Risc System/6000

[Richard A. Schafer]

In article <1514 at fcs280s.ncifcrf.gov>, adam at ncifcrf.gov (Adam W. Feigin)
writes:
> Correct. The base price does NOT include OS & Window system or
> ethernet (I assume that you get manuals & compilers with the OS, but I
> could be wrong, and I certainly wouldn't put it past IBM NOT to
> include them, and charge extra for them, as they have a nasty habit of
> doing). I did notice that in the glossy that the 3-button mouse and
> keyboard are marked as "optional products".. Nice, very nice, looks
You get a C compiler with AIX, and perhaps f77; if you want their better
fortran compiler, you have to order it separate.  Pascal, COBOL, and ADA
compilers are also separately packaged.

> like IBM is up to their old tricks again. They never learn, do they ??
I don't know about that.  For the performance quoted, a reasonably configured
system still looks like a pretty good deal compared to SUN or DEC prices.
(I don't yet know what our educational discount will be.)
 
> (BTW the price sheet I have show the OS + X-Window System at $2000)
> 
> >Also, one breakdown I saw was that this system only has four slots --
> >and all of them are in use.  No expandability.
Yes, four slots.  No, not all in use.  For $12,500, you can get a system
with 3 slots available that has a processor, keyboard, display, mouse, and
120MB external disk.  Adding an Ethernet adapter takes one more, still 
leaving 2.

> I'm not sure about this, but the base system comes with a 120MB
> DBA ("Direct Bus Attached" -- whatever that means) disk; I dont know
> if you need a slot for a controller, but if you want to add more disk,
> you gotta buy a controller. Lets not forget a slot for ethernet
> (optional), a slot for graphics (you really dont want to see anything,
> do you ??, you can just watch the blinkin' lights...)
Yes, the disk does seem to take a slot, as well as the ethernet adapter.
If you want to add more disk, I'd suggest a SCSI controller, rather than
adding a direct attach disk controller per disk.  The graphics adapter does
not appear to take a "slot", from running the configuration program.

> >>               Documentation is available on a 5.25-inch compact disc
> >> (CD-ROM) that may be accessed from the user's POWERstation or from a
> >> network POWERserver.
> >
> >At extra cost
You'd expect it for free, maybe?  Hardcopy docs in the traditional binder
format are provided with the product.  Only the hypertext software and
CD-ROM player are at extra cost.  The hypertext software does allow you to
create your own hypertext files and store them either on disk or (if you're
wealthy enough create a CD-ROM of your own and read them from there.)  I
saw an early version of this code demonstrated, and it looked pretty slick.

> Of course !!
> 
> It will be a cold day in hell when the temperature is below freezing
> when IBM gets serious about the Unix/Workstation market.
I sure don't understand why you think this is a non-serious attempt.  Given 
the prices versus performance, the product looks pretty serious to me.

Richard