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Syndicate ZMagazine Issue 127
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Syndicate ZMagazine Issue #127 October 16, 1988
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American Publishing Enterprises, Inc.
Post Office Box 74
Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0074
*************************************************************************
* Publisher: Ron Kovacs * Copyright (c) 1988 APEInc, SPC *
* General Manager: Ralph Mariano * ------------------------------ *
* ZMag Editor: John Deegan * ZMAGAZINE Available on these *
* Assistant Editor: Carlos Hernandez * online services: CompuServe *
* GEnie Rep/Features: John Nagy * GEnie, Delphi, The Source *
*************************************************************************
EDITORS DESK by John Deegan
#############################
As Comdex draws closer we all start to wonder what Atari will promise,
offer, or display at the show. With the resignation of Neil Harris, Atari
has developed a hole in the wall, as displayed in last weeks conference on
Compuserve.
It has been stated by a few in the community that (we) the reporters,
shouldn't report the problems, rumors, and stay with the positive side of
Atari. Especially after a few telephone conversations with a few this
week, I am a little concerned about what these people want. Either we
tell it like it is or report nothing at all. Atari is a public company,
making statements and releasing information and not meeting the expected
release dates. Are we expected to swallow this double talk week after
week and project to the public that Atari is a wonderful company concerned
about it's users??
Many of you know Rex Reade, the outspoken Editor of ST-Report. Although a
fellow employee of APEInc, I am not writing this to inflate his ego. Rex
has been instrumental in proding Atari for answers. If you read the
various Atari related magazines around, you will notice the evident lack
of outspokeness. You might remember a few weeks ago when Sam Tramiel
released a public statement requesting that we gather together and help
Atari by being positive about their products etc.. Why the abrupt 360 in
attitude from Mr. Tramiel?? The only editor I can see reporting the real
happenings is Rex Reade. Think about it this way, if all the so-called
editors out there really wrote editorials like those produced in ST-
Report, don't you think the users would see that there is something wrong?
Time after time, when I state that I am with ST-Report or ZMagazine, the
first thing that comes out is, -How is Rex doing-, -How do you guys get
all this information..-, -I think Atari would be in big trouble if Rex
wasn't around to watch...-... These comments tell you that the community
at-large is interested in what Atari is doing, and they want the best for
our machines. Whether they be 8 bit or 16 bit, we want Atari to be the
best and it is up to ALL of us to make sure Atari keeps it's promises.
We at Zmag especially on behalf of our 8 bit readers, look forward to
seeing some relief to the dismal abiss presented as a future for the 8 bit
systems by what Atari is expected to show at Comdex, certainly Atari will
not let us down for a third year in a row.
*************************************************************************
<---CONTENTS--->
<*> Editors Desk.......John Deegan <*> Ron Luks Asks For.....John Nagy
<*> AMS II Info......Robert Abrams <*> MAM The Replies......John Deegan
<*> Toronto Atari Show Details (*) NeXT Computer Press Release
*************************************************************************
#############################
Conference Update
#############################
RON LUKS ASKS FOR APOLOGY
by John Nagy
Ron Luks, Manager of the the Atari Sigs on Compuserve, took personal
exception to an item in last week's ZMAGAZINE and asked for a public
apology. While this ISN'T exactly that, our resultant hour on the phone
revealed a LOT of information that helps to explain just why the SAM
TRAMEIL ATARI CONVENTION conference went as it did.
I wrote my -reflections- on the conference, which followed the actual
conference transcript in last week's ZMAGAZINE. After considerable
discussion about how, in my opinion, there was zero information passed in
the conference, I commented on the unexpectedly early end of the
-Convention-. In one paragraph I conjectured that by the end, the
Compuserve Sysops were -perhaps... more concern[ed] over connection time
fees that were to be lost than over the possible loss of information
exchange-.
Ron Luks felt personally insulted by this, and says that the other Sysops
at Compuserve felt the same. He called ZMAGAZINE's publisher Ron Kovacs,
who suggested that I call Luks. I did, and we both learned something from
it.
First, Ron believes that neither he nor CompuServe consider the -lost
revenues- issue to be real. Ron assumes that the typical user of telecom
services will spend about the same amount of time online regardless of
how or where. An hour or two spent on the conference is, in this mindset
only time NOT spent elsewhere on the system. If so, my observation would
be wrong.
My original intentions in making the comment were only as a minor
sidelight to the conference. I included it after several witnesses to
the convention (myself included) independantly voiced nearly identical
observations.
In our extended discussion, Ron Luks admitted to be -very sensitive- on
the costs issue due to the other services in competition with him. Ron
went on to agree with me that the conference was awful, and even said that
he wished he could make a refund to every person who felt it was a waste
of their time and money.
Ron went on to outline his concept of the convention (and indeed the
entire ATARI SIG system) being a FORUM, and that it was not his role as
moderator to attempt to control or prod the guest speaker. He thinks of
the CompuServe role in these matters is to provide the place and time and
technical matters, and content is up to the attendees. As such, Ron and
CompuServe claim no responisbility for seeing that the speaker is
co-operative or responsive to the questions.
Ron has a good track record for advocating ATARI users' interest. He
pulled a quick (and well attended) conference together that was
instrumental in making WORD PERFECT at least temporarily rethink their
withdrawal from the ATARI market.
In an unexpected and pleasant move to make up for an embarrassing
conference, Ron graciously left mail for all attendees of the convention.
He apologised for the technical foulup that threw some callers out of the
question que and offered to collect and forward all questions that might
have been left unasked or unanswered. He promises to post ATARI's answer
(or the lack of them) for all to see.
Compuserve's ATARI area remains dedicated to offering the best services
for the money, says Ron, and he has backed that offer up by extending his
signup offer to anyone who reads ZMAGAZINE/ST-REPORT. From now until May
1, 1989, you can obtain a free introductory kit (including free
registration on CompuServe and $15 of free online time) just by dropping
a note requesting one to ZMAGAZINE, care of the post office box in our
header.
-------------------------------------
ADVANCED MUSIC SYSTEM II INFORMATION
by Robert N. Abrams
-------------------------------------
Within the past several months, there has been a rejuvenation of the
-Advanced Music System II- (AMS II) in the Sound and Graphics Library.
I am very excited about this to say the least.
I have been receiving enquires about the AMS II. In response, I would
like to help-out by providing some information.
The AMS II program is available from:
LOTSOFBYTES
15445 Ventura Blvd., Suite #10
Sherman Oaks, CA 91413
818-988-8366
ATTN: Robert Kymack
The price of the program is $9.25 plus $2.50 for handling. (Add $.56 for
California sales tax if you are a California resident.)
One does not have to be able to play an instrument to use the editor.
However, one does have to have a basic knowledge of music theory to be
able to transcribe the notes from the sheet music into the editor. So,
how does one learn basic music theory without being able to play an
instrument? Phew, I thought you would never ask! For those of you who are
toying with the idea of getting into the AMS editor, I would like to take
this opportunity to point you in the right direction.
I would first recommend that you obtain the following references to get
you on your way. They should be available at your local music store. If
not, ask the store to order them for you. You may try a regular book
store as well.
I suggest that you purchase the following publications:
Roger Evans
HOW TO READ MUSIC
Elm Tree Books/EMI Publishing
Selling agent: Hansen House
1870 West Ave.
Miami Beach, FL 33139
ISBN 0-241-89916-8
Dr. William F. Lee
MUSIC THEORY DICTIONARY
Hansen House
Library of Congress Catalog No. 54-28888
David Carr Glover
LEARN YOUR CHORDS AND HOW TO APPLY THEM
Belwin Mills Publishing Corp. No. EL 03000
Now, since you are the lucky owner of the greatest 6502 computer in the
world, aka the Atari 8 bit, I suggest that you go into Library No. 6, the
Sound and Graphics Library and download a program entitled -The Music
Major.- The name of the file is -MUSMAJ.DCM.- (As it has a -DCM- extender,
you will need the -Disk Communicator- file to unpack MUSMAJ.DCM. GO into
Library No. 3 and download -DISCOM.OBJ- and -DISCOM.DOC.-) Load the -The
Music Major- with BASIC. By the way, -MUSMAJ.DCM- contains 87680 bytes
(about 685 sectors) so if you have a 1200 baud modem, pack a snack; if
you have a 300 baud modem, pack a lunch!
I also suggest that you write Antic Magazine, enclose a check for $5.00
and request the documentation from sections 2 and 8 of the Antic version
of the -Pokey Player- program. (The Antic version of the Pokey Player
diskette comes with the documentation for sections 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9
and 10. They didn't have enough room on the diskette for sections 2 and 8,
which by the way is an excellent tutorial on music theory. The author of
the Pokey Player, Craig Chamberlain, did a real nice job. I highly
recommend that you get it.) However, if you are into BASIC programming, I
highly recommend that you also purchase the Antic version of the Pokey
Player program. The Antic Catalog number is APO 147. It is not readily
seen in the Antic Catolog, so jot this number down! I saw it on sale a few
months ago for about $10.00. I paid about $19.00 for my copy.
(A note: there is a public domain version of the Pokey Player. It is
available in the library under the file name -POKEPL.DCM.- A word of
caution, the documentation to this file is very poor at best compared to
the Antic version of the Pokey Player.)
If you are into BASIC, after you create a Pokey Player song file, you can
have BASIC load and play the song while the BASIC program is running. To
get create music with BASIC -ain't no walk in the park.- On February 24th,
I uploaded a music file entered in 100% Basic XE (BXE). The program is
40448 bytes large. When I got done, I almost committed myself into a
mental institution. Anyway, if you have BXE, download -IJCAL.BXE- and see
for yourself.
For those of you who are already into AMS, Lee Actor, the author of the
AMS, has written software for the new -MIDIMAX- midi interface module.
The name of the software is the -Midi Music System- (MMS). The potential
is unbelievable. With the MMS and a Yamaha FB-01 synthesizer, one can
enter an 8 note chord compared to a 4 note chord of the AMS. In addition,
this synthesizer allows for 90 preset sounds (instruments) per note. All
one has to do is to connect the Midimax to one's disk drive, plug one end
of the synthesizer into the Midimax and the other end into one's stereo
receiver. Don't run out and buy that Amiga just yet!
Well, that's it folks! Be sure you use your local music store as a
resource for any music theory problems. If you need any help with entering
music into the AMS II editor or if you need help understanding the
documentation to the Pokey Player, drop me a message via E-MAIL or in the
forum. You can write to me at the following address:
Robert N. Abrams
5153 Kipp Way
Carmichael, CA 95608
73547,1552
#############################
MICHIGAN ATARI MAGAZINE
The Replies
#############################
To close the subject, we are publishing the responses to ZMagazine from
the editors of Michigan Atari Magazine. This has been a local event and
covered by ZMagazine because we felt is was important for ALL user groups
to know what is happening behind the scenes. Ron Kovacs requested
answers to a few questions after the first response from MAM. In a voice
conversation with Bill Rayl, he wanted to questions firmed up by a written
response. What he received was an editorial reply and not the answers
requested.
Personally, we at ZMag DO NOT have any problems with MAM. We fell that it
is a good production and worth the price. The part that bothers us the
most is the avasive answers, unthruths passed on to us, and the seemingly
disregard for the users of the groups it is courting.
I am also under the impression that corrective measures are under way to
get the user groups involved. We will update this story as required.
Until then, let me state that it is NOT ZMag's intention to defame MAM.
When we felt that there was injustice being served upon the members of the
MAM group, we went after a story. What we received is printed below.
Please make up your own minds and pass your input on to the editors of
MAM.
To the Editor (John Deegan), (Edited Transcript)
I just happened to see ZMAG #122 on UseNet, and went back and found ZMAG
#120 to see what it was you'd said about the -Michigan Atari Magazine.-
Note that I am not -officially- involved in the publication of the
magazine other than as a somewhat regular contributor, and sometimes
sorter of Zip-code sorted bundles of the magazine, so this cannot be
considered an -official- reply. However, I felt that there were so many
inaccuracies in your Editorial that I felt someone should speak up.
It's obvious from much of what you said that you have NOT seen an actual
copy of the magazine. If you would care to send me your address, I'll see
that you're sent a copy of the latest issue so that you can see what it
really looks like. I live here in the area, and I haven't heard any of the
rumors you allude to. This makes me have to wonder where you may have gotten
your -facts.-
(EDITOR) I have indeed copies of MAM and responded as I felt. Although
the user groups are listed in the front, they are buried in the back and
should be at the start of EACH issue.
First of all, it is true that the price of the magazine has risen
slightly. The people who publish the magazine have changed printers to
produce a better publication for the readers. The paper used is of higher
quality and the printer is able to get the magazine printed more quickly
than the old printer, resulting in a faster -turnaround time.- This
allows more time to get the magazine mailed out to the user groups, so
they can get the issues more quickly. One result of these changes is a
slight increase in cost to the user groups. I'm not 100% sure what the
increase was, but I believe it was on the order of a whole 10 cents. I
truly doubt that ANYONE, even Jack Tramiel could create a -financial
monster- out of 10 cents an issue.
Secondly, I'm at a loss to explain what you meant when you said -the
advertising isn't the best.- In a review in ST-Report, your -sister
publication,- the national advertising was praised as being one of the high
points, lending much credibility to the magazine.
(EDITOR) ST-Report and ZMag have different editors and different opinions
on topics. That point is not relevant here.
Quoting from the masthead, on Page 2, -The Michigan Atari Magazine is a
monthly magazine which also serves as the official newsletter of several
independant Atari User Groups and is not affiliated with Atari Corp. in any
way.-
The magazine is specifically organized to avoid the clutter that would
result from simply stapling a bunch of different user group newsletters
together. The -Feature Articles- from ALL the different club newsletters are
put FIRST in the magazine, to make an -interesting to read- publication.
Bob Retelle
(EDITOR) I have removed most of the clutter and babbling performed by Bob
Retelle because of 1) Previous publication, 2) Not the Editor of MAM.
ZMAG/Ron Kovacs
The editorial pertaining to the Michigan Atari Magazine which appeared in ZMAG
#120 has recently come to our attention, and we are deeply concerned about
what your editor, Mr. Deegan, has written. Mr. Deegan seems to be getting his
information from a less than reputable, uninformed source.
By now, you have also seen the reply to Mr. Deegan from Bob Retelle, a member
of two of the nine User Groups participating in the magazine. Bob has, in our
opinion, done a thorough job of answering most of Mr. Deegan's negative
commentary. We ask that you print both Bob Retelle's reply (we've passed a
copy along to you in case you somehow missed it) and this letter.
Mr. Deegan first says that -User Group material is buried in the back of the
issues.- It is true that club news and minutes appear after all
general-interest articles (excluding the Last Hacks humor column which appears
on the last inside page of MAM). However, the club information is not
-buried.- MAM is organized such that feature articles appear first because
those are of more general interest to all MAM readers, not all of which are
members of participating clubs. Participating clubs are given credit on each
article byline when such articles are written by a club member. We feel MAM
is now much better organized than it was more than a year ago when club news
and general articles were jumbled together. And, from what we've heard from
all participating groups, the overwhelming majority of our readers agree.
We are not -piling the main support of the magazine in the back- of each issue
as Mr. Deegan claims. Nearly 100 percent of the articles in MAM come from the
participating clubs. As Bob Retelle put it, -the User Group material IS the
magazine.-
On another point, Mr. Deegan states -the price of the magazine has risen a few
cents,- and goes on to say that we are greedily -looking into the heavens and
producing a financial monster.- Again, your editor shows his lack of
knowledge.
(EDITOR) Please READ the following paragraph and see if you can make
sense of it. Note the sentence marked with /*/.
The magazine price will be increasing slightly to User Groups starting in
October (Mr. Deegan's commentary appeared in August). How much is the
magazine cost going up? Let's look at some figures. Participating User Group
members, until October, receive MAM for 80 cents an issue. That cost will
increase to 95 cents per issue. Printing cost for MAM at 36 pages including
cover (the smallest the magazine has been since December, 1987) is 73 cents
per issue. Mailing cost for each copy is 18.6 cents. Add that up and you get
91.6 cents. That's our minimum production cost as of August. The increased
cost is due to higher postal rates and a change in printers.
/*/ All this information, minus the exact price-per-issue details was
presented to all participating club presidents in August. Since the
increase to clubs isn't effective until October's issue, clubs were given
over 60 days notice of the increase. Obviously, we are taking a loss of
over 10 cents per issue to give clubs that 60 days notice.
And that's at 36 pages. MAM generally runs 40 pages per issue and it looks as
if the October issue will be at least 44 pages. It doesn't take a Wall Street
Wizard to figure out that we aren't going to be quitting our -real- jobs to
live off the profits from MAM. If we were in this for the money, we would
have gotten out of it long ago!
Finally, on the subject of -leaving the User Groups behind- Mr. Deegan accuses
us of -no longer representing- our participating clubs and states that we
-give the impression- that we don't care about those clubs. Being members of
two of the participating clubs, and both of us having served as officers in
these clubs, we take personal offense at Mr. Deegan's remarks. Has Mr. Deegan
contacted a number of the clubs in Michigan to qualify him to print such
comments? The phone numbers for these clubs are available in MAM, but it's
highly questionable that Mr. Deegan has EVER read the magazine as he claims.
If he had, he would know that we DO list participating clubs on the second
page of the magazine, the Table of Contents, along with page numbers where
each club's section begins.
What is Mr. Deegan's basis for his comdemnation? He cites a recent decrease
in size of User Group minutes and club news as proof that we are -leaving the
User Groups behind.- Nothing could be further from the truth. The decrease
is due to the simple FACT that many of the participating clubs DO NOT meet
during the summer months, and hence DO NOT send in much information. This is
true of many user groups across the country, not just those participating in
MAM.
In our opinion, your editor's unprofessional commentary has greatly diminished
ZMAG's reputation. If Mr. Deegan had a copy of Michigan Atari Magazine, why
did he not call us to get answers to his questions? Our voice and BBS number
is printed on the back cover and on the Editorial page. Had he contacted us,
as any responsible editor would have, this could all have been avoided and
none of us would have a -sour taste- in our mouths.
Bill and Pattie Rayl
Michigan Atari Magazine
3487 Braeburn Circle
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
(313) 973-8825 voice
(313) 973-9137 BBS
TO: MAM FROM: Ron Kovacs
As you see Mr. Deegan is still around and will continue to provide
editorship of ZMag. I involved myself in this shortly after this reply
and see that you are NOT sincere in your response. I have allowed
disection of your editorial to prove our point that you are (as ST-Report
editor Rex Reade would say..) double talking here and seemingly offended
by a 2 paragraph statement 8 weeks ago.
I sent you a few questions via Delphi and received the following as a
response. You have NOT answered my questions directly and took it upon
yourself not to do so. This alone tells us that you do not wish to
respond honestly to our questions. We leave your response with any
commentary as the final episode and wish you the best of luck. Please
note that we will consider the matter closed unless moire information is
received and we feel it is worthy of space.
#1 7-OCT-1988 23:27:16 NEWMAIL
From: BOS1B::UNICORNPUB
To: RONKOVACS
Subj: Reply to questions
Ron,
It is easiest to answer your questions in a few paragraphs, rather than
one by one. Unicorn Publications, which produces the Michigan Atari
Magazine (MAM), is a company and is not controlled by any outside
organization. As stated in each issue of MAM, Michigan Atari Magazine is
a monthly publication of Unicorn Publications which also serves as the
official newsletter of the majority of Atari user groups in the state.
Michigan Atari Magazine was first produced under the editorship of John
Nagy with the help of the CHAOS user group in Lansing, Michigan. In August
of 1987, John approached us about taking on production of the magazine. We
personally contacted all the other participating clubs to hear what they
wanted out of MAM and what they liked or disliked about the publication
and the way it was produced in the past.
Since taking over publication of MAM beginning with the December, 1987
issue, Unicorn Publications has regularly contacted officers of the
participating clubs. In these conversations, the officers discuss with us
any concerns they have about the magazine itself and their club's
relationship with the publication.
Publication of the Michigan Atari Magazine is our primary function, and
it is very important to us that the clubs involved are happy with the
magazine. At the same time, we must also produce a magazine that is
attractive to advertisers and to readers outside of the participating
groups. In essence, Unicorn Publications is committed to producing a
viable magazine that is both affordable to the user groups and attractive
to everyone.
Michigan Atari Magazine provides the participating clubs with a means to
share views and information. MAM also gives these clubs an opportunity
to reach non-members, through non-club subscribers and sales of the
magazine in an ever-increasing number of stores.
As Unicorn Publications, we believe the approach we have taken in
producing MAM is working to the satisfaction of most participants. In
fact, only one club has -complained- about the -paper type- of the
magazine's pages. Changing of printers was a necessity due to our
previous printer closing up shop to pursue a career in printer brokering.
Due to recent price increases in printing costs and increased postal
rates, we were forced to look at a number of alternatives to cover these
increases. The options of increasing advertising rates, club rates or a
combination of these two were our only real alternatives (other than
losing money month after month until the magazine simply died). We
looked first at our ad rates.
Unfortunately, we could not raise our ad rates and stay competitive on a
per-person basis in the national market. We then contacted the clubs to
inform them of the situation and that it looked as if there would be a
cost increase of 15 cents per issue. We gave each participating user
group's president at least two months to discuss the matter with their
club.
It seems that at least a few members of one participating club took
issue with this and instead of contacting us, they decided to use your
publication to voice their concerns. We have contacted the participating
club presidents concerning Mr. Deegan's editorial comments. From our
conversations with all the clubs, it is clear that the majority of clubs
are quite happy with the magazine and with our production of it.
We are committed to producing a viable magazine that all participating
clubs can be proud of. Our goal is to publish a magazine that -pays its
own bills,- and, at the same time, is affordable to all who wish to be a
part of MAM, especially the participating user groups.
Our job at Unicorn Publications is to produce MAM in a way that keeps our
participating clubs participating and happy. We consider this matter
between Unicorn Publications/Michigan Atari Magazine and APEInc./ZMAG to
be closed, pending publication of this reply in your on-line magazine.
Bill Rayl & Pattie Snyder-Rayl Unicorn Publications
************************************
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* CANADIAN at the [YYZ] *
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* CONVENTION 5875 Airport Rd *
* *
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* Demonstrations, Seminars, Users' *
* Groups, Developers and MORE!! *
* *
* $5.00 -Adults, $3.00 -Children. *
* *
* For more TAF information call: *
* 235-0318 [BBS] 425-5357 [msg] *
************************************
#############################
NeXT Press Release
#############################
NeXT Inc. introduces a new type of computer system aimed at higher
education
- NeXT Inc., of Palo Alto, Wednesday unveiled the NeXT Computer System,
designed to meet the demanding and diverse needs of higher education. The
system encompasses the best attributes of workstations and personal
computers, adds features previously found only on mainframes and
introduces entirely new innovations.
-NeXT's mission is to collaborate with higher education to develop
innovative, personal and affordable computer solutions for the next decade
and beyond,- said Steven P. Jobs, president and chief executive officer of
NeXT. -We began our product design process at key higher education
centers in this country, discovering what they wanted from a computer.
Based on what we heard, we have created a revolutionary learning and
research environment that represents what computing will be like in the
1990s.
-Currently, there is a revolution in software development and use on
college and university campuses, generating powerful concepts such as
simulated environments for both research and learning. The problem is that
higher education lacks a predictable computing target for software
developers, which slows emergence of practical products.
-NeXT intends to provide this target by raising the lowest common
denominator for standard capabilities in academic computing. In this way,
we will help spur the realization of some innovative and important
software ideas,- Jobs said.
NeXT saw the need in higher education for a computer that combined
qualities of workstations and personal computers, with cabilities far-
exceeding either. Specifically, the company took the workstation concepts
of built-in networking, large standard display screens, multitasking and
a robust application development environment, and designed and packaged
them in a one-foot cube with personal computer-like characteristics such
as affordability, efficient manufacturability and cool, quiet and
reliable use.
At the same time, NeXT recognized that significant innovations were
necessary to extend its computer system beyond a laundry list of
impressive features. NeXT chose to innovate in four main areas:
A mainframe on two chips:
The architectures of both workstations and personal computers contain
inherent bottlenecks to higher performance that cannot be resolved by
faster processors alone. To manage the flow of information within the
system to yield peak efficiency, NeXT designed the ICP and OSP, two
proprietary VLSI (very large-scale integration) chips that endow the
system with mainframe-like capabilities.
NextStep: Although UNIX provides powerful capabilities and is the most
prevalent operating system for higher education and research, the
complexity of UNIX-based computers has put them beyond the reach of almost
everyone except scientists and engineers. At the same time, developing
graphical application software has traditionally extracted an inordinate
amount of time and expertise.
NeXT has addressed both these problems with NextStep, an object-oriented
software environment. NextStep makes the power of UNIX accessible to all
users, while it also significantly reduces the time, expertise and
software code developers need to construct graphical, end-user
applications.
Personal Optical Storage and the Digital Library: The potential for
desktop computers to open the world's knowledge to an individual has been
restricted, in part, by inadequate mass storage and poor searching and
indexing capabilities. To break through these restrictions, NeXT used a
new storage technology called magneto-optics to create a removable, read/
write/erasable 256 Megabyte Optical Disk as the Computer System's standard
mass storage device.
The Optical Disk makes possible the concept of the -Digital Library,-
which can comprise on-line reference and literary works, musical scores or
images of photographic quality. Included with every system is a powerful
searching and indexing tool called the Digital Librarian and a -starter-
Digital Library.
Sound and Music: Sound is considered a vital communication medium. As a
result, NeXT has made sound capabilities integral to its computer system:
a microphone jack for input, CD-quality stereo output, a powerful 10 MIPS
(million insructions per second) Digital Signal Processor (DSP) and a
standard voice mail application. To encourage the development of
applications that include sound, music and voice, the system also includes
the SoundKit and MusicKit.
The Sum is greater than the parts-
-Many of the NeXT Computer System's individual components represent major
technological breakthroughs,- Jobs said. -Taken in sum, they generate
capabilities and potential exceeding that of any existing category of
computer system.-
The sytem's basic hardware configuration includes the computer, a one-foot
cube that houses on a single board all the computer's highly integrated
silicon chips; the 256 Megabyate Optical Disk for editable storage and
retrieval of vast amounts of information; the 17-inch, extremely high-
resolution MegaPixel Display; and the 400 dpi Laser Printer, which is the
first affordable PostScript laser printer and the first low-cost laser
printer to provide 400 dots per inch (dpi) resolution.
Underlying all the system's capabilities is a small, powerful and
efficient set of computer chips, all of which are standard and fit onto a
single board. There are three high-performance processors in every
system.
The main processor is Motorola's top-of-the-line microprocessor, the
68030. Accompanying it is Motorola's 68882 Floating-Point Unit, for fast
mathematical computations. Both these chips run at 25 megahertz. The third
processor is a 10 MIPS Motorola 56001 Digital Signal Processor chip, for
real-time sound and array processing. The board can also support up to 16
megabytes (MB) of main memory.
Two proprietary VLSI chips, designed by NeXT, give the sytem its mainframe
-like qualities. The Integrated Channel Processor (ICP) manages the flow
of data among the central processing unit (the 68030), main memory and all
peripheral devices. By offloading the 68030 and ensuring the efficient
flow of data within the system, the ICP allows the 68030 to run at its
full rated capacity of 5 MIPS.
The ICP provides 12 dedicated DMA (direct memory access) channels,
including channels for Ethernet networking and for disks, monitor, printer
and other peripheral devices. The single ICP chip replaces several
hundred chips performing similar functions on a mainframe computer, and it
raises sustained system throughput to a level impossible with either
personal computer or workstation architectures.
The other VLSI chip, the Optical Storage Processor, controls the 256
Megabyte Optical Disk, making possible this new storage technology. The
Optical Disk combines the vast storage capacities, removability and
reliability of laser technology with the fast access and full read/write/
rase capabilities of Winchester (magnetic) technology. The Optical Disk
provides unprecedented information storage, manipulation and retrieval.
With the Optical Disk working in conjunction with the Digital Librarian,
a specially designed searching and indexing tool, users can almost
instantaneously locate any textual information, in any form, anywhere in
the computer. They can also browse through the system to uncover
information, ideas or connections between concepts.
Software as Part of the System
NeXT includes an unparalled amount of software in the price of every NeXT
Computer System. The software starts with Mach, an advanced multitasking
operating system compatible with 4.3BSD UNIX, which is the standard
operating system in higher education communities.
In addition, the NeXT Computer System includes NextStep, a complete
software environment consisting of four components: the Window Server,
the Workspace Manager, the Application Kit and the Interface Builder. The
object-oriented environment was developed with the Objective-C programming
language, from the Stepstone Corp.
NextStep solves the two major problems with UNIX-based systems: They are
too complex and difficult for most non-programmers to use, and they
require developers to spend an inordinate amount of time and expertise
creating graphical, end-user applications. For users, NextStep makes the
power of UNIX available by substituting a window-based, graphical and
intuitive interface for the traditional UNIX comand-line interface. For
developers, NextStep includes the Application Kit, a set of interacting
software -objects- for constructing applications.
Also included in NextStep is Interface Builder, a completely new kind of
software development tool. Interface Builder works graphically, letting
the developer construct an application by choosing from a palette of
available objects and using the mouse and keyboard to modify the objects
as needed, define the layout and establish connections between objects.
This process permits the rapid construction of graphical user interfaces
and makes application development accessible to a much larger community.
NextStep uses the Display PostScript system to ensure true WYSIWYG (What
You See Is What You Get) between the screen and the printer. The Display
PostScript system includes a high-performance implementation of the Post
Script language, the de facto imaging standard for printing. It
simplifies the programming of graphical applications that support high-
quality printing.
To further aid developers, the NeXT Computer System includes the SoundKit,
MusicKit, array processing routines, assemblers, compilers, debuggers and
a terminal emulator.
Standard with each system, on the 256 Megabyte Optical Disk, is a basic
Digital Library. A Digital Library can contain complete reference works,
books, images or musical scores. The bundled library includes the
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, including definitions,
pronunciations and illustrations, not just spelling; Webster's Collegiate
Thesaurus; the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations; the Oxford University
Press edition of William Shakespeare; The Complete Works. NeXT technical
references and other pertinent technical references.
The NeXT Computer System also includes a rich set of bundled application
software. These applications include WriteNow, a full-featured word
processing program; Mathematica, a symbolic mathematics program; the
powerful NeXT SQL Database Server, from Sybase; Allegro CL Common Lisp;
Jot, a personal text database manager; and a graphical electronic mail
application with integrated voice mail capabilities.
NeXT has built its business plan and products to meet the needs of higher
education. The company determined these needs through close collaboration
with leaders at college and university campuses nationwide, uncovering the
gaps between current and ideal computer technology for this marketplace.
-Higher education is a huge market, certainly big enough in itself to grow
NeXT to critical mass,- said Dan'l Lewin, vice president of sales and
marketing and NeXT. -Beyond that, higher education is the most demanding
and diverse marketplace conceivable. It provides a real acid test. If we
can do well here, were can do well anywhere.
-The key is understanding and committing to a business model that works
the way higher education does, both in its generic form and as it varies
from campus to campus. That's where NeXT has the edge, because we are the
only computer company that has amassed both the market knowledge and the
technological ability to deliver the right computing tools,- Lewin said.
During 1988, NeXT will market its computer System directly to several
dozen of the nation's top institutions and software developers. NeXT
expects to appeal to higher education on the strength of its technology
tools and through the personal business relationships the company has
established with the higher education community.
Price and Availability
The standard NeXT Computer System configuration, which includes 8MB of
main memory, the 256 Megabyte Optical Disk, the MegaPixel Display,
keyboard, mouse and complete system software, will sell for $6,500. The
400 dpi Laser Printer will sell for $2,000. All prices quoted are for
higher education.
NeXT will ship systems to its key customers and developers starting this
quarter, and expects to ship systems with final software by the second
quarter of 1989 to a broader base of institutions and developers.
Available options to the standard configuration include 4 MB RAM expansion
modules (up to 16 MB total), 660 MB and 330 MB high-performance Winchester
drives, an Ethernet kit, blank Optical Disks and printer toner cartridges.
NeXT Inc., of Palo Alto, was founded in October 1985 by Steven P. Jobs,
co-founder and former chairman of Apple Computer Inc., and five other
individuals. The mission of the privately held company is to collaborate
with higher education to develop innovative, personal and affordable
computer solutions for the 1990s and beyond.
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SYNDICATE ZMAGAZINE Issue #127 October 16, 1988 (c)1988 APEInc
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