🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Nov20.214547.8418@PA.dec.com>, rjones@wsl.dec.com (Russ Jones) writes:
> Greg,
> 
> You're right.  We would have made the same statement two years ago and, in fact, did make that statement.  And from Nov'90, we introduced the following upgrades for the DS3100:
> 
> 	Apr'91		DS3100 -> DS5000/125
> 	Feb'92					/125 -> /133
> 	Apr'92		DS3100 -> DS5000/133
> 	Q2'CY93					/125 & /133 -> R4000
> 
 DEC has provided a very decent set of upgrades for the MIPS processor-based
 systems.  I assume, given the pace of these for a period of 18 months or so,
 that DEC could not possibly have made any profit on them, given the extremely
 short life cycle of each iteration.

 At the same time I would like to point out the following:

  1. the statement you made that I questioned included:

     "However, rest assured that these workstations will be upgradeable over
      time through many iterations...."

     In the case of the MIPS-based systems, "many" has, to all intents and 
     purposes, been brought to a screeching halt rather quickly;

  2. your table points out a major problem for us, anyway, in the Q2 CY93
     release of the first (and only ????) generation of a R4000-based system:

     a. several previous non-disclosures (including one earlier this year) 
        indicated a Q3 or Q4 CY92 release of such a system.  This should have
        been "doable", given that the schedule you are promising now shows that
        DEC is running close to one year behind SGI with an R4000-based 
        machine.  ALPHA development interfering, perhaps ?

     b. we are dying cpu performance/wise and have nowhere to go within the
        range of DEC products.  Our chief software vendor is telling us that
        an ALPHA OSF/1-based version of its system will be available in apx.
        12 months (maybe it will be sooner than that.  But this appears to be
        an honest assessment, given a prospective March release date of the
        first production version of OSF/1).

        Even March is too far away.  So we had counted on an R4000-based up-
        grade to carry us through.  With the schedule you have now given and
        assuming the 45-90 day order-to-delivery time we experienced with 
        previous MIPS-based upgrades, it appears that we are in deep _______.



      greg pavlov
      pavlov@fstrf.org