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From: Thad Kanko <[e-mail]>
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Subject: Re: Raptor News/NewTek Deal
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Date: Sun, 8 Oct 95 15:50:37 PDT
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     First off, Mr. Fanning, I AM NOT a mouthpiece for Allen Kahn.
I am considering the purchase of a Dec Alpha, and was interested
in his response. I also do not recall saying anything about "PINS".
I was commenting on the bandwidth between the 21164 and your 2 meg
cache. (128bits vs 256). I will also be commenting on DeskStations
propritary BIOS and HAL. I AM NOT employed or paid by any Alpha
companies. I am an animator, that's it.

     What NewTeks/DeskStations "deal" means.

Basically this deal means once existing versions of LW for generic
Alphas runs out, thats it. The NewTek Raptor Designer (Alpha LW
modified to run only on a Raptor/Raptor 3) will be sold as one
product. You will no longer have a choice in what platform you
tation have made it for you.

     What are the conseqences of this "deal"?

Well it ultimately means being put back into the position you were
in when you had to but an AMIGA to run LW. It also means an ned
end to competitive pricing between companies that sell Alphas.
(From the NewTek press release) "The joint venture is designed
to provide a set of tools for 3D graphics and video that allow
for greater functionality and better performance at a price
most people can afford." Yea, right. This comment is pretty
hollow when you are eliminating the competition. Right now you
can wheel and deal with the various companies that sell Alphas
and know you are getting the best price because they are
fighting price/performance wise to get your sale. They want
you to buy thier machine so they constantly try to under bid
the competion.

     What does DEC think of this "deal"?

David Packwood of DEC, (yes, the 12 billion dollar, 60,000
employee, international company) says that "DEC DOES NOT
AGREE with this deal, and does not think it is a good idea."
For reason I cannot state here, I know DEC has a VESTED interest
in making sure this deal does not go down. AT the end of the day,
DEC is the one in charge of delivery and price of the chips
that DeskStation needs.

     Why does Thad Kanko have such a problem with the Raptor/
     DeskStation?

I don't. This deal will only benefit NewTek and DeskStation, while
at the same time forcing me back into the AMIA seat. I have no
animosity towards anyone at DeskStation. When LW was ported to the
PC and Alpha animators breathed a great sigh of relief. Why?
Well no longer did they have to worry about high prices or
Commodore goin out of business. (which they did!" By being
forced to buy a Raptor in order to run LW on a Alpha, you
are back in that same position. The Fact that the Raptor is
non-standard makes it seem like deja-vue.

     How and Why?

The Raptor uses a propritay BIOS and Hardware abstraction Layer
(HAL). Which means that if for any reason DeskStation went out
of business, there would be a HIGH CHANCE of the next version
of WINDOWS NT not being compatible. The people who bought this
setup would be left holding a very expensive bag because no one
would be around to update the BIOS. This machine is not even on
the MicroSoft hardware compatibility list! Lets not forget this
is the same company that was supposed to bring us the Screamer,
which never made it to market and turned into Vaporware.

     This can't happen to DeskStation, they are such a HUGE
     company.

I understand that DeskStation has under 15 employees. Or is it
even less than that Mr. Fanning? I simply cannot understand
why NewTek would force me to buy a non standard machine from
such a small company in order to run LW. I want to CHOOSE who
I buy from. That way I can make sure the machine I buy is
100% compatible with Microsofts specs. After all they are the
ones who wrote Windows NT and can guarantee what works and what
does'nt. That way if the company I buy my machine dies, my machine
will have a compatible future.

     Well I already own risc based LW and NewTek says they will
     support me with upgrades.

For how long? Are they goin to be major upgrades? Or micro ones
becuase their resources are in the Raptor. Do you think the
3rd party people are going to go against NewTeks flow? They
will develop for the platorm people are forced to buy.

     Is the Flyer affected?

I am still trying to find out. The release does mention
3D AND video. The Flyer is going to need alot of horsepower
to handle real time wipes without a toaster.

     What do the distributers think?

I talked with one of NewTeks MAJOR distributers (I have a message
in at the other) and they said they are concerned about this deal
also.

Well that's it for now. I got the info about this deal from NewTek
direct last week. The CC is going to VTU's editor Tom Patrick
McAuliffe. He has expressed great interest in what I have to say.

Again I don't speak for anyone. I speak for myself.

Thad Kanko

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