press releases -- comments

[seddigh%vermithrax.sch.symbolics.com@RELAY.CS.NET, slug-liaison%vermithrax.sch.symbolics.com@RELAY.CS.NET]

    Date: Fri, 19 May 89 13:57:29 EDT
    From: MILLER@vax.cam.nbs.gov

	First, it think it is excellent that information from the Symbolics'
	press release is being made available via e-mail. Second, it creates the
	unprecedented potential for dialogue on the state and future of the
	company, and for feedback to Symbolics.
    Here, Here (or is it hear, hear?)

	    Scheduled to be available for delivery in volume in 90 days, the MacIvory 
	    model 2 upgrade package for Macintosh II/IIx systems ...

	We were told by our salesrep, in a local meeting of SLUG here in DC
	yesterday, that the "model 2" (lower case as shown) is faster because it
	is the first Mac to contain the newer Ivory chip (Rev 2B) 2and0 because it
	contains faster cache ...
    
	We were also told that MacIvorys already in the field would ultimately
	be upgraded in the field by customer service to Rev 2B, because some
	minor problems (e.g., logic variables) are fixed in the new chip. ...

	...  was that the "model 2" seemed quite high in price. ...
	Is the cost differential justified technically?

	[... Lots of back and forth speculation ...]
    I am very glad that Symbolics posts the press releases, and enjoy the discussions and
    debates that these provoke.  But given the amount of experience that most of the people
    on this list have and the typical vagueness of press releases, these releases tend to
    provoke a lot of wild speculation as well.  All the more so because the release is 
    somewhat dramatic and vindicates the idea that the design of Ivory gives symbolics
    a natural path for improvements.

    It would be nice if Reza or somebody at Symbolics could prepare a more technical version
    of the press releases for our consumption.

Certainly. For future releases, I will check into when and how much
technical information we can supply to users.

It is great to see open discussions of this sort between Symbolics and
its users.

Regards,
Reza Seddigh