Vintageness ( was Re: Serious Request For Moderation (On

From: Eric Chomko <chomko_at_greenbelt.com>
Date: Sun May 13 21:21:14 2001

Bill Pechter wrote:

> > Another good fact to add to the Apple I vs. Sun analogy is the fact that
> > Apple is credited with pioneering the desktop/home/personal computer market
> > (mass market that is), while Sun didn't invent the workstation (though
> > they'd like you to think so). For what it's worth, Apollo invented the
> > workstation, though Sun was around fairly soon afterwards..
>
> Personally, I think DEC pretty much invented the workstation...

I don't know...

Olsen, the CEO of DEC at the time, considered microcomputers as toys
and not serious. The workstation came along and was serious even by
his standards. If DEC did invent the workstation, then they sure as heck
missed the boat on those units as well as one can conclude that the mini-
computer segment of the computer marketplace went workstations. Sun
very well may have picked where DEC left off.

>
> Actually GT40's were pretty much early cad stations for pc cad
> (Racal-Redac) had some pretty good software on them.
>
> Wasn't the PDP1 pretty much an engineering workstation with Vector
> (rather than raster) based CRT.
>

I would say that the term workstation postdated minicomputer, as what PDPs
are.


>
> Kind of a cross between an O'scope and a computer.
>
> Apollo and Sun were pretty much an alternative to the higher
> priced Vaxes with add-on graphics like the VSV11 unit.
>

Sun is still around. Did another company pick up Apollo?

Eric


>
> Bill
> ---
> Bill Gates is a Persian cat and a monocle away from being a
> villain in a James Bond movie -- Dennis Miller
> bpechter_at_shell.monmouth.com|pechter_at_pechter.dyndns.org
Received on Sun May 13 2001 - 21:21:14 BST