Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!nntp.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: John Ames Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc,alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: [OT] Punch card times (was Re: Taking Speedy too seriously) Date: Mon, 2 Nov 2026 13:50:02 -0800 Organization: A place where nothing fits quite right Lines: 33 Message-ID: <20261102135002.00005bcb@gmail.com> References: <18dee4b6cab427fa$865$2574533$802601b3@news.usenetexpress.com> <11bi77v$20c1p$1@news.xmission.com> <11binqk$1bjd2$3@dont-email.me> <11bmnvg$36mvk$1@dont-email.me> <11bp7nd$139t9$2@dont-email.me> <1omdnboFafC6TX33nZ2dnZfqn_GdnZ2d@giganews.com> <11brekh$139ta$4@dont-email.me> <18e361f191ae2cbb$1317$3179723$802601b3@news.usenetexpress.com> <87tsm1aoxo.fsf@atr2.ath.cx> <11c5n4b$1f300$4@dont-email.me> <11c73he$1s1nv$1@dont-email.me> <11c8319$2845p$1@dont-email.me> <20261102093506.00007a34@gmail.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Injection-Date: Mon, 02 Nov 2026 21:50:07 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; logging-data="3391650"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1/yfsByTgpe4vNhMbWXEovXBMjP2NpBDBY="; posting-host="728de252094a1f5e977f8ef2271adfe0" Cancel-Lock: sha1:0Z2gNCUhNitJ0j13sIsLFdP4W7U= sha256:noxIa2otG1uQfXardE3vGonU3aAQw/UReB/6PmuHFfE= sha1:flXA1RhaBaOPYM+50vXmkNXQo50= sha256:9PVEBPTX558wmA53ExR5UgUM+xKW21mliGiGFCBTSCg= X-Newsreader: Claws Mail 4.3.0 (GTK 3.24.42; x86_64-w64-mingw32) Xref: csiph.com comp.os.linux.misc:94954 alt.folklore.computers:236331 On 2 Nov 2026 20:27:24 GMT rbowman wrote: > > And on top of that, the Rainbow was a dud: more expensive than the > > IBM PC for similar specs with only somewhat more flexible graphics > > and CP/M compatibility as its advantages. The Professional at least > > offered one of DEC's own architecture, but it was over *twice* the > > price of the PC. > > It wasn't fatal but IBM's RS/6000 had the same problem. The Y2K > patches were only for newer systems. Our clients looked at the cost > of replacing their existing machines and switched to PCs. Windows > 2000 Server came at just the right time. The whole "workstation" class was vulnerable to this; the assumption that business customers with a need for personal computers would pay kilobucks to get the Best Of The Best got shakier and shakier as the vendors' technical/performance lead was eroded by Intel's dogged per- sistence and Apple's piggybacking off IBM & Motorola's own R&D efforts and the commerical Unix vendors tried with decidedly mixed success to follow changing preferences in UI design, 'til it finally completely imploded sometime in the mid-'00s. (In particular, only NeXT and SGI showed any understanding of what separates a technically-functional GUI environment from a genuinely *nice* one, whereas MacOS had one from the get-go and MS had more-or- less gotten the wrinkles ironed out by Win95; unless their employees truly needed bleeding-edge performance or one of the increasingly rare *nix-only software suites for line-of-business purposes, why on Earth would a company drop $$$ for Tru64/AIX/Solaris/HP-UX with CDE on top when they could get the job done with a PC or Mac for $$ and get a less grody user experience into the bargain?)