🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <Jan01.223703.26806@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU>  
randall@redfish.atmos.colostate.edu (Dave Randall) writes:

> An optimistic forecast for 93

> 1. Faster 040 machines are introduced early in the year.

Where the heck is Motorola with the 40 MHz 68040???

> Prices on slabs are cut.

Six months late, but we'll take it!

> An inexpensive color upgrade for the cube is announced,
> and it becomes clear that the cube has a future.

The economics of creating such a board strongly argue
against such a color offering.  I do think there will
be a 40 MHz 68040 offering, and that may well be the
final cube upgrade.

> ND officially dies, though. 

As long as there are cubes, why not keep a few in stock?

> 2. NeXTSTEP 486 is released almost on time, and is

> 3. A NeXT-Cannon luggable (brief-case sized) machine is

> 4. The NRW turns out to be based on multiple HP PA-RISC

> 5. A port of NeXTSTEP to SPARC is announced, and reaches

> 6. NeXTSTEP 486 achieves sales of 250,000 units in 1993,
> mostly to business and   government.
> 
> 7. NeXT's revenues reach $350 million for 1993. An IPO is
> planned for early 1994. 

If the folks at NeXT really read this group, I'll bet most
of them have tight pants over those last two predictions ;-)

Cheers!

--
Nathan Janette
PPP link from hilbert.csb.yale.edu

Please reply to: nathan@laplace.csb.yale.edu (NeXT)

Re: Inexpensive Color boards for the cube:
 
They've already got all the stuff for interfacing the ND with the Cube mother-
board done. They've already got the 12-bit color circuitry done.
 
Why not throw the NS Color color circuitry on an ND board instead of the
ND stuff, use something cheap insteap of an i860 (AMD29000?) Maybe
add that dedicated Postscript chip someone came up with. Hell, make it 
8 bit.
 
Okay, I'm grossly oversimplifying this, but it doesn't strike me as being
earth-shatteringly difficult or expensive to do a cheap color board.
If they used more high-volume parts (like the amd chip) they could bring
the price down. Also, if they could get it cheap enough, and if they kept
the cube around, they just may sell more of those than they sold of the ND.

Just thinkin' out loud here.

If anyone feels the need to flame, keep the flames low. I realize I am 
not fully up on the economics of electronics.

Jon 

In article <Jan01.223703.26806@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU>  
randall@redfish.atmos.colostate.edu (Dave Randall) writes:
> An optimistic forecast for 93

[nice dream deleted]

> 
> 5. A port of NeXTSTEP to SPARC is announced, and reaches the market late in the  
> year. Sales are brisk. Further ports are planned (SGI, PowerPC).

I'm afraid NeXT does not have the power to produce so many ports in such a  
timeframe. They are 6 months late at least on 486 already.

--Gerben
-- 
Gerben Wierda                 Tel. (+31) 35 833539
  "If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there."
  From the Talmud(?), rephrased in Lewis Carroll, "Alice in Wonderland".

In article <Jan01.223703.26806@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU>  
randall@redfish.atmos.colostate.edu (Dave Randall) writes:
> An optimistic forecast for 93

indeed ;-)

> Here is a rosy view of how NeXT will fare in 1993. Note: I have no inside  
> information; the predictions below are based on an imaginative reading of  
> netnews and the media. There is at least some (apparent) basis for each item.
> 
> 1. Faster 040 machines are introduced early in the year. Prices on slabs are  
> cut. An inexpensive color upgrade for the cube is announced, and it becomes  
> clear that the cube has a future. ND officially dies, though.

Could be right except for the cheap_color and ND_death part.

> 2. NeXTSTEP 486 is released almost on time, and is advertised extravagantly,

Agree.

> by NeXT standards. An introductory promotion is announced.

Agree.

> Jerry Pournelle
> reviews  NeXTSTEP 486 in his Byte column. Media coverage is broad and very
> enthusiastic.

Wrong. Media are "sponsored" by M$, Sun, IBM, etc. Also, most rags prefer
to pamper and stroke their DOS-based readership a la "...but taking into
account the vast amount of incredibly great Microsoft apps and the higher
raw SCSI transfer rate, MS-DOS still wins by far over Solaris and NeXTSTEP."

> NeXTSTEP 486 is promoted as the "high-end" PC software with snob appeal -- a  
> Lexus 400SC to Microsoft's Taurus (NT).

Wrong. It's clearly a NeXTcedes SL vs. a tuned Lada (Lose 3.1) or its
successor, the brand new 3-wheel-drive, 7 cylinder, overhead crapshaft
OddBall 2000NT (doors, seats & dashboard compatible with Ford Model T)

> 3. A NeXT-Cannon luggable (brief-case sized) machine is announced, with a  
> large, high-resolution color LCD screen that wows the industry. 

Based on which processor? Anyway, as far as I've heard Canon (not Cannon :-)
is working on a different display technology, superior to LCD. Color.

> 4. The NRW turns out to be based on multiple HP PA-RISC chips. Upgrades are  
> available for at least some of the existing machines.

Both very likely IMHO.

> NeXTSTEP is also made  
> available for use on HP 700 series workstations. HP thus takes advantage of  
the  
> opportunity that IBM threw away. The NeXT - HP deal is widely hailed as a  
> marriage of the best software and the best hardware available. 

Can't believe it. HP wouldn't want the hassle of introducing a new
incompatible OS on their machines. Besides, they would have to compete
against and work together with each other at the same time. For PA-RISC
based NeXTSTEP machines, that is.

> 5. A port of NeXTSTEP to SPARC is announced, and reaches the market late in  
the  
> year. Sales are brisk. Further ports are planned (SGI, PowerPC).

Not delivery this year, I'm sure. NeXT has too few people for that.

> 6. NeXTSTEP 486 achieves sales of 250,000 units in 1993, mostly to business  
and  
> government.

Yup, and they could append another '0' if they sold the developer's version
for $500 (too many royalties I'm afraid, though)

> 7. NeXT's revenues reach $350 million for 1993. An IPO is planned for early  
> 1994.

Will we ever know how much NeXT earns? It's still Steve's private pocket.

--
Volker Herminghaus-Shirai (vhs@qb.rhein-main.de)

Looks good on the outside, but -
	intel inside

In article <1993Jan2.201319.3232@qb.rhein-main.de> vhs@rhein-main.de writes:
>Wrong. Media are "sponsored" by M$, Sun, IBM, etc. Also, most rags prefer
>to pamper and stroke their DOS-based readership a la "...but taking into
>account the vast amount of incredibly great Microsoft apps and the higher
>raw SCSI transfer rate, MS-DOS still wins by far over Solaris and NeXTSTEP."
>
Aw, come on.  I would never have gotten a NeXT if it hadn't been for
all the glowing media reports 4 years ago.  And NeXT has gotten lots
of good press lately.  Sure, most PC magazines are DOS/Windows-
oriented, because that's what their customers (think they) want.
Would you want to see a review of Solaris or Windows NT in NeXTWORLD?
(Admittedly not a perfect analogy; PC mags reviewing NeXTSTEP would be
looking at a better OS than their customers are used to, but I can't
think of one better than NeXTSTEP for NeXTWORLD to review... :-)

>> 3. A NeXT-Cannon luggable (brief-case sized) machine is announced, with a  
>> large, high-resolution color LCD screen that wows the industry. 
>
>Based on which processor? Anyway, as far as I've heard Canon (not Cannon :-)
>is working on a different display technology, superior to LCD. Color.
>
Oh?  I heard Cannon was working on some very high speed terrycloth
display technology... and your machine-washable NeXT-Cannon portable
will be doubly useful on the beach!  :-)
--
Mike Matthews, ex-Tether Dude +------------->   matthews@ial7.jsc.nasa.gov
"Had the Shuttle on a String"  \_ Now accepting NeXTMail via KlugeNet(TM)!
Lockheed-ESC                  |  
Houston, TX                   |          *** WILL HACK FOR FOOD ***

In article <Jan01.223703.26806@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU>  
randall@redfish.atmos.colostate.edu (Dave Randall) writes:
> An optimistic forecast for 93
> 
> Here is a rosy view of how NeXT will fare in 1993. Note: I have no inside  
> information; the predictions below are based on an imaginative reading of  
> netnews and the media. There is at least some (apparent) basis for each item.
> 
> 1. Faster 040 machines are introduced early in the year. Prices on slabs are  
> cut. An inexpensive color upgrade for the cube is announced, and it becomes  
> clear that the cube has a future. ND officially dies, though.
> 
> 2. NeXTSTEP 486 is released almost on time, and is advertised extravagantly,  
by  
> NeXT standards. An introductory promotion is announced. Jerry Pournelle  
reviews  
> NeXTSTEP 486 in his Byte column. Media coverage is broad and very  
enthusiastic.  
> NeXTSTEP 486 is promoted as the "high-end" PC software with snob appeal -- a  
> Lexus 400SC to Microsoft's Taurus (NT). 
> 
> 3. A NeXT-Cannon luggable (brief-case sized) machine is announced, with a  
> large, high-resolution color LCD screen that wows the industry. 
> 
> 4. The NRW turns out to be based on multiple HP PA-RISC chips. Upgrades are  
> available for at least some of the existing machines. NeXTSTEP is also made  
> available for use on HP 700 series workstations. HP thus takes advantage of  
the  
> opportunity that IBM threw away. The NeXT - HP deal is widely hailed as a  
> marriage of the best software and the best hardware available. 
> 
> 5. A port of NeXTSTEP to SPARC is announced, and reaches the market late in  
the  
> year. Sales are brisk. Further ports are planned (SGI, PowerPC).
> 
> 6. NeXTSTEP 486 achieves sales of 250,000 units in 1993, mostly to business  
and  
> government.
> 
> 7. NeXT's revenues reach $350 million for 1993. An IPO is planned for early  
> 1994.

In light of the recent Open Systems Today article, I'd say
your predictions (for the most part) look pretty accurate :-)

Ronald Pomeroy
Advanced Micro Devices
CAM Applications Group
Austin, Texas
rpomeroy@aunext1.amd.com