🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <986@titan.camcon.uucp> anc@camcon.uucp (Adrian Cockcroft) writes:
:There have been rumours about Atari and Transputers circulating so I
:thought that I had better get some hard information out there. I have no
:involvement in Perihelion, neither has my employer although I have been
:aware of events at Perihelion and know some of the people who work there.
:I do want one of their workstations however, I rate it as better than a
:SUN 3/260C+fpa for numbercrunching with a single T800.
:
: [ Lots of info about Atari's proposed new system. ]

	I don't believe this for even a second.

:First a benchmark reported by Inmos: Multivariate regression analysis
:        IBM PC          45 minutes
:        T800            18 seconds
:        T800 x 4         7 seconds
:
	This is nothing surprising; an HP calculator can outrun a stock PC
(1/2 :-) ).

:The graphics animation was VERY smooth, far better than a SUN3/260C+fpa+gpone
:flight simulator I have played with.
:
	Again, unsurprising.  UNIX can really get in the way of real-time
programs.  The mockup obviously (?) has no OS in the way of the flight
simulation program.

	I saw the same fighter simulation at SIGGRAPH.  Fun!

:The Blitter 2D fills at 128 Mpixels/sec, 2D block copy at 16 Mpixels/sec.
:(It has a novel architecture based on work by Phil Willis at Bath University).
:
	Can you elaborate?  I've heard stories both good and bad about the
Atari blitter design.  (Reply to my mailbox, please.)

:A photo of a completed motherboard in box was shown, smaller than an IBM
:PC box with 3 fair sized slots.
:
	Have you seen Pixar's poster called "1984"?  That looks like a real
photo, too  :-).

:Perihelion Software
:-------------------
:This is based in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England and is headed by Tim King
:ex of Metacomco, Amigados fame.
:			   ^^^^
	Fame?  I would have chosen a different word....

:Languages
:---------
:C       Pascal  Lisp
:Fortran BCPL    Occam
:	 ^^^^
	Ack!  Phft!

:Atari's Position
:----------------
:They are looking for wider markets and want to go upmarket into workstation
:technology.  [ ... ]

	Sorry, but whatever Atari may be doing now, they will always be
perceived as a toy company (at least as long as the coin-op division
continues to exist).  No one buys workstations from a toy company.

:It will be launched at COMDEX as a Mega ST add-on for developers.

	There's a strong positive probability that I will be visiting COMDEX
this year.  I'll visit the Atari booth in disguise (sans cape) and see what
I can find out.

:Development systems available in Dec 87/Jan 88.
:The standalone system will be launched at Hannover in March 88.
:Product in the shops in June 88 in the UK.
:Product in Europe 6 months later and US launch June 89, giving a years
:head start to the UK software developers and a chance for the machine to
:gather some applications software before it hits the US.
:
	Apply appropriate slop factors for time figures given.

:Graphics modes:
:                1280 * 960 * 4 bpp
:                1024 * 768 * 8 bpp
:                 640 * 480 * 8 bpp 2 screens for animation
:                 512 * 480 * 32 bpp true colour + overlay and tag bits
:60 Hz, not sure about interlace.
:
:Cost
:----
:Priced well below Mac II, base level entry price (no winchester or monitor)
:aimed at 1000 pounds according to Jack Lang.
:
	Wrongo!  With resolution as quoted above, there is no way you'll
come in under $2000, at present.  Bandwidth is not cheap (yet).  Add the
cost of a suitable color monitor, and.... well.....

	DISCLAIMER:  I'm not normally given to unsolicited vaporware product
bashing, but this announcement sounds about as plausible as a rumor I heard
about how the stock market crash was caused by two high-school computer
crackers.....

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Leo L. Schwab -- The Guy in The Cape	ihnp4!ptsfa -\
 \_ -_		Recumbent Bikes:	      dual ---> !{well,unicom}!ewhac
O----^o	      The Only Way To Fly.	      hplabs / (pronounced "AE-wack")
"Although there are technical differences between the quality of images
created on the Amiga and on our system, we feel that viewers could be misled
to believe otherwise, even with your disclaimers to the contrary."
		-- Ralph J. Guggenheim, Pixar