are capable of matching
Americans in hyperbole and boondogles. All of the grantsmanship games
known in the US are also known in Japan and then some. TRON may be
hype. It may be substance. It may be a mix (the most probable case). In
any event, readers should not let the overall reputation of Japanese
technology determine their evaluation of TRON. Nor should they let the
TRON project director's statements influence their evaluation of the
project anymore than they would trust Bush for an objective statement
of the effectiveness of the US government!

At least one Japanese contributor has suggested that TRON was mainly a
device by Japanese micro-manufacturers to gain time until they had
something to match NEC (which holds something like ninety percent of
the Japanese PeeCee market) for schools and other government funded
applications. With twenty plus years studying Japan, six of them in
Japan, my inclination would be to believe this particular Japanese
contributor.

I've read a variety of accounts of TRON in the Japanese press
(primarily the Nihon keizai shinbun), and from this I received only one
consistent impression: even reasonably well-versed Japanese journalists
cannot figure out TRON. Sometimes it appears like a Nintendo game
machine with balls. Other times it appears like a UNIX killer (or knock
off). Some accounts have styled it a second-generation MSX system.

So far, my overall impression is that TRON is second only to the FGP
(Fifth Generation Project) in terms of hype. If Japan had a William
Proxmire, it would have received a Golden Fleece award. Nevertheless, I
am open to counter evidence presented in either English or Japanese
(any common kanji protocol or fax). If any Japanese reader feels he/she
cannot properly describe the wonders of TRON in English, I am willing
to translate any concrete statement provided it is not too long.

(Kanji transmissions should be processed with uuencode.)

Earl H. Kinmonth
History Department
University of California, Davis
916-752-1636 (voice, fax [2300-0800 PDT])
916-752-0776 secretary

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