[rollei_list] Re: Way OT: NeXT computers
- From: Jerry Lehrer <jerryleh@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 09:59:03 -0800
Thor,
Pretty impressive jargon there!
My next computer will probably be my last, as I am still
using my first. It is a IBM 486 (pre-Pentium) with 16 Mb
(or is it 64 Mb) of RAM.
Jerry
Aaron Reece wrote:
> On Nov 28, 2005, at 7:49 AM, Thor Legvold wrote:
>
> > I got in at the right time - I had purchased an IBM PS/2 only 6 months
> > before, and was visiting the university research lab where they had
> > just bought a few NeXT's. They demonstrated the system to me and I was
> > hooked. I think that was in 1988, Just when the new MB's were
> > announced (25 and 33MHz, wow!). So I got an old Cube from a "Firesale"
> > in the US (I phoned the same day I found out about the upgrade deal)
> > for next to nothing, upgraded to the latest MB and sold the PS/2 for
> > more than I paid for the Next. I found a second hand NeXT printer
> > about 6 months later. It was the best system I've ever had. I sold it
> > to a guy in Japan in 1995 and got an Intel license and kept running
> > the OS on a PC. I still have it :-). I'll bet the guy in Japan still
> > has the cube :-).
>
> I think your chronology needs a minor adjustment. The original NeXT
> cubes used 68030 CPUs running at 25MHz. They were only sold to beta
> testers starting in 1989, and for general consumption in 1990. In 1991
> the NeXTStation was introduced in a pizza box form factor with, I
> believe, a 33 MHz 68030. Eventually they started using 33 MHz 68040
> CPUs in the Stations, but I am not sure they made their way into the
> Cubes. Maybe that upgrade was what caused the "Fire Sale" you took
> advantage of. I don't think they ever used the ultimate 40 MHz 68040 in
> NeXTs, since by 1993 they had decided to abandon custom hardware design
> and become a software company.
>
> I used NeXT systems in 1992-94 at our university to do computer music.
> It was a killer system for academic computer music, the Music Kit
> having been designed (or at least handed over) to the wizards at
> Stanford's CCRMA, the Center for Creative Research in Music and
> Acoustics, one of the world's top two centers of computer music (the
> other being IRCAM in Paris). Also, every NeXT computer (Cubes and
> Stations) came equipped with an FPU and a Motorola DSP56000, which
> allowed all sorts of operations to be carried out in real time which
> would take hours on a DSP-less platform.
>
> Another advantage of the NeXT platform was that they did all the
> rasterization for the laser printer on the computer itself, which meant
> the control systems for the laser printers could be much less
> sophisticated. I seem to recall that a NeXT 400 dpi printer cost
> something like $1000 at a time when the equivalent 300 dpi HP LaserJet
> was in the $5000 range. It also had digitized audio of a very nice
> English lady who would chime in to tell you that "Your printer is
> jammed" from time to time.
>
> > Anyone want to say a few words on the comparitive
> > advantages/disadvantages to 4x5 vs. 6x6? Not regarding movements, but
> > primarily size of negative. 6x6 is around 3x bigger than 35mm. A big
> > jump in quality. Is the jump the same (or bigger/smaller) to 4x5?
>
> Quantitatively, the jump from 35mm (1x1.5 inch) to 6x6 (2.25 inch) is
> 1.5 inch^2 to just over 5 inch^2, making the ratio of film area
> 1:3.375. Going from 6x6 to 4x5 is 5 inch^2 to 20 inch^2, which is of
> course a ratio of 1:4. Qualitatively, however, I notice a much larger
> difference in prints going from 35mm to 6x6, especially for 8x10 and
> smaller prints. What I find most noticeable about prints from
> larger-format negatives are the smoother, more detailed highlights,
> rather than greater detail, unless the print is quite large (16x20 or
> larger).
>
> I feel like that NeXT stuff is posted from another lifetime.
>
> Best regards,
> Aaron
>
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