🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <583@scirtp.UUCP> jimi@scirtp.UUCP (Jim Ingram) writes:
>I don't plan to present arguments that address previous postings in detail,
>because it seems the point has shifted. The ridiculous claim in the ad is
>that the UNIX PC has 75% of the power of a DEC VAX 11/780.
>

Hmm.  I would say that 1111 Dhrystones (REG) vs 1562 Dhrystones (REG)
(both running SysV) is pretty close (71%).  Why is this claim so
ridiculous?  What better method of *processor* comparison can you come
up with?

>If this is true, I should be able to replace 3 VAX 11/780 with 4 UNIX PCs
>(and support the 100 - 120 users on the Vaxen).
>

Not at all.  The way I read the `ridiculous claim', the benchmark
measurement fully justifies it.  It could be construed as misleading to
those who completely justify computer purchases wholely on processor
speed, and (like the above statement to do with loading users onto both)
fail to take into account speed of peripherals, memory management
techniques and other important considerations.

>To claim such a replacement ratio, as the ad does, is clearly dishonest.
>

No, as explained above.

>A more realistic, but still rather absurd, replacement would be to replace 
>a VAX 11/780 with 13 UNIX PCs, assuming that each UNIX PC will support 3 
>users as Ms. Vincent states. This would cost 115% of an VAX 11/780 if 
>the "7% of a VAX" cost statement is correct. 
>

Well, this is quite correct, but ATT was surely not trying to tell those
prospective DEC-VAX buyers that they could buy a UNIX PC instead and just
suffer a small speed reduction and no other trade-offs.  A smart buyer
in the market for a vax-sized machine is not even going to consider the
UNIX-PC, but a smart buyer in the PC market hopefully will because ATT
has *correctly* billed the power of the UNIX PC, and the PC buyer knows
the limitations of the class of computer system he is in the market for.

>AT&T should be fair and honest in its claims. They haven't been.
>The AT&T ad is a good example of taking an irrelevant measure of raw
>processor speed and building a lie from it.
>

Those are very harsh words for a machine that *can* back up the ad, in
the sense of benchmarks.  As I mentioned above, although the processor
speed is important, there are many other considerations to be tken into
account.  They are not building a `lie' from this.  Rather if a buyer
does not take other factors into account, he deserves what he gets. 
They are merely playing up one of the better and more important aspects
of their machine.  Is Mercedes building a lie when they say that their
cars are the best crashed tested in the world?  They can back up that
claim (I hope), but this is not the only thing to take into account when
buying a car.  This is advertizing.  Welcome to the real world.
	Besides, I don't think that DEC is going to lose a lot of VAX
sales from this. :-)

>-- 
>
>	The views expressed by me are my own and do not necessarily
>	represent the views of any other individuals or organizations.
>
>Jim Ingram			 {decvax, akgua, ihnp4}!mcnc!rti-sel!scirtp!jimi
>SCI Systems, Inc.   	   P.O. Box 12557, RTP, NC 27709            919 549 8334

I guess I need a disclaimer here - Although ATT will show up in my
organization line I don't work for them.

-- 

Paul Guthrie		`See the happy moron, he doesn't give a damn.
ihnp4!ihdev!pdg		 I wish I were a moron. My God! Perhaps I am.'