🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Oct13.211857.26003@midway.uchicago.edu>
	fo6r@midway.uchicago.edu writes:
>I wish NeXT offered a machine without ethernet.  My NeXTstation lives at
>home, far away from the prying eyes of my boss and the ethernet.  I suspect 
>that a significant portion of NeXTs end up never being connected to the 
>ethernet, which is a travesty but definitely a reality.

An INsignificant portion.  NeXTs really aren't marketed as
standalone machines.  A reasonable standalone configuration is
quite pricey; it costs quite a bit for large disks, a backup
device, printer, etc. ... and a terminal (or the equivalent) to
rescue the machine when the console locks up.  In a networked
environment, disks and peripherals can be shared, and the
marginal cost of adding another machine is quite low.

>                                                         Why not sell some 
>NeXTs with a fast FAXmodem/ISDN built in instead of the ethernet card?  

Built-in Ethernet is *dirt cheap*.  There is no "card"--just a
few standard components.  Most of what's on an Ethernet card
has nothing to do with Ethernet specifically.  (And it's
certainly cheaper for NeXT to build machines that are all the
same, rather than multiple motherboards, or worse, multiple
daughterboards.)

On-board modems are a total lose; what's "in" changes every two
years or so, upgrading is damn near impossible, standards are
different in every country, and the approval process
("homologation") is unbelievably painful--and slow--in some
places.  U.S.  residents have it easy.  That's not the way it is
overseas.

Ethernet is universal and stable.  The parts count is low, it
doesn't take up much real estate, it costs next to nothing, and
PTTs don't harrass you for having it.  Besides, "every"
workstation has Ethernet as a *standard* feature.  For that
matter, "toy" computers like Mac Quadras have it.  PeeCee
manufacturers are seriously considering it.  It may surprise you
to learn that one of the reasons NeXT consistently loses sales to
Sun is that NeXT doesn't support *multiple* ethernets per
machine.  Those that complain about Ethernet being there at all
are generally regarded as Truly Unclear On The Concept.* **

*In less enlightened times, they would simply be branded
"cretins" and dismissed forthwith.  But we're kinder and gentler
and more politically correct, so we'll just send you to your room
to play with your Windoze companions and virus accelerators
until you're sufficiently mature to participate in polite
society.

**Of course, Ethernet pales in comparison with fiber-to-the-
desktop.

>If it were possible I'd cut the ethernet off of my NeXT's board and sell it to 
>pay for my Supra.

It would hardly make a dent.  [Supras--yuck!]

>                  Dropping the ethernet (and therefore the price)

It won't drop the price.  It would *raise* the price.  See above.

>                                                                  on some 
>low-end stations

NeXT isn't in the business of selling low-end stations.

>                 would help sales, especially to students.

NeXT doesn't give a shit about students.  NeXT wants to sell to
people with *money*--students are assumed to be disqualified
unless they can prove otherwise--in which case, they're probably
not complaining, anyway.  Students also tend to be looking for
"home computers"--NeXT isn't in the business of selling "home
computers"--they're not FCC certified for use as home computers,
and priced such that the FCC won't administratively declare them
intended for residential use.

>                                                            Perhaps NS486 will 
>fill this gap, or is NeXT going to require that all of the NeXTstep PC's have 
>ethernet cards?

NeXT has explicitly stated that networking cards are optional in
486 machines.

Then again, outstanding PeeCee Ethernet cards sell for about half
the cost of mediocre V.32bis modems, (and far less than ISDN
interfaces).

					-=EPS=-

Excerpts from netnews.comp.sys.next.hardware: 14-Oct-92 Re: Ethernet?
Eric P. Scott@futon.SFSU (3970)

> [ munch ]
>NeXT doesn't give a shit about students.  NeXT wants to sell to
>people with *money*--students are assumed to be disqualified
>unless they can prove otherwise--in which case, they're probably
>not complaining, anyway.  Students also tend to be looking for
>"home computers"--NeXT isn't in the business of selling "home
>computers"--they're not FCC certified for use as home computers,
>and priced such that the FCC won't administratively declare them
>intended for residential use.

I agree with most of this article, except for this.  NeXT's student
prices (the educational discount) are as good as you can get.  I don't
believe that there's a cheaper way of purchasing a NeXT than through
higher education.

Why does NeXT have the campus consultant program?  Because it gets the
people who need workstations (comp sci, engineers, graphic design
majors, etc) interested in NeXT's machines.  They are the group that
will be writing or using the newest and hottest programs and starting up
their own companies after they graduate.  And if they've been happy with
NeXTs in the college environment, they'll be a lot more likely to
purchase, or recommend purchasing, machines from NeXT.

This also gives NeXT a chance to hire students in a low-risk position
and see how they perform.  They can determine who they should make
permenant job offers to.  Also, these campus consultants tend to be in a
position to see the cutting edge of computers, and provide NeXT with
feedback about what's the state-of-the-art.

Finally, the FCC issue has already been discussed earlier...I'm not
concerned about using a class A device at home, and neither are most of
the people I know of that have NeXT machines.

All IMHO,

-Chuck



+---------------------------------------------+ 
|  Charles William Swiger -- CMU sucks rocks  | "The television screen is the
|   AMS & normal mail: cs4w+@andrew.cmu.edu   | retina of the mind's eye."
|    NeXTmail: <temporarily out of order>     |           
+---------------------------------------------+            --Videodrome

eps@futon.SFSU.EDU (Eric P. Scott) writes:

>manufacturers are seriously considering it.  It may surprise you
>to learn that one of the reasons NeXT consistently loses sales to
>Sun is that NeXT doesn't support *multiple* ethernets per
>machine.  Those that complain about Ethernet being there at all

True.  A campus department recently bought a Sun SPARCServer that
had an FDDI board in it to provide networking - NeXT would need to
provide options like that to make a big dent in the server market.
Of course, I doubt that's where the focus is now, maybe it will be
DG's focus... :-)

>NeXT doesn't give a shit about students.  NeXT wants to sell to
>people with *money*--students are assumed to be disqualified

NeXT does want to sell to people with money and who actually can use
the machine.  No, they probably aren't likely to go after the Mac LC
II crowd soon... but for those who do need the computing power, and
the flexibility, the NeXT is the right choice.. whether they're
students, faculty, or corporations.
If you say that NeXT doesn't care about students, you must say that
Apple does not, either, because both offer comparably-priced
equipment when you consider the power of the equipment. (Well, NeXT
usually wins on large campuses like this one, but that's another
story).  You may say that NeXT isn't going after the low-end
market... that seems to be true.

Of course, I never speak for NeXT, my opinions only...
-- 
David Lemson                                                (217) 244-1205
University of Illinois NeXT Campus Consultant / CCSO NeXT Lab System Admin
Internet : lemson@uiuc.edu                UUCP :...!uiucuxc!uiucux1!lemson 
NeXTMail accepted                                  BITNET : LEMSON@UIUCVMD