Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83 SMI; site sun.uucp Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!decwrl!sun!gnu From: gnu@sun.uucp (John Gilmore) Newsgroups: net.micro Subject: Re: What is Mac good for? Message-ID: <443@sun.uucp> Date: Tue, 7-Feb-84 05:27:02 EST Article-I.D.: sun.443 Posted: Tue Feb 7 05:27:02 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 9-Feb-84 21:54:25 EST References: <5396@uiucdcs.UUCP> Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc. Lines: 27 If I was going to college I'd love to have a portable word processing type system which I could write papers on, use as a very smart terminal into my University computer network, and could plug in to the laser printer down the hall in the dorm for high quality output (if I couldn't afford the cheap dot matrix printer or share it with my roommate). While it wouldn't be my machine of choice for developing a large programming system, still, I got an awful lot of work done on a 1MHz Apple ][ with 40x20 char screen, 8K "hi res" mode, upper case keyboard, 80K floppy, and 300 baud modem. I have no doubt that big and little 3rd party types can come up with compilers, debuggers, modem and lan networking, CAI, disks, color, accounting, amazing sound & video games, videotex, BSR interfaces, Usenets, and suchlike. Look what they -- we -- did on that godawful 6502 and stop doubting; at University prices this thing is cheaper than a retail Apple ][! It won't run Unix, but that's not the requirement. What it does provide can't be duplicated at its price -- an excellent user interface and fast communications to machines that provide what it can't. Supposing that bigger disks, printers, and such are run off the 1MB serial port, a well-defined remote procedure call protocol could let them use it as a simple hardware expansion port, a network interface, or both at once. How can it tell if its "Read N bytes at offset X" command was executed by a local disk or a remote server? Anybody want to bet how long before they have a portable (battery) version? My guess: as soon as they can junk the CRT for a volume produced flat panel. Makes your TRS-100 look like a four function calculator; Dynabook here we come!