SUMMARY: SCSI Floppy Disk Drives for Sun Sparcs

[Saul]

Several weeks ago I posted a request for information about SCSI Floppy
disk drives available for Sun Sparcstations, specifically for the new SLC.
I received the following information from various people:

   Artecon
   2440 Impala Drive
   Box 9000
   Dept. 5500
   Carlsbad, California 92008-0993
   1-800-USA-ARTE

   Central Data
   1602 Newton Drive
   Champaign IL 61821
   1-800-482-0315

   Aurora Technologies
   1-617-577-1288

   Micronet Technology
   20 Mason
   Irvine, CA
   1-714-837-6033

   Workstations Plus
   1615 Alvarado St.
   San Leandro, CA 94577
   1-800-735-5777

   Acropolis Systems
   1638 Centre Point Dr.
   Milpitas, CA 95035
   1-408-946-6947

   Dataram
   P.O. Box 7528
   Princeton, NJ 08543
   1-800-822-0071

   Clearpont Research Corp.
   35 Parkwood Dr.
   Hopkinton, MA 01748-1659
   1-800-clearpt

All of these companies apparently sell Floppy Disk Drives that will
operate on the SCSI bus of Sun Workstations and are selling it for about
$995.  Why so much?  After talking with several of the salepeople at these
companies, I have found that they are selling the physical device AND a
set of programs to access the disk and use it with MS-DOS files.  This
bothers me.  What it comes down to is that they do not sell the device and
a driver but instead expect you to shell out $$$ for software that
DUPLICATES standard unix software like tar, bar, etc.  Furthermore, the
MS-DOS stuff that they provide duplicates DOS-Windows as distributed by
Sun but does not do the IBM-PC emulation to run programs. 

So I would end up buying a unix license for standard software, the disk
drive and the accompanying software which I will never use and
DOS-Windows.  This is ridiculous when all I want is the physical device
and a kernel -  total price should be about $300-$400 or less.

A couple of people suggested that I consult an attorney based on the fact
that the Sun sales literature claims that the device would be supported
like other devices are supported.  I did consult with an attorney about
this but am left with the opinion that if I sued, I would likely lose
since the case would essentially be my word against Sun's and the
documentation that states otherwise is not sufficient because it is worded
ambiguously.  You or I might know what it meant but, a judge or jury would
likely not.

So the end result is that I am left with a Sun workstation that I can use
for some things but not everything I wanted it for, I will likely not be
able to purchase any new software because most vendors are now
distributing software on either CD-Roms (far too expensive for me to
consider) or floppies, neither of which I can use, and I will not be able
to share software or files with other people unless they can read a 1/4"
data cartridge tape (not likely for my purposes).  

I am also left with a very bad taste in my mouth.  If it sounds as if I'm
bitter, I am.  I just spent about $8,000 on a Sun Workstation and hard
disk drive only to find out that I may have to spend another $2,000 -
$4,000.  At this point, I'm seriously considering selling the Sun and
buying something else (like an IBM-PC).

Saul Jaffe
Rutgers University
ARPA: Jaffe at elbereth.rutgers.edu
UUCP: ...!rutgers!elbereth.rutgers.edu!jaffe