Conference 7.286::digital

    I know of one VAR that would like to have Alpha Notebook's running OSF/1
    so their sales force can demonstrate their software.  Please add this to 
    your list of reasons for a Alpha Notebook.
    
    
    E.P.

I have had serveral VAR's call into the DEC-SALE hotline
asking when this product would be available.

Interest in a portable with full funtion operating system.

    If it was canned for good, which presumes that it wasn't going to
    make any money, I think they made the right decision.  When and
    if Alpha takes off, suitable road-warrior apps (fax, presentation,
    Notes client, speadsheet,...) appear, and a product can be made
    with good price/performance relative to other notebooks, then
    reevaluate the decision.  .02 kb

    .3
    It was not canned because it was not going to make money - the sales
    force only has to sell 2500 units - the federal region has taken care
    of that number - 
    
    These are the facts: Current Market: 25,000 units/per year. IBM and SUN
    can't keep up with demand at 15K per unit - that equates to a 4 BILLION
    dollar market. We have a product - done - with better price/performance
    then IBM or Sun. This is NOT a pc notebook - this is a PORTABLE
    Workstation - and the customer base is willing to pay the price. 
    FYI:
    Some additional opportunities - portable repair environments for the
    telecommunications industry - portable warehousing units for UPS and
    Federal express - the list goes on -  

    I suppose you can try and not admit that a PC notebook competes
    with an Alpha notebook "workstation", but Pesatori, in a 7/25/94
    interview shortly after being named as head of the Systems
    Business Unit, understands reality:
    
    "We're not going to try to develop Alpha products that compete
    with Contura notebooks.  That's rediculous.  Alpha will compete
    with Intel-compatible processors on the high end of the desktop
    space and in the server space."
    
    Let's show we can succeed in the markets where Alpha is supposed
    to succeed before going off with esoteric products.  kb

    As an aside from someone who works at SQF which shortly (it seems) is  
    going to to be sold to Motorolo who is going to  make all these
    alpha chips.
    
    Have my doubts that second sources are lining up to make these devices
    but I could be wrong.Hmm!

As long as we "hold back" and refuse to *allow* people to buy Alpha
notebooks *that want them*, we are only going to inhibit *long term*
acceptance of Alpha.  If Digital can't justify doing this for whatever
reasons, it should make certain that one of the other vendors selling
Alpha systems can provide for customers that want them.  We seem to be
doing a pretty good job of setting prices and building (or not) products
for Alpha that may lead to a successful medium term (but not long term)
market niche, at the expense of any significant long-term gains
in market share areas that matter.

We are trying to do two different things - make *short term* profit
on system sales, and have *long term* acceptance of the Alpha architecture.
Given our financial situation, we've had a strong bias toward the former,
frequently, it would seem, at the expense of the latter.  This isn't
1978 when we have a dominant position to build on...

I've received two queries about the availability of Alpha portables.

One from the University College London (UCL), asking when it will be 
available, no idea of the end use. This was several mouths ago.

The other from a marketing consultant, who's client has a mapping 
application for yachting and is not happy with his current Pentium notebooks 
(due to overheating and performance problems). This was a couple of weeks 
ago.

Dave.

    I would love to have an Alpha notebook but let's be serious folks.This
    is a marketing power issue-we do not have the clout or focus to make
    it.We need volume to be in this game and there are very few
    applications which you can't run on a Pentium machine.I repeat-I would
    love to see an Alpha notebook just like I would like to see a full
    range of Alpha PCs and Alpha servers-all scaleable with PCI from
    notebook to mainframe.BUT..notice that we don't have Alpha PCs.Notice
    that Unix type support is usually done by putting Linux on a
    portable.Notice that we are failing miserably to make Alpha design-ins
    on a scale to justify having it.Notice that a portable alone will not
    change all of this either
    My 2c

    Though the arguments on both sides that have been presented thus far
    have been so strong that I (fwiw) haven't been convinced either way, I
    would offer this observation in favor of the availability of an Alpha
    portable:  Bob Palmer made quite the splash at Unix World back in '93 I
    believe, showing XWindows Mosaic running on one -- and this was back
    when the Mosaic and W3 wave was just beginning to hit the streets.
    
    FWIW.
    

    To the issue of who will make it - Tadpole already has  
    
    To the issue of no Alpha"PC" - that's what the AXP 150 is to my customers
    
    To the issue of competing with notebooks - this is not a competing
    product - it a complimentary one - it is a WHOLE NEW Market - 
     

re: Note 3609.11 by ODIXIE::GARAVANO, "...it a complimentary one..."
                                                    ^
                                           s/b complementary

    A consulting group based in Massachusetts does onsite customer training
    for Digital's Pathworks product. I have spoken to them and they are
    aware of the Alpha laptop. They were excited about the possibility of
    loading up a unit and taking it to a customer's facility to do the
    training. This type of portability would make the preparation for each
    course onsite almost nill. They were excited and understood that the
    price might be high for the unit but felt the reduced time to configure
    a customer's system onsite to do the training would still put them
    ahead.
    
    I think this type of user makes a perfect candidate for your product. I
    suspect there are at least 2500 other similar cases.
    
    -Bruce-

    While I personally would like to see an Alpha notebook, I doubt
    they'd sell in high enough volume to make real money.  Sure we'd
    sell some for portable demos, etc. but look at the real users of
    laptops today:
    
    On a recent plane flight from SF to Boston, I noticed that over
    50% of the plane's passengers had laptops open.  Being the nosey
    person that I am, I snooped at their screens as I walked back from the
    restroom in the rear.  About 50% we're running games, the rest we're
    running word-processors and spreadsheets (ie, writing trip reports,
    entering data into forms, etc.)
    
    Maybe its a chicken-and-egg, but nobody was using anything that needed
    the power of an Alpha or a non-Windows/non-Mac system.
    
    Howmany people do you know that want to run dbx on a 747?  How many
    people want to do C++ compiles?  OSF/1 and OpenVMS aren't "end-user"
    systems (we aren't selling them for home-use).  Most of the laptop
    applications are home-use applications (albeit they are used by
    professionals in their day to day jobs).
    
    				-John

    "nobody was using anything that needed the power of an Alpha or a
    non-Windows/non-Mac system."
    
    Not now, but they will.  After watching people play Doom at a party
    last weekend, I can easily imagine a small group of businessmen linking
    up on the Shuttle...
    
    I believe it's the applications that lead the way.  Consumers don't
    care about operating systems until they pick up the shrinkwrapped
    package.
    
    Mark

    Project yourself ~5 years into the future...  Next-generation airplane,
    execs using next-generation software... requiring more sophisticated
    UI's for their games or whatnot...  requiring far more local dynamic
    storage and memory than current laptops playing current-generation
    games...  who will claim that market?  Who will simplify the OSs and
    bring what apps to market on what platform?  ...
    

    Wow, major Notes collision! :-) :-)
    

    OTOH, I can see a minor nitlet involved with a bunch of businessmen
    linked up to play spacewar, generation One Million on the shuttle...
    
    "Yikes, CoPilot Murphy, what in BLAZES has taken over the controls? 
    Why are we dumping fuel?  Why are we taking evasive action when MY
    instruments tell me there's nobody around for 500 miles?  OmiGOD, it's
    the hackers in the cabin -- they've mislinked into the autopilot...
    we're all gonna die..."
    
    :-)
    

The customers who want this product don't want it for word processing,
spreadsheets or games, though they may use those.  They want a portable
version of the system they use in the office and, in many cases, of their
clients' systems.  Consider the solutions provider who can go to a customer
site, hook up their laptop (running VMS or OSF/1) to the customer system
and do on-site reconfiguration and software modification without requiring
that each customer buy the expensive development tools.  Consider the
applications developer who wants to demo their product at a customer site.

I am sure we can easily sell 5000 of these, but even if we don't, it is
important to have the product available to reinforce the viability and
range of the Alpha architecture.

				Steve

    
    Re .18:
    
    Of course, if they were hacking with Pentiums, the autopilot would be
    trying to land on runway 32.119475... :-)
    
    -----
    
    On a more serious note, is this company not yet tired of
    underestimating what customers will want to do with their "toys"?
    
    And why the *blazes* would we demo something at Comdex if we didn't
    intend to sell it??
    
    We've already bet our future on Alpha -- now is not the time to hold
    back.
    

CAPNET::PJOHNSON "aut disce, aut discede"             3 lines   5-JAN-1995 09:19
                            -< Just picking a nit >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
re: Note 3609.11 by ODIXIE::GARAVANO, "...it a complimentary one..."
                                                    ^
                                           s/b complementary

> re: Note 3609.11 by ODIXIE::GARAVANO, "...it a complimentary one..."
>                                                    ^
>                                           s/b complementary

No, you misunderstand.  It has software which uses the sound chip in
the system to say nice things about the user.

	"Hey, that's a really nice document you just created!".

	"You're typing well today."

	etc...

    
    	This appears (management decision of no Alpha notebook) to be
    another Digital non-understanding of what is really happening in
    the marketplace today.
    	Technical users - engineers, system managers, software developers,
    etc. - all WANT a high-powered, UNIX-based, 1GB storage, 128MG memory
    capability (minumums here, folks) notebook. This machine should be
    "Internet" ready at birth.
    	Estimated market is very large if priced right (under $10K loaded)
    with probably 10,000 units first six months easy. Have two VARs in my
    little territory who would go nuts selling this machine after they
    purchase internal use machines of 20-50 each.
    	A notebook ALPHA would also go a long way in helping us secure new
    resellers for OSF/1 and WIN NT ports. If Digital blows this one off,
    we are really too truly stupid to survive (with Alpha) over the long
    haul. 
    	If this is a "political" decision (PCBU vs. Alpha Systems BU) then
    all bureaucratics involved should be shot at dawn tomorrow.
    	It is time we got smart, people, and that is being first to the
    market, not dead-assed last.
    
    		the Greyhawk

but I agree nonetheless, this could be a winner.  Your caveat -- under $10K
loaded -- is important, however, and it is fair to ask how many units would
need to be sold for the AlphaNote to be profitable.

And loaded with what?  What was included in the box that BP demonstrated
at Comdex?  What will the market require?  Internet ready, goes without
saying, Mosaic included.  Sound?  CD-ROM?  How much investment is needed
to produce drivers and other SW for cards not implemented for bigger AXP
systems (under 3 different OSes)?

But I'll say this:  get it under $10 fully equipped and I'll be tempted
to buy one myself.

Steve

Hey - get it under $10 and I'll buy a dozen of them!

			Steve

    
>    Project yourself ~5 years into the future...  Next-generation airplane,
>    execs using next-generation software... requiring more sophisticated
>    UI's for their games or whatnot...  requiring far more local dynamic
>    storage and memory than current laptops playing current-generation
>    games...  who will claim that market?  Who will simplify the OSs and
>    bring what apps to market on what platform?  ...
    
    	Maybe even LAN drops at each seat, along with the movie headphones
    	and music... Satellite links to the Internet (can you do that from
    	a moving plane?)... Workgroup computing, allowing you and your 
    	business partner (6 rows back) to review and update a proposal... 
    	On-board software and resources - need to run AutoCAD for a few 
    	hours, on your way back from a trans-Atlantic architecture consulting 
    	trip? 
    
    	"Attention ladies and gentlemen, the captain has turned off the 
    	seat-belt sign. You may now unbuckle, stretch out, plug in your
    	notebook computers into our on-board net. For those of you
    	travelling in groups, please feel free to boot up your portable
    	Windows-NT Clusters. We have a fiber-optic backbone running
    	throughout the plane, so there's plenty of bandwidth..."
    
    
    

    Lan drops??  Oh no, we're wireless!

    
    Picture yourself ~10 years into the future, when Intel and HP are doing
    this with their 64-bit processor and we at Digital are kicking
    ourselves again...

.25: Oops.

.26: Why not?

.27: LAN drops make it possible to isolate the airborne net from the
     plane's communication system, avoiding the catastrophe described
     in minus-a-bunch.

.28: Sigh.

Steve

 >   <<< Note 3609.27 by HDLITE::SCHAFER "Mark Schafer, AXP-developer support" >>>
 > 
 >     Lan drops??  Oh no, we're wireless!
    
    ... since it's an airplace, hopefully the wireless technology is
    infrared, not radio frequency ...

	As has been said before, the AlphaNote would not be competing with
	a Pentium notebook. By introducing this product, you have the
	opportunity to create a whole new market. Work it from that angle.
	Make VARs your initial target. How many would it take to break
	even on this? 5000 units? You should be able to sell that many
	to VAR's and internal use only! And think of the marketing
	presence this could lend!

	To not do it would be short-sighted.

							mike

    
     I don't get it. You already have a proto-type. What is being lost
    by making 5k more units. Or have you revisited the drawing board?
    Seem to me that you have everything you need, material wise. All
    you need is what? Some figures. People use to dream up figures a
    short time ago. Seems that this laptop is a very low risk adventure.
    Or what is it you are not telling us?
    
    -Mike Z.

    .31 & .32
    
    We have already made the investment - the hardware is done. The only
    investment is in the power management enhancements for NT and OSF1. My
    customer wants them sooo bad ( how bad ...) he has even agreed to keep
    them plugged in to a UPS system until the software's done.
    Now thats what I would call a "Whatever "IT" Takes" attitude. MY
    challenge to Digital - MY CUSTOMER will do "IT" - we advertise that we
    will do "IT" -  -  - Are we a corporation that keeps our word? - or
    simply "mouths" them?
    
    I

    Well, someone broached what may well be the most plausible reason: 
    turf politics.  If (and I have NO evidence other than verisimilitude,
    so that's a BIG if) that is the root cause, I'll bid $10 for a spot on
    the firing squad at sunrise tomorrow!!!
    
    ... and I'm betting I'll be outbid by many salespeople, whose
    livelihoods will be downsized before mine, since they're goaled on
    sales NOW or SOON, and I'm just a technology hunter-gatherer... 
    they'll be on the street before me.... if we blow it.
    
    I'm getting convinced we should make this.  Now of course I hasten to
    add that I have neither the data nor the responsibility to act on it --
    but hey this is DECnotes and the ::DIGITAL file, so thus ends my
    homily.
           

    
    	Had a call - asked a question. Here is the answer:
    
    	Have a VAR with 800 VMS installed accounts. They sell an integrated
    MES solution that includes Order Entry and Status lookup. They (meaning
    the whole VMS worldwide Digital install base) have no way of supply
    field sales reps with a portable computer RUNNING VMS that links
    directly to their system. Yes, we know all about Pathworks and Intel
    based Laptops, etc. But their code is all DCL calls to the central data
    files. They use All-In-One internally, etc. An Alpha portable running
    VMS is a no-brainer. No training, no windows don't work today stuff,
    no complicated communications, etc.
    	Hello, anybody home?
    
    		the Greyhawk

Don't just assume that the only cost is in manufacturing.  Let's not forget
support/service.  Who is a customer going to call when there is a problem?  How
are we going to get people trained to support this puppy? Hopefully the needs
of this specific implementation would be minimal, but... 

At the risk of opening a rathole (or maybe just a different topic), service
always seems to be the tail wagging the dog.  We seem to build a lot of stuff
without addressing the support side.  As a simple example, several years ago I
did a study and found we were spending over $1M a year (in the US alone)
answering support calls on VMS BACKUP!  Had we hooked up the people on the
phones with the people writing the code we might have been able to engineer out
the causes of these problems.  I'll bet is services funded a few people in
engineering to make the user interface easier to use, everybody could have won.

Once upon a time there was an organization called CSSE which from my 
understanding dealt with getting serviceability features put into new products.
This is NOT what I'm talking about.  Rather, I'm talking about developers
better understanding what services is all about.  They should know where the
support expenses are spent and how they might be able to help make support
easier, not through serviceability features (though those are certainly 
desireable) but by making more information available to the people who have to
support their products.

For example, there is a tool calls STARS which is a text retrieval tool used to
store problems/solutions for all the different products we service.  To my
knowledge, this database is NOT populated by the developers but is the sole
responsibility of the service organization.  Why can't developers also populate
the databases, possibly during field test? 

I ramble, so I'll stop.  However, I think there IS  potential in establishing a
closer working relationship...

-mark

re Note 3609.31 by AXEL::FOLEY:

>         By introducing this product, you have the
> 	opportunity to create a whole new market. 

        If Sun and IBM already make a notebook Unix workstation
        (correct me if I'm wrong) then it *isn't* a "whole new
        market" at all.

        (Of course, it still may be right that we do it -- I'd like
        one!)

        Bob

|        If Sun and IBM already make a notebook Unix workstation
|        (correct me if I'm wrong) then it *isn't* a "whole new
|        market" at all.

c'mon Bob .. the whole new market is called: Alpha laptops!

>Per

    
    
>c'mon Bob .. the whole new market is called: Alpha laptops!
    
    No, it's called AlphaNotes as previously stated - I even have a logo
    in mind, the AlphaGeneration semi-circle wrapped around a double whole
    note!

    
    Something only car enthusiasts know: In the early '60s, Ford had a 
    huge internal debate about the Mustang and almost didn't build it.
    At $2,000 it was going to be too expensive for such a small car and 
    nobody would buy them. 
    
    Where would Ford be now, if the Mustang had never been? Where will *WE*
    be, ten years from now?

    
    
    the issue becomes... how does a grass-root movement like this be
    propelled upwards - to the RIGHT people - for (dare I say it?) 
    courageous/defensible decision-making?
    
    This topic also raises the issue of how do the citizens of Digital 
    participate EFFECTIVELY in getting innovative ideas across and upwards?
     
    If indeed the demand is ALREADY created in the marketplace, then a
    thorough BUT rapid analysis must take place whether it is feasible/make
    sense to have this product to market IN TIME and PROFITABLY.
    
    It would be sad and bad for the new Digital to assert its arrogance
    once again (intentionally or not) by pooh-poohing what
    customers/prospects are saying or underestimating their capacity to
    use and understand technology. 
    
    This turf wars must end... when will we learn?!
     

    
>The other from a marketing consultant, who's client has a mapping 
>application for yachting and is not happy with his current Pentium notebooks 
>(due to overheating and performance problems). This was a couple of weeks 
>ago.
    
    There's a great floating point joke in there somewhere, but someone
    will probably think of it before me.

    
    	Not to belittle Ford, but take a look at Motorola.
    
    	They literally had engineers "duking it out" in the halls over the
    PowerPC. Cooler heads prevailed, and Moto went ahead with Apple and
    IBM. They are now selling 100,000 units a MONTH of that chip family.
    
    	I, for one, think Digital better begin being an emotional, 
    aggressive, "let's make a deal" kind of company real quick. The
    clock is ticking.
    
    
    		the Greyhawk
    

    Often (and I've seen this recently, in the estimable openness of Bill
    Troy in this very file, discussing our advertising strategy) senior
    Corporate Execs share their views and sometimes defend their positions/
    decisions in this medium.
    
    I'd like to invite those with the data and decision-making
    responsibility in this space to join this forum and add their value.
    

    I would recommand that you send your "I will sell xx @ yy price"
    to Enrico and your area VP. That's the level that reviewed the
    decision. I don't know what the break-even point needed to
    get the laptop back is.
    
    Regards,
    
    Bill Zaharchuk
    DEC 3000 Workstation
    Marketing Manager

    (pardon my ignorance, I'm an applications-type who just wants fast
    boxes...)
    
    LJSRV2=>elf bill zaharchuk
    
    Common Name:   WILLIAM ZAHARCHUK
    Search Surname:  ZAHARCHUK  Search Given Name:  WILLIAM,  WILLIAM A,
    Bill Z BillZ BILLZ,  William  DTN:  223-4077,  223-4077
    Intrnl Mail Addr:  PKO3-2/T32  Location:  PKO  Node:  ICS
    Username:  ZAHARCHUK  Org Unit:  CSD OPERATIONS,
    Workstation Business Segment,  DEC 3000 Systems,  AlphaStation 600
    Position:  Marketing Manager
    
    and as long as I've sprayed YOUR elf entry ::DIGITAL-wide, it seems
    only fair...
    
    Common Name:   DANIEL KALIKOW
    Search Surname:  KALIKOW,  Calico,  Kalico  Search Given Name:  DANIEL,
    DANIEL NORMAN,  Dan,  D  DTN:  226-2116,  226-2116  Telephone: 
    508-486-2116,
    FAX: 508-486-2311,  Office at Pole J8,  ->kalikow@ljo.dec.com
    Intrnl Mail Addr:  LJO2-1/I1  Location:  LJO  Node:  LJSRV2::
    Username:  KALIKOW  Org Unit:  INTERNET,  Internet Business Group -
    ATG,
    http://www.ljo.dec.com/IBG/,  people/kalikow/bidness-card.html
    Position:  Consultant; WebMonger & Futurist
    

I've had the priviledge of demonstrating the LEAN prototype at several trade
shows, of which the primary focus was CAD. Practically every CAD vendor that
saw the LEAN was impressed with its capability. It's a perfect road demo/
presentation machine that runs a full bodied Unix. It's small, light, and 
the TFT display is excellent. The prototype of the IBM machine I saw was slow,
and the passive display was a joke on a $12K machine. The SPARCbook is a great
machine but is heavy and cumbersome. The LEAN is much 'leaner'. 

I haven't seen the Tadpole produced Alpha notebook, but the problems I've 
found with the LEAN are:

1) Battery life. It was about 45 minutes at best. We always ran them from the
AC adapter. Supposedly this was being addressed.

2) Disk requirements for Unix. Even the stripped down version of OSF/1 that
was developed for the LEAN ate up most of the ~500MB disk, which is about the
largest you can get in 2.5" form factor.

3) The trackball design. Some people liked it, others didn't.

IMO the LEAN was an amazing prototype, way ahead of it's time. I think that 
an Alpha notebook would sell into niche markets, where most high end notebooks
sell anyway. Then again, I'm not in sales, or marketing, I'm just a grunt
engineer.

FWIW,

Chris

    Let me try a different cut at all this.
    
    One thing to look at is the business need versus the cost of the
    device.  Unfortunately, many of us now associate "portable" computing
    device with "laptop".  This was not always the case.
    
    To me the business need here is "to provide a transportable Alpha-based
    platform suitable for performing work currently restricted to
    stationary workstation and server configurations".  This device is
    therefore not necessarily the same as the one previously demo'd.
    
    The PC Analogy
    --------------
    In the beginning, PC portables were known as "luggables", "totables",
    and a variety of other names indicating they could be moved without
    needing a trip to the shop.  the need for batteries, light weight, 
    etc. came later.  As a user of the Compaq Portable/ Portable+/
    Portable_II/ _III/ _386/ and _486, as well as the PC Portable and
    PS/2_P70, I was quite happy without batteries for the period '83 to
    '93.  It was only in '94 that I was gifted with a 425SL (what this
    is being typed on) as my permanent machine.  IN ALL THE ABOVE
    SITUATIONS, my need was for "movability", not battery power.  Even 
    with my 425SL, my ratio of AC to battery is about 80:20.
    
    The relevance of all this is that until very recently (like '92 or so),
    many practical users of PC portables used them mostly off of AC, with some 
    limited battery use  when it was absolutely necessary.  I preferred the
    use of the larger units because they were better for what I needed to
    do - replace my desktop with a machine that was roughly equivalent.  If
    the tradeoff was light weight and a battery versus a readable screen &
    an expansion slot or two, I would go with the latter every time (as did 
    many, many others).
    
    Going back to the base note - I suspect that someone has determined it
    will be *VERY* expensive to build a fully portable Alpha configuration. 
    I believe this is the case because our designers must make the same
    type of tradeoffs as PC designers made about 5-6 years ago:
    
    -	CPU & battery consumption (more power = shorter battery life)
    -	Screen & battery consumption (800x600 TFT = shorter battery life)
    -	Weight & robustness (1GB hard drive = greater weight)
    -	Compactness & expandibility
    .
    .
    .
    
    You know the rest of this list.  My point here is "That's right! - 
    Don't try to build Rome in a day." It took 10 years for my PC portable
    to go from a 43 lb. Compaq Portable to a 7 lb. 425SL.  Hell yes, I
    wanted the 7 lb. in 1983, but I was happy to get the original Portable;
    I was able to take a machine home for the weekend without having to put
    a system unit, monitor, keyboard, etc. in my car all the time.
    
    Given the current state of technology, a "luggable" Alpha portable,
    with enough power for a fast chip and lots of RAM, a 1-5GB 3.5 in. SCSI
    drive and CD-ROM, 800-600 TFT screen w/1200x1000 external, built-in sound,
    a couple of EISA/ISA/PCI slots (2 at most), and lots of ports on the back
    (SCSI, 10BaseT, ISDN or 28.8kbps, mouse, serial, parallel, etc.) that
    weighed <15 lbs should be right.  I believe it could be built and sold
    economically.  Some uses/examples:
    
    -	Portable servers (I had a friend who carried 2 Compaq 486
    	  luggables; one as a file server, the other as a workstation)
    
    -	Product demos (lots of PS/2_P70's were sold to do VGA/386 demos) 
    
    -	Hot spares (keep a couple setup for system swaps)
    
    -	Road shows (lot easier to pack than a 3000-500, right?)
    
    -	Consulting (need to move a system to a customer's site
    	  that can come out quickly, or can be moved quickly)
    
    -	Training (what kind of training could ORACLE or SAP do with
    	Alpha portables? actually go to customer sites maybe?)
    
    -	High-end users  (who says $10k is the top end?)
    
    -	Developers
    
    
    One particular "opportunity" would be to get an Alpha portable to
    become the defacto "demo box".  If Digital built a winner in this
    space, it would show up all over the place as the "standard" for NT and
    UNIX transportable boxes.  Think of the impact that could have ...
    
    Charles	(yes, I would like one of these as well; no battery - just
    		power!)
                                                       

Re: .31

>	As has been said before, the AlphaNote would not be competing with
>	a Pentium notebook. By introducing this product, you have the
>	opportunity to create a whole new market. Work it from that angle.

Why wouldn't it compete with Pentium notebooks? Because the only interest
is running OpenVMS or OSF/1 applications on it? Looks like a very small
niche to me. I have a hard time finding anyone wanting OpenVMS or OSF/1
on their desktop, so why would it be more popular on a mobile unit? It would
be nice as a Windows NT machine, but it would have to be price/performance
competitive with Intel (isn't that the whole point with RISC?). When a
customer decides to run their CAD on a PC, isn't this because Intel competes
head-to-head with the UNIX RISC systems? Don't think that there isn't any
competition.

Olav

    On the other hand, isn't part of our strategy to keep satisfying the
    growing demands of a growing marketplace for whatEVER platform they
    want to use to meet their business needs?  I believe the tide is rising
    (albeit at different rates, to be sure) for most, if not all, of the
    platforms we provide... or it MIGHT rise faster, if one of those
    platforms were innovatively toteable -- even if it trailed its
    power-cord... :-) ...??
    

    While the hardware is "done", are there still more hidden costs?
    
    Somebody mentioned service (stocking replacement parts, training
    support folks, training sales force).
    
    What software needs to change?  On a Macintosh laptop, the OS and
    many applications are "Powerbook aware" in that they change their
    disk access strategy to not spin up the disk as often.  Has OpenVMS
    changed its paging software or image activation software to reduce
    disk accesses?  How about layered products?  For example, when the
    Pascal compiler inherits an environment file (a precompiled include
    file for those of you who don't use Pascal), the environment file
    is touched several times during the compilation.  While we code
    in amply RMS buffers, et al, we never tried to clump the accesses
    together.  How about OSF/1?  NT?
    
    				-John

    Power management is not really relevent to this market.
    
    Of necessity, aren't we are talking about the "plug-in notebook" market
    here?  Or you can think of it as the 1990's version of the luggable.
    Much much much smaller of course.  But still something that you
    take out of a bag, set up on a real desk, plug a few cables together,
    plug into the wall and off you go.
    
    
    When I get to a committee meeting with my counterparts in the industry
    (all Unix RISC workstation centric folks) we all pull out our
    Intel-clone laptops, except there's a couple of Powerbook laptops, and
    one palmtop and one Newton.
    
    * The Newton will get a few scrawls written to it during the day.
    * The palmtop is a nothing more than a deck of cards (somebody likes
      to play Solitaire all day).
    * Everone else plugs in and takes notes.  The scramble for power
      at the beginning of meetings is almost humourous.
    
    Anyone foolish enough to leave the power cord at their hotel room
    won't get through an 8 hour meeting.  (Even with a spare battery pack.)
    
    Nobody brings a RISC "notebook".  Nobody even brings any kind of
    notebook.
    
    
    
    The big problem is that the real "laptops" which can be used for part
    of a coast-to-coast flight with batteries can address the vast majority
    of the "plug-in notebook" market quite nicely.
    
    								-mr. bill

re: Note 3609.6  by PAKORA::JTRAYNOR

>    "As an aside from someone who works at SQF which shortly (it seems) is
>    going to to be sold to Motorolo who is going to  make all these
>    alpha chips.
>
>    Have my doubts that second sources are lining up to make these devices
>    but I could be wrong.Hmm!"


	The volume of this particular ALPHA chip will not be a problem.  They
can be made now in SQF, in HLO within a month or so, and in Japan by June.  We
simply need to get products to market for sale that use them.

    If the bulk of the business needs can be met with a luggable, I'd
    bet CSS could do that in a  "short" while..
    
    Hell, within a week I could tell you if *I* could do it; and if the
    answer was "yes" I could have a proto a week after that. Anybody want
    to start a company? 8-)
    
    But that's somewhat beside the point. we're dancing around in this
    thread without anything happening.. We have some field folks chiming in
    saying "I'll sell X of those", some even adding "at $Y"... We have some
    engineering folks saying "It's mostly done, except for zzz", and we
    have some questions about "How would we support it?", "Which BU will own
    it?", and "Where is the break-even point, given that the remaining
    engineering and support is figured in?"
    
    If we have badge-on-the-table commits to sell some number at some
    price, and that number*price beats the break-even point by 'some'
    margin, the only remaining question is "which BU wants some free
    money?"
    
    And maybe the next generation would need to refine the business model
    after we figure out who *really* buys them..
    
    ...tom

    I am the Eng Mgr. We have been directed to shutdown. We're shutting
    down.
    
    It is conceivable that Tadpole might want to continue the work in some
    form, but that would be up to them.
    
    					Sitting on a pile of the fastest
    					notebooks in the world,
    
    							RJD

    
    Why exactly were you directed to shut down?
    

    Exactness was not offered to me. Data was gathered and presented.
    The highest level sales VP said no. Our group VP agrees and told 
    us to shut down. Enough people have left and it would be tough to
    get it going again.
    
    			RJD

RE: .55


>>Sitting on a pile of the fastest notebooks in the world,


	Can I have one? (I'm serious)

							mike

Dan,

Was your last response (.60) one of being stunned by Rich Dischler's notes, 
or just a momoent of silence as we watch the bow sink below the waterline?

Ron P.  (who suffered a beating for talking about desktop flat panel displays
and non-LCD technologies that are not on the shelf)

RE: .61

	Don't bother sending Rich mail.. None are available. 

							mike
					answering my own note...

    re: .61, .60, .62, .63
    
    Sometimes even VP's in high places make mistakes. The difference
    between the ones who are written about twenty, fifty, etc.... years
    from now and those who are forgotten, is NOT that a mistake was made, 
    but how they reacted to it. 
    
    The sign of truly great leaders are their ability to recognize those 
    mistakes and correct them. Here's for believing that Harry Copperman
    and Dick Fishburn represent that kind of leadership. 

    
    	And the saddest thing about this - I am not at all surprised!
    
    	The surprise may come if we manage to reinstate this machine.
    
    		the Greyhawk

 >> 	The surprise may come if we manage to reinstate this machine.

Since we always manage to bring back things, your statement be revised as follows:

  	The surprise may come if we manage to reinstate this machine...
        ***when it can make a difference***

(no more VAXMate's, please!)

    
    Isn't this the second time this project has been killed ?  I seem to
    remember that the prototype used by BP was designed and built by
    Digital engineers.  It was then outsources to who ever and how long ago 
    was this (a year or so) ?  
    
    Don't worry someone will bring it back to life just in time to get
    killed by a competing product that we had a year or two jump on today !
    
    

    So who do we write to?
    
    

    
    	Bob Welzel is the US Marketing manager for Alpha platforms.
    
    	But my bet is Enrico or Harry C. has to do the override.
    
    		the Greyhawk

    Enrico was one that sent it to it's grave, although I did hear
    he gave Jesse Lipcon the option of funding it in VMS-land.
    Apparently Jesse couldn't justify the cutbacks needed to come
    up with the money.  kb 

I believe cancelling the portable workstation is a mistake.  Since it would not
be a high-volume commodity item, I can't believe we wouldn't be able to make a
profit on it.

I'd like to see the reasoning behind the cancellation.  We're one of the few
companies who could produce such a machine.

Paul

                            Second Opinion, please!

    How much profit could we make with it? And how much profit could we make
    if we spent the money in some other way?
    
    I also saw no one address the longer term picture: Is this is viable
    longer term product leading to some new business that we can beat
    others to? Or is this a 1-timer, giving us X profit dollars and we
    spend close to X diverting the engineering, marketing and sales
    machine to some other short term venture? I am simply asking, mostly
    because I see so many people focused on today and on a small picture.
    I also honestly do not know the answer.
    
    Is this perhaps why we have so many high level people people that
    do no know what they are talking about? *We* recognize a good product
    when we *see* it and *they* are looking a few years out and make ROI
    decisions comparing product strategies? The statement that VMS could
    not afford the cutbacks to free up the money is a clue.
    
    RE: A-few-back: Since we apparently already built a few of these, it
    can not be said that no one was interested. I conclude that the mistake
    was that we went this way and it is now being corrected. We may make it
    to the history books still. 
    
    Al
    
    

    .74> I conclude that the mistake was that we went this way and it is
         now being corrected. We may make it to the history books still.
    
    I'm not quite sure how to take this last...  So I choose to interpret
    it as a prediction, with which I concur, that we may be making an
    historic spectacle of ourselves!
    
    Why?  Well, for example, I joined Prime Computer in 1980, in the first
    wave of technical immigration following the exodus of the visionaries
    who proposed, unsuccessfully to Prime's then management, that they fund
    the development of the first workstation.  They were turned down
    (prominent among the reasons was surely "we would have to divert too
    many resources from our cash cow," and/or "it would cause product line
    competition.").  They accepted their own proposal and built the Apollo. 
    The rest, as they say, is in the history books.  
    
    Prime paid the ultimate price for not realizing that an expanding
    industry, which expansion THEY could have led in a new direction,
    benefits all players -- even those with cash cows and successful
    present product lines -- by bringing in MORE customers and allowing
    eventual migration to next-generation products that MIGHT have been of
    the same marque.
    
    PS -- for the curious -- at that stage of my career I couldn't affort
          to "take a flyer" on a startup... :-)
    

Unix portables are a niche market. Digital's strategy is to attack niche
markets through partners. My recommendation would be to identify prospective
partners and sell or license this tecnhology to them. Even if you disagree with
a partnering strategy, you cannot make a business decision like this without
looking at the numbers. I would be surprised if the business plan for this
product did not include "leverage" or indirect revenue contribution. But
perhaps they did not look at it this way:

Digital		Niche player(s)	   Our OSF/1 applic.    Customers buy
licenses   ->	mfg/mkt/sell   ->  partners buy them -> Alpha workstations
technology	Alpha OSF/1	   and use them in	and servers from
		portable	   Alpha based demos    distributors & Digital

	        Digital makes			        Digital makes 
		a little money			        a lot of money

Sizing this market is very speculative. Personally, I would love to have a
"portable Alpha OSF/1 server". For the last two years, we have been forced
to use a SPARC based laptop in certain demos that required a portable Unix
server. The machine was made by a Japanese company whose name I've
forgotten. Using the SPARC portable did not stop us from winning projects
that wound up running on VMS or OSF/1 servers. There is a difference
between DESIRE and NEED. 

When a niche market is also a new market, you have to invest and engage
customers to test the premises in your business plan. Without looking at
this business plan - it's hard to know. But based on what's been written
here, I would pursue this market with a partnering strategy. Where might
you find such a partner? Begin by looking at the business plan for this
product - under the section entitled "Competition". 

    ... the manager of the project said that he's shutting it down, not
    packaging it up to hand off to a potential licensee.  
    
    I repeat my invitation to Those In The Know to shed some more light...
    

     Isn't it just as likely that it might be able to run OpenVMS or NT?

    There were plans to run all three (NT, OpenVMS, OSF/1), though not all
    three were at the same stage of development.

    
    Re: 3609.43 
    
    
    
>>>     Not to belittle Ford, but take a look at Motorola.
    
>>>    They literally had engineers "duking it out" in the halls over the
>>>    PowerPC. Cooler heads prevailed, and Moto went ahead with Apple and
>>>    IBM. They are now selling 100,000 units a MONTH of that chip
>>>    family.
    
    	Greyhawk,
    
    	Soon, they'll be selling 5 million of these a year (PowerPC) to
    	(guess who) Ford.
    
    	Rick
    
    	
    

    ... one hopes the chips'll be doing something more interesting &
    useful, and less annoying, than synthesizing speech saying stuff like:
    
    "<Ding!> Please fasten your seatbelts!  <Ding!> Please fasten your
    		seatbelts!"
    
    or 
    
    "<Ding!> The engine is about to overheat!  <Ding!> The engine is about
    		to overheat!"
                
    :-)
    

>>  ... one hopes the chips'll be doing something more interesting &
>>  useful, and less annoying, than synthesizing speech saying stuff like: ...0
 
If it means 5 Million chips / year who cares ...

I'm sure BP would love even 10% of that for Alpha

gt

    Tadpole Techologies (I believe) has been around for a quite a few
    years in the high end portable space. I know they have a Sparc
    machine and I believe there was talk of an RS-6000 also (but that
    may be just my imagination running away with me).
    
    Wasn't the original proto being developed with Tadpole? What
    happened to this partner? Why didn't it continue? I'll bet
    some of the clues to the puzzle lie here...
    
    re roelof

    What about a parallel situation in a different industry?
    
    In the early '80s, as Chrysler was planning its comeback, it had to
    make a choice.  Should it gamble on a new vehicle, one that could
    redefine the marketplace and make the Chrysler name stand for
    innovation and forward thinking, instead of just for cheap cars (this
    was the K-car era, understand)?  To do so would mean spending expensive
    R&D $$$ on planning the new product, as well as developing the tooling,
    marketing plans, testing, support & maintenance, etc. at a time when
    Chrysler was having difficulty convincing people that they would even
    survive!
    
    The vehicle of course was the FWD minivan, now known as the "Magic
    Wagon".  Chrysler created a whole new image for "wagon"-size vehicles,
    and gave itself a very valuable market niche when sales of the K-car
    implementations began to sag.  Last I saw, Chrysler still has 40% of
    this market, and has made over 4 million of these people movers.  More
    importantly, it has taken the competition 10 years to catch Chrysler
    (Consumer Reports has in the past year ranked the new Ford WindStar
    ahead of the Magic Wagon), but Chrysler still outsells all the others,
    and just announced its next-generation product this week.
    
    Is there a forward-looking manufacturer deep inside of Digital that can
    see the value of defining the 64-bit transportable computer market for
    the next 10 years?  Imagine ... if every Microsoft Back-Office demo used a
    Digital-built Alpha transportable as the data core (running
    SQLServer95, SMS, and Message Exchange)??
    
    Charles

	re: .84

	I'm not sure that's the best example...lack of true market parallels
	aside, Chrysler accomplished their turnaround with a great
	deal of assistance in the form of lotsa federal dollars...I think
	that we would be more than willing to build the AlphaNote if BillyBoy
	were to hand over a huge chunk-o-change for the job.....

	_kelley

Re: .85

Not at all.  Federal loan guarantees, yes.  No Treasury money went to
Chrysler.

				Steve

re .85

	In fairness, Chrysler did not "[accomplish] their turnaround with a 
great deal of assistance in the form of lotsa federal dollars..."  They got 
Uncle to guarantee the loans they needed to stay afloat, but their 
creditors never had to go to the government for a dime.  Chrysler made good 
on all the loans, ahead of schedule.

	On the other hand, if you ever get the chance, listen to Tom 
Paxton's song "I Am Changing My Name to Chrysler" for a really good laugh.

		David

.86 + .87 = notes collision

>    the next 10 years?  Imagine ... if every Microsoft Back-Office demo used a
>    Digital-built Alpha transportable as the data core (running
>    SQLServer95, SMS, and Message Exchange)??

It would be nice if they used Alpha. They do of course already do this
*today* with Intel based portables (runs Windows NT Server fine). It's
also very easy to demo this kind of stuff with a portable using a modem
with Remote Access Services dialing up to a Windows NT Server. What
kind of processor performance are we talking about in a potential Alpha
notebook?

Olav
 

     <<< Note 3609.85 by KLUSTR::GARDNER "The secret word is Mudshark." >>>
                            -< its all about money >-

>	I'm not sure that's the best example...lack of true market parallels
>	aside, Chrysler accomplished their turnaround with a great

Actually, the Chrysler example does have another interesting parallel: The 
minivan was built on the K-car. They took a floundering product line, and 
stuck it into a new market, and made a fortune. There were plenty of vans 
around then, but there weren't any minivans...

    RDI recently announced an 85MHZ Sparc notebook for $11,995.
    Are your customers as excited as mine? I'm about to lose 1.5M
    and all Digital engineering mgmt can say is "Too bad". I thought this
    was the NEW Digital - one which listened to the customer. When will
    engineering learn that NIH just doesn't cut it anymore.
    
    I feel like the frenzied commentator from the movie "Network" - the one
    who urged people to just yell out their windows "I'm mad as he.. and
    I'm not going to take it anymore!" We need to do that in Digital! 
    
    Just a thought...

    But "listening to the customer" isn't the same as "doing everything
    the customer says".  If a customer says to produce a product that will
    loose money or is outside your current market segment, should we?
    
    Not that I'm implying that the Alpha laptop would either loose money
    or is outside our segment (I kinda believe that we should do it), but
    we certainly cannot do everything the customer says.
    
    				-John

The February issue of AdvancedSystem has a review of the Tadpole 
SPARCbook3 vs. RDI PowerLite.  The Tadpole model is slightly favored
in the overall rating.


						-Paul

Just last week, I had a salesman in to demo a PCB router tool.

He said that he couldn't wait to get his hands on a few Alpha Laptops...

-Dave

    For what it's worth, I recently received a copy of a September '94 IDC
    White Paper, "OpenVMS and Windows NT: Working Together," whose overview
    of "Alpha AXP" says
    
         Digital has started to deliver on its promise to provide a
         very broad product line based upon Alpha AXP which will
         eventually span from notebooks to supercomputers.
         
    Someone, somewhere, understood us to have promised something which may
    (in someone's interpretation) include notebooks.

    
     re -.1
    
    "eventually" can be a mightly long time..................
    
    -Mike Z.

    
    Tadpole Technology is working at this very moment on an ALPHA AXP
    notebook, here in the UK.
    
    Might even be ready this year!
    
    
    Max.
    

    
     Incredilble, this whole string is..........
    
    -Mike Z.

    re:-1 Of course not this is Digital !

>>>    Tadpole Technology is working at this very moment on an ALPHA AXP
>>>    notebook, here in the UK.

    Since the product cancellation at Digital,  I know of no definite plans
    by Tadpole to make the Alpha notebook a product.  There are a number of
    people who have encouraged Tadpole to develop the Alpha notebook
    independently, like Aspen, Carara, and Nekotek are developing other
    Alpha clones, but Tadpole has not yet shown much enthusiasm.  They are
    most likely busy on a PowerPC model.

    The Alpha notebooks prototypes that we received from Tadpole have
    booted Windows NT and OpenVMS/Motif, but have now been put on the shelf
    to gather dust.  Big sigh.

    							-Paul

>   The Alpha notebooks prototypes that we received from Tadpole have
>   booted Windows NT and OpenVMS/Motif, but have now been put on the shelf
>    to gather dust.  Big sigh.

Um. I also have a good dust supply in my office. Can it gather dust there? 
(1/2 joking)

	Regards,
	Wayne

    .101
    Instead of gathering dust, isn`t there something more usefull we could
    do with them? I wouldn`t mind letting them collect dust in my house!

    RE: .100
    
    Yesterday's EE Times reported on p. 79 that Tadpole is still working
    on an Alpha notebook.  In an article primarily about Tadpole's latest
    SPARC-based machine, it says:
    
    "The company also stated that similar, private-label designs for a
    next-generation IBM Corp. unit (based on the PowerPC) and a
    first-generation Digital Equipment Corp. offering (based on the Alpha
    AXP) are still under way.  ... Digital is still porting software,
    Tadpole said."
    
    So what's up with this?  Can anyone (who's doing the porting?)
    provide more details?
    
    /dk

I was the Program Manager for the Alpha Notebook design effort which
was done with Tadpole. The Program was cancelled effective January 1995.
I have just paid and closed the last of the Purchase Orders between Digital
and Tadpole supporting our joint development effort. I have spoken to
Tadpole as recently as a week ago and no activities exist between us.

If Tadpole is pursing an Alpha design, they are doing it on their own or with
one of our other partners. In reality, due to the delays which have taken
place, the 18 month old design we worked on is now technically obsolete
and a new design would have to be started.

Regards,

    
>>>>>From:  UNIGRAM-X

UG539-04 TADPOLE IN DISARRAY AFTER GBP6M LOSS 
         
Cambridge, UK-based notebook manufacturer Tadpole Technology Plc 
faces a radical restructuring after reporting a GBP5.94m loss for 
the six months ending March 31, exacerbated by GBP2m of 
exceptional charges to cover inventory provisions and lay-off 
costs. The full horror that drove its share price down so hard 
and fast that trading had to be suspended was revealed last week 
- - and the news was sufficiently discouraging that when trading in 
the shares reopened, they kept right on plunging, hitting 75 
pence, off 59 pence from the pre-suspension price. As we went to 
press they had risen 4 to 116 pence, probably on the asumption 
that the company might be acquired. Tadpole also faces a London 
Stock Exchange investigation into trading of its shares prior to 
their suspension, but the company did not do its credibility any 
good with its ill-advised statement that it knew of no reason for 
the plunging share price. Tadpole said it was ending manufacture 
of its PowerPC 601-based portable computer, sold by IBM Corp as 
the RS/6000 N40, that Geoff Burr, board director in charge of 
Tadpole Technology Inc, had resigned, and that it is laying off 
30 of its 70 employees in Austin, Texas, which accounts for 70% 
of Tadpole's sales. Ten other jobs have been axed in the UK, 
leaving the company with 200 staff in total. 

    Better them taking a bath than us in discovering that RISC notebooks
    don't sell.
    
    (so that's where Geoff Burr went after the VAXmate debacle...)

I see Tadpole released their P100 notebook, which looks an awful lot like
the prototype Alpha notebook (metal case and all).  Reviews say it's heavy
and expensive.

					Steve

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
        CSS - Computer Special Systems News - May 26, 1995   Page 1 of 2
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
      New business opportunity to consider:  Transportable Alpha Computer 
  
  
  Actions:   o Identify potential for a Transportable Alpha computer 
  	       (specs below).
  
  	     o Communicate potential opportunities with geographic specific 
  	       contacts listed below.
  
  
  Contacts - Americas & APA: Don ware @MKO, DTN 264-1858 (SOLVIT::DWARE)
  	       		     Eric Hilman @MKO, DTN 264-7877 (SOLVIT::HILMAN)
  	     Europe:  Jean-Pierre Fichter @AEO, DTN 887-4080
  
  Request for market information:  CSS is considering investing in a 
  transportable Alpha computer and we need your help to scope out the 
  potential.
  
  Expected applications:
  
    * Government and military customers who want to deploy current software in 
      a field application will find this product more attractive than a 
      Intel-based notebook since they will not have to re-write existing 
      software
    * Specialized military applications such as mission planning
    * Field data acquisition and analysis where more processing and operating 
      system power is required than what is available on low cost notebook 
      systems
    * Software suppliers and other VARs should find it attractive to put their 
      demo software on a device such as this to be used by their sales and 
      support people.  Today, they typically load their demo software on 
      prospects' systems, but the installation usually takes longer than 
      expected and includes multiple hassles.  The transportable computer 
      approach will allow these vendors to bring a fully configured system to 
      a prospect or trade show environment and to rapidly set it up. 
    * On site training environments	
  
  Potential specifications for the transportable Alpha computer:
    o A 25 lb transportable computer with a 9" diagonal LCD screen
    o Choice of operating system (VMS, Digital UNIX, or Windows NT)
    o Graphics (640 x 480 or 1024 x 768)
    o 32MB Memory included, expandable up to 64 MB
    o 1GB Disk included, expandable up to 4GB
    o I/O connections:  one ISA slot, and one PCI slot; (there may be optional 
      PCMCIA slots)
    o Trackball (no mouse)  
    o Conventional AC power plus a DC converter (for vehicle use)

    Transportable Alpha Computer business opportunity - 5/26/95  Page 2 of 2
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  Other characteristics:
    o The basic system would be mounted in a briefcase, sufficiently rugged to 
      survive airline baggage handlers (non-operating environment).
    o Operating spec will be essentially office environment.  
    o There will be a rugged version that meets military specifications for 
      environmental hardness for use in more harsh environments.  
  
  Price:
    o A basic system (100 MHZ Alpha CPU, 32MB memory, 1GB disk, 640 x 480 9" 
      LCD screen and minimal ruggedization) will be priced around $15K USCLP.
  
  Feasible schedule:
    o If we proceed with development within the next month or two ...
      - prototypes could be available by late Q1FY96
      - units could be available for shipment by late Q2FY96
  
  Actions:
    o We need you to identify prospects for a transportable computer such as 
      this in order to proceed with the development of this product.
  
    o Scope out the marketplace and call us with potential opportunities.
  
  Contacts - Americas & APA: Eric Hilman @MKO, DTN 264-7877 (SOLVIT::HILMAN)
  	       		     Don ware @MKO, DTN 264-1858 (SOLVIT::DWARE)
  	     Europe:  Jean-Pierre Fichter @AEO, DTN 887-4080
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  You might have heard that, at one time, Digital was working with a company 
  called Tadpole to produce an Alpha PC notebook.   Although this project is 
  different from that one in several key aspects, we believe that it will meet 
  many of your customers requirements for mobile computing.  Key differences 
  include: 
  
    * Size:  This device will be the size of a rather large briefcase (18"L x 
      15"W x 6"D) instead of a conventional notebook size
  
    * Weight:  Instead of a very light weight device, this device will weigh 
      25 lbs.  It's small enough and light enough to be lugged from place
  
    * Power:  Conventional AC power and a DC converter will make it usable
      in a vehicle (truck, aircraft, tank, etc) 
  
  Please give us any customer feedback you can gather. 
  

25 lbs.?

Does it have wheels and a handle to drag it with?

tim

You've seen those carts that the flight attendants use, right?  Well, that
will be an option.  Plus, for a mere $19.95, we'll throw in a 100 ft
extension cord.

Sorry to say this, but I am unimpressed with the specs.

    Exactly. There's very little in the aforementioned info to distinguish
    the CSS proposal from the off-the-shelf moderate-duty industrialised
    stuff available from people like Industrial Computer Source. And ICS
    say they have it now (I believe their catalog shows one based on
    Digital's baby-AT 21066 board, which will run Windows NT or Unix, but
    not OpenVMS). Maybe more info is required... I'm sure CSS will oblige.

    
    Sounds like DoD specs to me. And we all know that if you meet or
    exceed specs, they ain't a gonna buy it. So we come in at 45 pounds
    with a cost overrun of x billion dollarsd, have 'em pick-up the tab
    and sell them HiNotes instead.
    
    -Mike Z.

    I don't think it will float... (literally and figuratively).
    
    				-John
    

  (Reserving my opinion on the "big picture"...)

  Trackballs are out, especially in dirty field applications.
  Track pads are in.
                                   Atlant

    Positive proof that time warps do exist. Those spec's obviously
    came straight through a time warp from 1981. Hang onto them
    they're might valuable....

    "Quantum Leap" is trademarked (as QL) by Sir Clive Sinclair who used it
    for his "breakthrough" 68000 based QL back around '84.  Despite the
    specs of this little beast (I have two of 'em), His company went belly-up
    because he was too far astray from real market requirements.
    
    If you wanted to stick to QL as a series name for the CSS Alpha
    portable as specified, then I'd suggest something like "Quite Laughable" 
    
    /Chris.

>    for his "breakthrough" 68000 based QL back around '84.  Despite the
>    specs of this little beast (I have two of 'em), His company went belly-up
>    because he was too far astray from real market requirements.
 
    Indeed, I do remember the QL. 
    
    Now _that_ brings back memories...and on a personal note my very
    first computer was one built by two of Sinclair's engineers who
    left just after - or before - Sinclair put out his Spectrum. It
    was called the Jupiter Ace (10 brownie points if you've even heard
    of it...) powered by an unbelievably fast 4Mhz Z80.
    
    It was a little white plastic with rubber keypad affair about 2/3 the 
    size of todays notebooks with Forth - yes, Forth - as its 
    operating system. All of it put in an 8K EPROM with room to spare.
    
    I remember writing a debugger in Forth so I could trace the operating
    system running itself through its own threaded interpretive code.... 
        
    signed, nostalgia
                     

    Re: .108


>>    o We need you to identify prospects for a transportable computer such as 
>>      this in order to proceed with the development of this product.
>>  
>>    o Scope out the marketplace and call us with potential opportunities.


    You've got to be kidding.  The prospects for such an expensive, heavy, and
    limited device are poor.

    If portable Alphas are your game, try setting your sights on

       o  A 3 to 10 lb battery-operated notebook, with built-in floppy,
          quad-speed CD-ROM, sound, active-matrix LCD, and VGA port.
          The less weight, the better.

       o  PCMCIA slots, Ethernet ports, and SCSI ports in place of more
          space-consuming ISA and PCI slots.  If you must have desktop-
          style slots, put them in a docking station.

       o  A good pointing device - the Apple Powerbook and IBM Thinkpad
          have some of the best current designs.

       o  A faster Alpha chip - one that will run emulated Windows apps
          at the speed of a 486dx2/66, or better.  The Windows notebook
          or Macintosh notebook the next passenger is using will be the
          standard by which most people judge acceptable performance on
          off-the-shelf office applications.

          When running native-mode code, the notebook should smoke the
          fastest Pentium notebooks by a factor of three or more.

       o  A 486 emulator, not a 286 emulator.

       o  A price of $7,500 or less, not $15,000 or more.  Keep in mind
          that $7,500 is a very expensive, premium pricing point in the
          real world.  You need to sell at the same price or less that
          others charge for Pentiums.

    I suggest you talk to some of the people in the PC division for a more
    detailed view of today's portable computing market.

>    You've got to be kidding.  The prospects for such an expensive, heavy, and
>    limited device are poor.
>
>    If portable Alphas are your game, try setting your sights on
 
    Actually, I think the spec's called for a _luggable_ system.
    Here's where fancy marketing comes in:
    
    Build the 2.5 pound portable but also design it so that you can
    clip on 2 11 pound lead weights making it an instant luggable. 
    
    Ahead of the market _and_ DoD compatible, what more could you ask
    for? :-)
    
    re roelof

    ...you may ask why _two_ lead weights? Well, so that we can  also
    market a system with only _one_ lead weight as the "Luggable Lite".
    (Do I have to spell out everything?)
    
    re(gards), roelof (who's considering moving over to marketing :-)

    Seriously, sure this thing has little or no appeal in the mass market
    but their might just be enough interest to make it an excellent CSS
    project.
    
    The software partner I work most closely with just went out and bought
    a bunch of luggable multimedia rigs based on IBM thinkpads, they weight
    about 20 pounds, won't run on batteries, cost darn near 20K each and
    they are double butt ugly but they love them. Now the Twenty pounds
    includes built in speakers and CD player. 
    
    There is still a market for luggable systems, a small one, but it's
    there. 
                                               

    Sure, I can imagine selling a couple hundred or so...  Is that something we
    want to do as a business?  I don't think so.
    
    				-John

    
    For all you CSS types reading this thread - Forget Luggables!
    
    If you cannot make the Alpha Laptop at $7,500 or LESS, weighing under
    four pounds, etc. give it up.
    
    The field would rather have something we can sell thousands of, not
    two here and one there.
    
    Thank you.
    
    			the Greyhawk 
    
    

First, I would like to thank all of you who took the time to respond.
All feedback, especially negative feedback, is very valuable.  We will
certainly take into consideration the feelings expressed here in 
deciding whether or not to proceed. 

We realize that this beast is not for the mass market.  We have gotten
several requests lately for a alpha computer system to be mounted
on vehicles (jeeps, planes, ships, etc) in a very rugged environment
(typically military applications) and wanted to see if we have enough 
interest to make such a thing worthwhile.  Doing a heavy unit would 
require very little up front engineering. We are not fool enough to
imagine that anyone would try to use this on their lap flying 
on an airplane.  (Besides it doesnt even have battery capability).
The situations that we know about involve customers who have a 
substantial investment in software that runs on our machines 
using existing OSes and who do not want to (or technically cannot) 
port it to a PC environment, but want to deploy these applications in
their field locations. 

We are still evaluating our options. The feedback from this community is
pretty clear.  When something is decided, Ill post a message here.

regards,

eric

    ...but you captioned your RFI as a Transportable Alpha
    System, looking back I see that there was one sentence
    stating that a miltary ruggedized version was an option.
    
    Now if you had started off by specifiying a miltiary spec
    AlphaRugged System possibly bundled with some "popular" military 
     applications (whatever those might be, logistics? troop movement
    tracking? enemy position detailing on electronic geographic maps?)
    then you might have had a different set of reactions...
    
    re roelof 

    > bundled with some "popular" military applications 
    
    Hmmm... preinstalled GPS.  Then, when they misplace their dashtop (or
    is it tank top?) computer, they can send it email asking it where it
    is.  It would send email back and we they would know where to find it.
    
                                        August G. Reinig

    New solution =

        mutual endorsement of Alpha and PowerPC as universal platform chips
            (Digital, IBM, Motorola, Alpha, Intel, HP, AMD)

        announcement of open business sourcing practices by everyone

        port Digital Unix and OpenVMS to PowerPC; same API as on Alpha - so
            VAR application vendor port to PowerPC == just a recompile

        use standard Apple PowerMac notebooks to run demo software and also
            general Macintosh desktop applications (portable computing user
            solution)

        workplace customers use AlphaStations (which everyone knows are a
            lot faster than PowerPCs for workstation OSes and applications;
            different-but-overlapping specialties)

    What do you think?

    TADPOLE STICKS TO HIGH-END STRATEGY
    
    Tadpole, the notebook manufacturer, is resisting pressure to take its 
    product down-market, sticking instead to a strategy of targeting the 
    higher end of the sector. The company has confirmed that it still plans 
    to launch in 1996 its first product based on Digital's Alpha processor.
    
    (Electronics Weekly, London.  31st May 1995)
    

    "Rumors"??
    
    A third party "XLvision" "may" do an Alpha Portable, 
    Tadpole wants to have an Alpha portable on the street 12/94, 
    Digital CSS is "looking" at an Alpha transportable, 
    Digital France is "investigating" an Alpha Portable
    
    I see a horse race - with four maybe five jockeys - who will win?
    
    "Only the shadow knows"
    
    My only hope is that someone gets over the finish line before my
    customers spend their money elsewhere - Its getting awfully lonely
    sitting at the end of the bed telling them "how good its going to
    be..."
    
    But I have faith - so lets keep those opportunities "acoming"!
    

    How about a PowerPC notebook that runs Unix and Windows NT and OpenVMS
    which you can use to demo AlphaStation software?  PowerPC chips are
    supposed to run nice and cool, unlike most speed-optimized Alpha chips.

    It might happen if we cut a mutual (Alpha, PowerPC) endorsement/system
    manufacturing deal with IBM, and build some shrinkwrap markets...

    I'll get that wabbit.
    Ah say,ah say what you going on about boy.
    Eh what's up Doc.
    

RE: Note 3609.134 by HLDE01::VUURBOOM_R 
    
>Non-Symbiotic Relationship: GBRUCE <-> NEWTON 
    
    This relationship will be severed this weekend when GBRUCE is switched
    from Digital's network to Motorola's.  
    

    
    	Being an ex-Motorolan, I can personally attest to all the "fun"
    GBRUCE is going to have on *that* network....
    
    
    		the Greyhawk

   With all due respect to Tadpole, any chance of signing up a major notebook
   vendor, like Toshiba?

From PowerPC News:

Subj:	2257 TADPOLE CALLS EMERGENCY MEETING AS NET ASSET VALUE WITHERS

TADPOLE CALLS EMERGENCY MEETING AS NET ASSET VALUE WITHERS
(June 19th 1995) Tadpole Technology Plc has suffered the ultimate
indignity and humiliation, that of having to call an  extraordinary
meeting of shareholders within 56 days because growing losses
mean its net asset value will fall to less than half its paid-up 
share capital (the aggregate sum a company has raised by selling its 
shares since it was founded). 

The 50% figure does not in itself signify anything, and is mainly a
warning signal; the shareholders' meeting is only required to 
consider what, if anything, needs to be done about the situation. It
can break up with a decision to do nothing, and the company can
continue  as before. 

Tadpole expects its losses of UKP1.3m for April and May to rise in
June by up to UKP500,000, on sales broadly flat, with the previous
quarter at some UKP7m. 

Tadpole shares fell to a new low of 35p but later steadied at 42p, a
loss of 13p. Tadpole notes that final quarter sales are  usually 
heavily weighted towards September. On the plus side, it is shipping
an  order worth more than $1m for Sparcbook 3XP to a new US customer 
with the potential to make orders worth $10m more over two years. It 
has also won a new OEM board contract worth up to $20m over four
years.
(C) Computergram International | Select 5000 for more information

    I note that in yesterday's Biz news Tadpole's share price had
    risen significantly.  Reason given was 'Small investors returning
    to the stock.'  Some people obviously think it is undervalued
    now.
    
    Calvin 

A recent review of the Tadpole P1000 indicated that its battery life was
dismayingly short.  I hope the Alpha laptop does better.

				Steve

Will Tadpole copy the Apple PowerBook design of two ports for high-capacity
batteries, or will their Alpha laptop only take one battery?

You don't need two batteries loaded - a warm-swap of batteries like the
HiNote Ultra can do will do the trick and will reduce typical weight.

				Steve

Re: Tadpole's Battery design

The Tadpole Pentium P1000 has both an internal battery pack, which is good 
for about an hour, plus a 4lb strap-on external battery which supplies up 
to about 5 hours of power.  Details and pictures are available at Tadpole's 
WWW site.

The same battery option should apply Alpha version, although battery 
lifetimes have not been measured and are subject to change.


							-Paul

    I'd be dismayed by battery life less than an hour -- but for me, it
    wouldn't be too relevant.  The idea of a laptop Alpha, with all that
    power, that you had to plug in to a wall...  so what?  For a rev 1.0
    laptop with an Alpha chip, I'd put up with a LOT.
    

    
    re: .125   
    > ...but you captioned your RFI as a Transportable Alpha
    > System, looking back I see that there was one sentence
    > stating that a miltary ruggedized version was an option.
    
    You've obviously never seen a description like 
    "Building, portable, FSN nnnn-nnnn-nn"
    
    The term "portable", in militareze, means anything small
    enough to be moved by no more than four forklifts.
    
    [dale]
    

Is tadpole still the only potential player for Alpha Notebooks?  I have had
three customer requests in the last two weeks.

Al Cook

Yes, the Alpha notebook is still alive!

With any luck, there should be a big announcement at Fall DECUS in San 
Francisco (December 2-7).

Request for further details should be directed to Mark (STAR::) Sorenson.  
Serious inquires only!  Myself and Mark are working really hard to get this 
done for DECUS, so try not to bother us if your just curious.


							-Paul

    Go for it Paul & Mark!
    

    
    	This is *GREAT* news. Now remember, keep the price down. A $7,000
    Alpha Laptop is going to be a tough sell at the low end. High end,
    no problem; low end needs to be around $4,800 max!!!
    
    		the Greyhawk

There is no intention for the Burns Alpha laptop to ever compete in the PC 
market.  Burns is based on Tadpole Pentium P1000/P1300 laptop, which sells 
between $6-$12K.  You can expect similar premium pricing for Burns.

If your application runs on a PC laptop today, plan to continue with using 
a PC laptop system.  We sell great Hinote PC laptops for this purpose!

However, *if* you application run on an Alpha workstation which you like to 
become portable, then you are probably a candidate for the Alpha laptop.  
The Burns is not for everybody, but for a few it is very important and they 
are will to pay the premium price.


							-Paul

    Sounds like a reasonable strategy...  Pricing somewhere between the
    highest-end laptop and the lowest-equivalent workstation, modulo the
    premium inevitably associated with miniaturization.  Pray tell, will it
    have support for at least SVGA, if not on its own unit, then via
    external displays?  That'll be a big gating factor (and if memory
    serves, was imho one of the big drawbacks of the Alpha laptop that Bob
    Palmer displayed at UNIX World a year or so back...) ...?
    

    Yes, the Alpha laptop will have SVGA graphics (800x600x256)
    simultaneously on internal active matrix display and external monitor. 
    We are hoping to add a mode for 1024x768x256 for use only on the
    external monitor.

    The Alpha notebook is based on the Tadpole P1000 and P1300 Pentium
    system.  The specs are available at:

    http://www.tadpole.com/



    						-Paul

    Wow.  I'm in love!!  Tnx so much for (a) the fast response and (b) the
    correct answers!! :-)
    
    Go for it...
    
    ... and keep us posted!
    

What OS's plan support for it?


    

The intent is to announce the OS' at Fall Decus. 
The details around which OS' and the dates and
spec's are not complete, so I hesitate to speculate. 


Regards,

Bill Zaharchuk
Manager, Product Management
Digital UNIX 

I have the support of my management to deliver OpenVMS support for the 
Burns Alpha note.


						-Paul

    OK, sounds good. I want this product to sell, just as I did a year (or
    whatever) ago.
    
    Now, I'm not a gambling man, and nor are my customers. A year ago, two
    of them believed that Digital would deliver an Alpha carryaround, which
    was good for them, 'cause they needed them desperately to sell on to
    their own customers as part of particular project/product applications.
    
    Digital didn't deliver. The reasons why may never be clear, and the
    reasons why it is now right for the market and was then wrong, are also
    unclear (to me at least).
    
    Meanwhile, their need didn't go away. Independently, they are
    developing carryaround Alphas - one based on Aspen's board, and one
    based on DEC3000 boards. When _their_ customers see the end result
    (suitcase size) they'll have a good laugh, but it'll do the job they
    wanted it for (and are willing to pay $$$$ for in repeat orders, once
    they've seen one working).
    
    Because Digital screwed them up before on this product, both customers
    are likely to be reluctant to drop their own engineered products in
    favour of a buy-in with the perceived risk of us screwing up again.
    
    So: how much of a risk is it this time ? Any gamblers involved: how
    much of YOUR money would you stake on this product coming to market
    this time ?
    
    regards
    john

    I had a chance to see one of these babies in action at the version 7.0
    openVMS FT meeting a few weeks ago. This thing is slick and fast. Even
    the case is made out of something special.
    
    	About the price. Memory will be the factor that dictates price. The
    machine has two memory slots. If both are populated with 64 Mb cards,
    then you can figure about $5k in memory alone. 
    
    I wish you guys the very best of luck. From what I've seen of the
    product, you have a winner.
    
    jim
    

    Re:158
    
    	Things are a little different this time.
    
    	The first time, I and a few others hand built the LEAN machines.
    	Next, we were forced to work the design with an outside house
    (Tadpole) who had other priorities. And, our new VP cancelled support.
    
    	Now, one of our more supportive VPs is in charge, and he has
    allowed a clone-out to Tadpole whereby they own all of the product
    assembly,etc., and DIGITAL owns OSs, console, and Alpha chip(LCA45).
    
    Since the design has had a screen and processor upgrade, plus lots of
    debug time, it is looking pretty good. Tadpole is hungry so I would bet
    that it will happen this time, but the amount of success will be tough
    to call. This will be an expensive portable workstation. Not an
    inexpensive portable PC; we already have those.
    
    So, if a customer needs to carry Alpha NT, Digital UNIX, or OpenVMS
    around and is willing to pay, this will be the right machine. Not a
    huge market at all, but it can make some money and help sell some of
    our other machines by being the "portable POSIX compliant" machine that
    some bids require.
    
    						Rich Dischler

    Seen on the internet ...  (rumor that Tadpole "permanently abandoned"
    Alpha Notebook) ...
    
    -- Kenny House
    
    -------------
    
    Group comp.os.vms
    article  48178          07:11:05.96       available: 47760 - 48256
    unread: 84
    
    From: tonyk@sseos.lbl.gov (Tony Konashenok)
    Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec,comp.os.vms
    Subject: Sad tale: no Alpha notebook for you, guys...
    Date: 13 Sep 1995 22:53:10 GMT
    Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley
    
    I have just asked the guys at Aspen Systems and Tadpole Technology if
    they are going to release an Alpha-based laptop/notebook. The former
    said that they see no market demand for it and it will hardly be
    possible to make a good machine anyway because of high power
    consumption by the Alpha chip. Strange - do they still think in terms
    of 21064? The latter said they made a prototype but permanently
    abandoned it.
    
    Can anyone say anything to the contrary? Or should we all collect
    signatures to prove the market demand exists? 
    
    Article is xrefed to comp.sys.dec:16218
    
    End article 48178 action:

    My response to comp.sys.dec was:
    
    Oh well. I know too much. Keep your ears open. You might hear something
    in less than 3 months.
    -- 
    
    
    - Rich Dischler  (Workstations)  DTN 223-0523

    Steve Lionel also kindly responded in similar vein ("whoever you spoke
    to at Tadpole may have been misinformed", or something like that).
    
    I think it's time I go talk to my portable Alpha prospect(s) before he
    reads this himself...
    
    regards
    john

Yesterday I watched Paul (see .157) unpack another brand new Tadpole prototype,
fresh out of the box.

/john

Rich, can we suggest that people might find something interesting at DECUS? :-)

				Steve

    	Steve - 
    	Enhancements have been made, work is being done and as
    	you state, people might find something interesting at DECUS.
    	The ball is rolling.
    
    					RJD

    Just you make sure that there ball doesn't run down the OTHER side of
    the mountain, as it has been wont to do in the past... :-)
    
    Rootin' for ya!!!
    

    
    Don't stop, don't let anything get in your way, build it - and they
    will come.
    
    Promise....
    
    
    		the Greyhawk

    (sorry)
    
    :-)
    

    The bright side: if LCA performance fails to excite in the laptop
    like it did in Multia, at least nobody in Components and Peripherals
    will be held accountable and fired.

    What else can you use in the laptop?  21064A and its support chips eat
    lot of real estate and the battery power.
    
    - Vikas

    .168 hidden as it is labelled "Digital Confidential" - corporate
    policy prohibits such documents being posted in unrestricted notes
    conferences.
    
    				Steve

The following information is "Digital Internal Use Only"

As noted in the last few replies, an ALPHA portable workstation project
is indeed proceeding.  To date, the vast majority of work on this project
has focused on getting the engineering work done.  Its primarily being
driven by a very small group of people in the OpenVMS Engineering and
OpenVMS Product Mgmt organization, with support from APS and DS.  Very 
shortly we'll be turning our attention to providing information to the 
rest of the corporation.  However, I want to squash this false rumor that
the ALPHAbook is dead.  Stay tuned.

As Steve L said, you just might see at DECUS an ALPHA based portable workstation
running a 233 mhz LCA45 CPU.  It'll definitely be running OpenVMS, and maybe
Digital UNIX shortly thereafter.  I'd guess it'll support 32-128 MB of memory,
have a 10.4 TFT 800x600 SVGA display.  Limited PCMCIA support, but certainly
an Ethernet card (bundled with system) and fax/modem.  Lexmark M6 keyboard.
SCSI 520, 810, 1.2GB storage options.  Magnesium alloy case, about 7.5 lbs with
battery.  Mini and full docking stations.  CD and floppy drives available.

Take a look at Tadpoles P1000 enclosure and think ALPHA.  

When we're just a bit further down the road, we'll be getting more info
to you for you and your customers.  Still working some details so I don't
have all the info to tell you.  Will we get it done?  Odds are 90% yes.

Alpha, from desktop-to-datacenter?   How about LAPTOP-to-datacenter?
                        

			"Digital Internal Use Only"


    

    Thanks for the reclassify/vetting/repost.  I will want to stop by here
    periodically to make sure I wasn't dreaming...
    
    go Go GO *G*O*!!!
    

    re: -.1
    
    Boy, I imagine, the Alpha Notebook would be really hot. 
    
    
    
    Toast your lap and probably burn a hole in the pocket too ;-)
    
    Dan, I hope your washing machine doesn't get turned on, when you toss
    your pants in it saying " I got hot pants for you". Hey, but then u
    can tell the world 'my washing m/c is really automatic'
    
    :-)
    
    /vj

Is that why we're calling it "Burns"?

/john

    Here's the latest from XL Vision, a Sebastian, FL Technical OEM who
    specializes in portable, rugged and TEMPEST products.
    
    For now, they are going to offer this with WNT and UNIX, but if OVMS
    becomes available on the LCA, they think there is a market.
    
    Any comments, questions, remarks? Expected availability should be by
    the end of the CY95.
    
    Bill Kimbel
    TOEM Sales - Southeast
    
		PORTABLE ALPHA WORKSTATION
			PRELIMINARY


(drawing or picture goes here)


XL Vision delivers the state-of-the-art in Digital Alpha technology 
in a portable package.  The Portable Alpha Workstation enables you 
to run PC, Windows NT or Unix applications while away from the 
office or on the road.  

Need to demonstrate the next killer app? Show your customer how it 
works in his or her office.  Need to run diagnostics on a customer's 
system?  Whether its a computer or an airplane, the PAW will meet 
your needs. Update the assembly drawing at the customer design 
review? The boss wants the corporate budget updated and your going 
on vacation?  The commander wants the lastest intelligence picture 
in HIS foxhole?  The PAW can support all of these requirements too.

Upgradeability is designed in to the package. Supporting 166MHz or 
233MHz Alpha processors today, it is field upgradeable to the next 
generation Alpha processor when released by Digital. Memory is 
expandable to 256MB with ECC error detection and correction.

Two PCMCIA slots and one PCI slot allow expandability with standard 
communications options.  A 10.5 inch flat panel display is standard 
with 12 inch, 1280 x 1024 resolution an option.  

The internal bus is PCI based.  The Ethernet interface and graphics 
accelerator are also PCI based.

An external SCSI connector allows connection to additional storage, 
tape drives or CDROMs.  Twisted pair, thin wire or thickwire 
Ethernet ports are autosensing.

For the fastest portable computer on the market today select the XL 
Vision Portable Alpha Workstation.

    
		PORTABLE ALPHA WORKSTATION
			PRELIMINARY

Processor
Alpha AXP 166 MHz
Alpha AXP 233 MHz
(Field Upgradeable)

Memory
32MB Standard
(Expandable to 256MB)

Display
10.5" TFT Color, 640 x 480 Resolution

12" TFT Color,1280 x 1024 Resolution
(optional)

Peripherals
One 3.5" disk drive (up to 4GB)
One 3.5" 1.44MB floppy

Keyboard/ Pointing Device
Keyboard with integral trackball

Interfaces
Two PCMCIA Type II or Type III slots
Two serial lines (one with full modem support)
One PCI slot
Bidirectional Parallel Port
Built in audio with 16bit CD quality sound
Fast  SCSI-2 port
Autosensing Ethernet Port 
Commercial connectors used


Physical Characteristics
(Preliminary)
Rugged Aluminum Alloy Case
Weight: NTE 20 lbs.
Height: 4"
Width: 12"
Length: 12"

Power
88-264V, auto range single phase, 47-63Hz.
12 VDC and 28VDC (option)

Environmental Range
Temperature:    0C to +50C Operating
              -20C to +60C Non-Operating
Humidity:       5% to 95% (Non-Condensing)
Altitude:    -1000 to 10,000 ft Operating
             -1000 to 40,000 ft Non-operating
Shock:         20g's Operating (11ms pulse)
               30g's Non-Operating (11ms pulse)
Vibration:     MIL-STD-810E
EMI/RFI:       FCC Class B (pending)
               MIL-STD-461C
               NSTISSAM TEMPEST/1-92 (option)
        

Environmental Stress Screening
ESS testing performed on 100% of production units including:
Random Vibration 
Temperature Cycling
Elevated Temperature Burn-in
Unique ESS available to meet specific program requirements.

Workmanship and Quality
MIL-STD-454 Standard General Requirements for Electronic Equipment
ISO 9001 Quality System. Certificate No. A2570

XL Vision -- The Company

XL Vision designs and manufactures a complete line of ruggedized 
workstations, servers and peripherals in both luggable and rackmount 
configurations. XL Vision's unique technology building blocks allow 
for rapid development of application-specific product solutions.

Digital, OpenVMS, Alpha AXP and Alpha Generation are registered 
trademarks of Digital Equipment Corp.

For additional information, contact XL Vision Sales:
HEADQUARTERS:   10300 102nd Terrace, Sebastian, FL  32958; (407) 
589-7331; FAX (407) 589-7360
DC AREA SALES:  16215 Jerald Road  Laurel, MD  20707  (301) 
369-4350   FAX  (301) 725-6026

    
                        

    There's a short presentation on Digital's own Alpha notebook, from DUPS
    training, recently arrived in VTX IR, document id DU000H (or search for
    ALPHA NOTEBOOK). PPT and PS files are available.
    
    Executive summary (hardware): think Tadpole P1000, but with 21066A/233.
    Executive summary (software): OpenVMS. Maybe NT, maybe Unix.
    
    regards
    john
    not affiliated with Alpha notebook projects

   
  Tadpole Technology announces the ALPHAbook 1, the world's most powerful
  notebook computer; Industry's first 233MHz Alpha processor-based notebook
  offers workstation-class performance and true portability to the digital
  OpenVMS user community
  
   
   Source: Business Wire
   
   SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE) via NewsPage -- Tadpole Technology Plc
   today announced the ALPHAbook 1, the world's most powerful notebook
   computer and the first notebook driven by an Alpha 21066
   microprocessor with variable speed of up to 233MHz from Digital
   Equipment Corporation.
   
   Shown for the first time today at the Digital Equipment Corporation
   User Society (DECUS) meeting, the ALPHAbook 1 packs all the computing
   power of a Digital Alpha workstation -- including support for the
   OpenVMS operating system -- into a highly rugged, 7.5-pound notebook
   form factor.
   
   The ALPHAbook 1, which is targeted at software development, defense,
   communications, engineering and performance-critical commercial
   markets, is the result of a strategic agreement between Digital and
   Tadpole announced in May 1994. Techniques used in designing the system
   were gained from Tadpole's expertise in developing three generations
   of award winning SPARCbook workstation-class notebooks and the P1000
   Series of Pentium processor-based notebook PCs. The ALPHAbook 1
   extends Tadpole's design philosophy to deliver uncompromised,
   workstation-class portable computing products based on a wide range of
   microprocessor architectures.
   
   "The ALPHAbook 1 features all the hallmarks of Tadpole's full line of
   workstation-class notebook products, including unparalleled
   performance and functionality, rugged magnesium case, power management
   and standard notebook weight and form factor," said George Grey, chief
   executive officer of Tadpole Technology. "This agreement allows us
   extend our product line to Digital's user community, providing them
   the first reliable mobile platform for high-end, OpenVMS-based
   applications."
   
   Powered by an Alpha 21066-A microprocessor with a variable speed of up
   to 233MHz and a 512K level 2 write-back cache, the ALPHAbook 1 also
   features an integrated PCI system bus interface for high-speed access
   to graphics, PCMCIA and SCSI interfaces. Removable 2.5-inch SCSI-2
   hard disk drives are available in 520 megabyte (MB), 810MB or 1.2
   Gigabyte (GB) capacities. System memory is user upgradable using
   industry-standard SIMMs in configurations starting at 32MB and going
   up to 128MB.
   
   Two PCMCIA slots give users a choice of two Type I/II or one Type III
   card, and two docking station options allow users to easily connect a
   variety of peripherals. The ALPHAbook 1 includes a 3COM Ethernet card
   and supports an optional 28.8K fax/modem PC Card.
   
   Software offerings for the ALPHAbook 1 will include Digital's OpenVMS
   operating system, DECwindows/Motif, TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS and
   OpenVMS Cluster Client. DECnet/OSI is available as an add-on option.
   Plans are already underway to support the Digital UNIX operating
   system in 1996.
   
   With 1MB of video RAM and a 10.4-inch true-color TFT active matrix
   screen, Tadpole's ALPHAbook 1 supports 256 colors simultaneously from
   a choice of 262,144 at 800 x 600 resolution and uses a built-in
   graphics accelerator for enhanced graphics response. Users who want to
   make a presentation to a large group can do so using the ALPHAbook 1's
   support for resolutions up to 1024 x 768 on external displays. An
   integrated 16-bit stereo audio for CD-quality sound, internal
   microphone and speaker, and in/out audio ports complete the ALPHAbook
   1's A/V functions.
   
   "Digital is very excited about Tadpole's delivery of the ALPHAbook 1
   supporting the OpenVMS Operating System," said Jesse Lipcon, vice
   president of Systems Product Management and Development at Digital.
   "The ALPHAbook 1 delivers unique benefits for OpenVMS users, extending
   their office to a virtual office wherever their business takes them."
   
   Pricing and Availability
   
   The Tadpole ALPHAbook 1 will be available in early January 1996
   through Tadpole and Digital, and through selected Digital and Tadpole
   resellers and distributors worldwide. Pricing starts at $13,950 for a
   system configured with bundled OpenVMS, 3COM Ethernet card, 32MB DRAM
   and 520MB hard disk drive.
   
   Tadpole Technology designs and manufactures high-performance,
   workstation-class notebook computers, board-level and software
   products for OEMs and end-users. Established in 1984 and publicly
   traded on the London Stock Exchange, Tadpole is headquartered in
   Cambridge, England. U.S. headquarers are in Austin, Texas with sales
   offices and authorized resellers throughout the U.S., Europe and
   Asia/Pacific Rim.
   
   Note to Editors: Alpha, OpenVMS, DEC, DECnet, DECwindows, and Digital
   are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. All other trademarks
   used herein are the property of their respective owners.
   
   [12-04-95 at 09:14 EST, Business Wire]

    No mention of NT, this seems odd to me.
    
    -Bruce

    The December 4th PC Week article on the Alpha Tadpole described
    the thing (again, no mention of NT).  The article then inserted
    some quotes, the first being "We're looking at porting our database
    server to Alpha under NT.  I might need one of the Alphabook 1s and
    five or six Intel-based systems".
     
    Sounds like somebody thinks it runs NT.

    the latest EETimes had an article on this too; it said that Tadpole was
    concentrating their NT efforts on Intel-based notebooks.. the
    impression I got was they weren't very interested in doing anything
    with NT on the Alpha notebook..
    
    ...tom

    Has Tadpole mentioned any unit forecasts over the life of the product?
    First year? Etc?
    
    				-John

So... OpenVMS supports PCMCIA cards?  Plug in, say, a GPS card, and it can
deal with it?

$set mind/mode=boggle!

  - Josh

    Sure; it'll apply power.
    
    you want MORE?
    
    ...tom

    The Alphabook has been very popular here at DECUS.  It is really a
    wonder to see VMS on a laptop.  There are limited drivers for PCMCIA
    cards - just the options (Ethernet, modem) that Tadpole supports.
    
    As for NT, my understanding is that Digital's NT group isn't
    interested, and I can see why - it doesn't offer all THAT much
    different over a Pentium-based laptop as far as NT is concerned.  That
    may change (the interest) in the future - who knows.  The Alphabook
    owes its existence to the perseverance of the OpenVMS group who helped
    make it happen.
    
    				Steve

    I certainly understand why the OpenVMS group would be a major driver
    for the Alphabook, but why, I wonder, would not the Digital UNIX
    group be right there with an approximately equal amount of bux?  
    
    I must be missing something.  The prospect of carrying around a full
    Digital UNIX wksta for demos or portable websites sets MY salivary
    glands all atwitter...
    
    ... and why wouldn't a portable NT workstation with blazing speed be
    desirable? 
    
    Dan$dense
    

    I wonder what the top end configuration for this sucker costs with 128MB
    memory and a 1.2GB hard disk. Does it have external SCSI capability?
    
    It would make a lot of sense for Digital to get some of these for sales
    types who need demo systems, whether in or out of the office. But it
    would be better if the thing supported both AVMS and UNIX ...
    
    Geoff

re: <<< Note 3609.188 by DRDAN::KALIKOW "DIGITAL=DEC; Reclaim the Name&Glory!" >>>
    
>>    ... and why wouldn't a portable NT workstation with blazing speed be
>>    desirable? 
    
	the point is that this thing wouldn't blaze much compared to
	available Pentium notebooks that can run NT and would most likely
	be much cheaper...on the other hand, OpenVMS (and Digital UNIX) don't
	currently ;-) support the Pentium architecture ;-) ;-)

	re: Digital UNIX support

	although the console support is probably already a done deal, there
	is the minor matter of device support for video, keyboard, mouse,
	Ethernet, modem, serial port, etc etc etc...

	_kelley

    Given that it is based on LCA45, getting Digital UNIX would be pretty
    trivial.  If you can get to ">>>" console prompt try this on the Alpha
    portable.  Assuming it allows you to connect external SCSI disk, get an
    already installed Digital UNIX V3.2C disk and plug it in the
    portable with SCSI disk ID 1
    
    >>>e 2050
    pmem:             2050 000000000000000x  <<some number here
    >>>d * B
    >>>b -fi genvmunix dka1
    
    
    Of course, don't expect your PCMCIA options or power management
    features to work though.
    
    If it uses TGA for vdeo and Tulip for ethernet, they will work fine.
    
    - Vikas

>    I wonder what the top end configuration for this sucker costs with 128MB
>    memory and a 1.2GB hard disk. Does it have external SCSI capability?

    The price range I remember reading was from ~$13K to ~$24K.

    -Bruce

    RE: .-2

    And given that it's based on the LCA45, what would be the level of
    effort to get OpenVMS to run on the AlphaVME Single Board Computers?

    That's a whole different story because you need to get the VME bus
    support in.

    Yeah... but VMEbus support for OpenVMS exists on multiple platforms
    now.  It just doesn't exist as part of the O/S because it's treated
    like non-Digital I/O - third party.

    RE: .191
    
    It does not use TGA video.  It uses a Western Digital video option. 
    That's part of the work to be done for Digital UNIX.  Folks here are
    talking to Tadpole about getting UNIX support on it.  If you have a
    sales case where you need it, try contacting Sarah Booth.
    
    Irene
    

    There is work to be done for the other OS's, but the first thing we
    ever booted was NT... then VMS, then UNIX.
    
    The LCA45 version has only booted OpenVMS officially, yet I am pretty
    sure NT would work immediately except for PCMCIA. The LCA4s Alphabook I have
    runs NT. 
    
    The AlphaBook is the "productized" version of the LEAN machine we
    showed at Comdex Nov 1993.
    
    					RJD

    It does have external SCSI when used with the docking station.  Comes
    with a 3COM Ethernet PC Card adapter - that and a TDK FAX/Modem are the
    only two PC Card options currently supported (and only on the Tadpole).
    TGV wants to buy a bunch to do customer demos, police departments and
    the military have expressed interest.
    
    			Steve

    It's not the VME bus that is the problem. It IS that the current VME
    board is based upon the 21066, the infamous LCA that arrived too late
    to hit its market and is a dead duck because any pentium above 100mhz
    cooks it and eats it and its lunch.
    
    VMS engineering decided not to experience the costs of porting (it does
    take a port as the memory controller is in the chip (no 21071 chipset).
    
    The "Cortex" SBC is based upon 21064 however and will come to the
    market in January (albeit with the old VICchip) and will get the new
    VIC chip later in the year. 
    
    This baby will have OVMS supported.......

    
    Can someone verify how long the battery pack will last?

	According to Tadpoles literature the internal 12V 1.8AH NiMH
battery will last about 1hr with power management enabled. An external 12V
5.7AH NiMH battery is available that will last about 3hrs. The external
battery weighs in at 4lbs !

	\Bob Lail

...And introducing Microsoft Word for OpenVMS...

Microsoft Office for OpenVMS to follow...

    Re: 202
    
    Is Word on OpenVMS a for real future ?  This could be a real
    application shot in the application arm if so.
    
    Bill
    

RE: .203

	I doubt it.

	I WOULD expect Word et al to run when the stuff from Bristol
	is up and running. (if it isn't already)

							mike

re: <<< Note 3609.204 by AXEL::FOLEY "Rebel without a Clue" >>>

>>	I WOULD expect Word et al to run when the stuff from Bristol
>>	is up and running. (if it isn't already)

	only if MS decides the recompile/relink Word on OpenVMS (and/or UNIX)
	which I would doubt...now SQL/Server on the other hand.....

	_kelley

    I spoke to Tadpole yesterday. I have a customer who has been patiently
    waiting for a VMS carryaround. My customer beat me to it i.e. he'd
    already phoned Tadpole and arranged for the use of a machine (next
    week). I will see what they make of it. So far, both they and I are
    impressed by the Tadpole folks.

I you want to run Microsoft word.... go buy a HiNote.

I you want a portable OpenVMS cluster that can run an Orcale server, then 
take a look at the Alphabook.

The Alphabook was *never* designed for the PC mass market!  However, there 
are some application that make the Alphabook extreamely useful to some 
people.


							-Paul

MS Word? Whats wrong with WPS-PLUS, TECO and Runoff? Not to mention,
VAX DOCUMENT. Or DECpage? Or DECtext with builtin label printing? You
now have a complete array of production authoring tools in a briefcase.
Mind boggling. Are they offering TU58 for backup device?

>Per

    Meanwhile... an article I saw yesterday said that Digital would be
    selling it (as well as Tadpole). Anybody have more detail ?

    I apologize about the tone of my previous note.  However, the
    confusion of PC vs. workstation has been part of the problem that
    caused two previous attempts to produce an Alpha notebook to fail. 

    We have been trying our best to get a DEC part number for the Tadpole
    ALPHAbook hardware, so the system can be sold by through Digital. 
    However, it has been an absolute *nightmare* of internal red tape about
    percentages, discounts and commissions.  Any help to make this happen
    would be greatly appreciated!


    							-Paul



	Of course, running Linux on it would be rather neat.

	Dave

Naa, NetBSD would be cooler. :-)

You have your free UNIX-like O/S, I got mine.

Hopefully this will answer some questions regarding the Alphabook.

Regards,

Sue Skonetski
OSSG Marketing




The ALPHAbook is the first Alpha-based laptop workstation, and is 
arguably the world's fastest and most powerful laptop computer.

It is a lightweight machine, tipping the scales at only 7.5 pounds 
including the battery.  It is ideal for users that work with highly 
complex, numeric-intensive applications, and need to to be able to 
access these applications while away from their office.  Companies 
that run deployable military applications, real-time data gathering 
and analyis, computer-aided design (CAD), large databases, mobile 
systems administration and diagnostics, sales demonstrations and 
sophisticated multimedia applications can now the ALPHAbook to run 
these applications at customer sites and other remote locations for 
more efficient operations.

The ALPHAbook is based on the Alpha 21066A 233Mz CPU.  It is available 
in configurations with up to 128MB of SIMM memory and a 1.2GB 
removable hard disk.  All ALPHAbooks have a high-resolution 10.4" 
800x600 active matrix display with 256 colors that offers unmatched 
clarity and brightness.

Because it's a true Alpha computer, the ALPHAbook is 100% compatible 
with all other Alpha systems, and it has been designed to run OpenVMS, 
Digital UNIX and WindowsNT.  The ALPHAbook will ship standard with the 
OpenVMS operating system and the DECwindows/Motif graphical user 
interface.  TCP/IP services for OpenVMS and/or DECnet/OSI as well as 
OpenVMS Cluster Client will be offered as packaged options.

The ALPHAbook was co-developed by Digital Equipment Corporation and 
Tadpole Technology and is a Tadpole branded product.

    

    Any update on formal Digital Unix support for the ALPHAbook ?
    
    
    Thanks,
    
    Peter.

Let's put it this way.  If you are at DECUS, you just might see Digital UNIX
running on a Tadpole. 

Unfortuantly, I understand that the Unix code was not quite stable enough
to show at DECUS this week.  I'm sure UNIX on the ALPHAbook will be on 
display by next DECUS, and possible other shows soon.


							-Paul

    anyone know what the shipment numbers for this product have been?  We
    just completed training for our Business Partner's and not one of the
    200 attendees for the seminars in the West Coast had an interest.
    
    Who's selling these?
    Who's buying?
    What activity are they using them for?
    
    	Regards,
    

    Federal govt is buying Tadpoles for t remote training, defriefings,
    etc.  It makes sense to carry this around instead of a 400lb
    monitor/wrkstn.  
    
    ComPro Systems, Inc. in jessup, MD is an authorized reseller of these
    boxes.  Call 410-799-9600 and ask for Ron or Al 

    Pioneer Standard Electronics is an Authorized Digital Distributor and
    especially for this product and they don't see much activity or demand.
    
    Avnet Computer and Hall-Mark Electronics are also Authorized Digital
    Distributors, and probably the largest, and they don't seen any demand
    for this product.
    
    Any finally Wyle Electronics - ditto's Pioneer's and Avnet/Hall-mark
    feelings.
    
    If our three LARGEST Business Partner's don't seem much need for this
    product do we expect to get the volumes from a Business Partner that
    hardly registers on the revenue scale?
    
    How can we excite the other Business Partner's?  Can we get some
    references for the Federal Government sites? Or any other customer. 
    I'd like to build a slide of these are the customer's using it and how.
    
    	Regards,

re.220:

It's a niche product. There isn't much demand. It's such a specialised 
product we should be able to write out a list of people that are likely to buy
and ring them up. Tin shifters wouldn't be able to do this.

Dave.

    Tadpole has a very controlled channels orgnization which actually
    protects its partners business model, unlike Digital whom could care
    less if a channel sells their product or not...

    Suppose I had one of these alpha notebooks. What would I do with it?
    Could I run a word processor? a spreadsheet? Maybe a database?
    
    Alphas power is in servers connected to networks. The things people
    need to do while walking around can be done just fine with PC type
    notebooks. We will not win trying to me-to the PC space, we lost that
    battle some time ago.

RE: .223

	What the Alpha Tadpole excels in is not running Duke Nukem or 
	40 slide Powerpoint presentations, it's in having a portable
	Alpha workstation. This is ideal for those that need to
	do demos or have a REAL need for a portable Alpha platform.

	If you don't really need a portable Alpha, don't buy a Tadpole.
	Simple as that.

							mike

    OK, so if the only real use of an alpha notebook is giving demos that
    may account for its very low market demand. Some DEC people and maybe a
    few VARs or whatever we call them could use one, but its surely not a
    mass market.
    

You are right that it is not a mass market, but if we can make money doing
it, why not?

This is not a replacement for a PC.  To my knowledge, NT is not running on
it nor is there any interest in getting NT to run on it.  You can get a
cheaper Intel notebook running NT, so why bother?

What this is, is a very portable OpenVMS or Digital UNIX box.  So if your
software runs on OpenVMS or Digital UNIX, and you need to take your operation
on the road, then this is the box you need.

The first group of people who want this box are sales people for our ISVs.
They need to demonstrate their products on an OpenVMS or Digital UNIX box,
and lugging around an AlphaStation is clumsy at best (I've done it, others
have done it, but it is painful, hard to setup and tear down, and the 
mean-time-between-dropping-and-breaking-it is very small.

I think we did the right thing by spec'ing it and then giving to a vendor
(Tadpole) who knows how to do such things quickly and cost-effectively.  And
to my knowledge the Digital Engineering costs were fairly minor.

-- Ken Moreau

    Look, there are some people out there (my customers among them) who are
    so desperate for carryaround VMS systems that they gave up waitinjg and
    built their own from the motherboard out. The Tadpole notebook is a LOT
    more elegant. If Tadpole can make money from it where CSD and CSS
    can't, why worry ?
    
    These customers/partners are people with a wealth of investment in VMS
    applications and infrastructure, in application areas ranging from
    process automation (oil refineries etc) to classified military stuff.
    And those are just the ones I know about.
    
    There is a market. It's just not a big market. And I would guess it's
    getting smaller every month as more of these folks move off VMS
    (the ones I know typically moving onto NT not Unix, btw).
    
    regards
    john

    My customer, who runs a country-wide operation, is interested.  Their
    support people would benefit froma Unix laptop, allowing them to be
    mobile with applications, development s/w etc.  No, not a big volume,
    but definitely added value.
    
    -Dermot

    >> There is a market. It's just not a big market. And I would guess it's
    >> getting smaller every month
    
    The LCA45 (21066A) which the Tadpole ALPHA notebook is based on, is
    not getting any faster - while the rest of the industry rockets
    ahead on a steep upward performance curve.
    
    The current Tadpole Alpha Notebook performs roughly as well at 233MHz
    maximum intermittent speed as a 75Mhz pentium, or an EV45 (21064A)
    at a throttled down 133Mhz.  This was great performance over three
    years ago when the original Digital team engineered the first
    Alpha based notebook (which was never produced).  Now it's a
    tad lacking (excuse the pun).
    
    We really need an EV56 based Alpha notebook if we want customers 
    to be PROUD demonstrating their software on an Alpha based machine.  
    I bet I'd have a lot of time to talk about my software if I were to 
    try demonstrating ProEngineer on the Tadpole machine.  Regardless 
    of this, I bet there are still a lot of customers who could benefit 
    from the Tadpole machine.
    
    Jim D.  (one of the LEAN engineering team)
    
    

    I spoke to a customer at DECUS who had ordered several AlphaBooks. 
    His company will use them for demoing their product.  He wishes the
    graphics were better, but overall he likes the package.
    
    				Steve

  RE: Note 3609.220

>>> Pioneer Standard Electronics is an Authorized Digital Distributor and
>>> especially for this product and they don't see much activity or demand.

    I heard directly from George Grey, CEO of Tadpole, that Pioneer is quite
    pleased with sales so far of the ALPHAbook.  Both have confidence in
    the product to pay for the full page Tadpole/Pioneer ad in the inside
    cover of Digital New & Review.

    The only question is whether there is enough support within Digital to
    develop an ALPHAbook 2 follow-on product.


    							-Paul
       

    1. Sales volume isn't generally why one makes an investment in
    advertising (it's lack of).
    
    2. Can *anyone* specifically state WHEN other (and which) operating
    systems will be fully supported? If someone really knows, please email
    me directly. I prefer not to be referred to another conference or
    reminded that "this is an open ..."
    
    3. I thought Tadpole brought the first system to market (not DEC).
    
    4. What could possibly constitute a followon product? Answer: One with
    software.

Tadpole was telling people at DECUS that Digital UNIX support was planned for 
later this year.  I didn't hear anything about NT, but it would seem to me
that the NT market for this would be very limited.

The Alphabook 1 is a Tadpole product developed in cooperation with Digital
(primarily OpenVMS Engineering).  It has LOTS of software available - software
which doesn't run on any other laptop.

					Steve

    re Alphabook2
    Assuming you want to leave the Alphabook1's lowly 21066 Alpha behind
    (as did the Multia folks after they learned better), significant work
    would be needed to repackage, power, and cool one of {EV45|EV5|EV56}
    into a notebook form factor.  A luggable using one of these is a more
    likely scenario.  .02K

    re .234
    This maybe true for the EV45|EV5|EV56 but doesn't the EV6 run at
    approx. 2 volts with a power rating of around 20 watts vs 43 watts,
    which is what we have at 5v/3.3v?  Which would make EV6 more applicable 
    to a small form factor.
    
    	Regards,

    RE: .235

    EV56 is currently in the 20W range.  EV6 will be higher.

    -Bruce
    

    
    >> EV56 is currently in the 20W range.  EV6 will be higher.
    
    But if you lower the EV56 operating frequency a little, along
    with the supply voltage, and then use some smart power management -
    I bet you could get an average power of around 10 watts.  Just lowering
    the frequency to 233MHz brings the power down to 16 Watts or so.
    If someone wanted to tackle an EV56 notebook - the heat could
    be managed.  We can operate a WHOLE 300Mhz EV45/APECS based workstation
    with graphics, CDROM, hard disk, floppy, 256MB memory, 1MB cache, and
    inefficient power supply at ~30 Watts wall power in power saving 'sleep'
    mode - and that chip set was not in any way designed for power
    efficiency.
    
    Random thoughts,
    
        Jim D.

    
    re: -1.......;^)  there's that Nu werdz again,,,,,,"kernal"
    
    AR AR AR
    
    chet

From jacobi@star.zko.dec.com Thu Jun 20 17:38:14 1996
Path: nntpd.lkg.dec.com!pa.dec.com!news1.digital.com!decwrl!spool.mu.edu!usenet.eel.ufl.edu!tank.news.pipex.net!pipex!usenet1.news.uk.psi.net!uknet!dispatch.news.demon.net!demon!nick01.demon.co.uk!nick
From: Nick de Smith <nick@nick01.demon.co.uk>
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: A new first!!! (or is it?)
Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1996 15:17:16 +0100
Organization: Ballyhane Ltd.
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Distribution: world
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I have heard of folks having LANs running when flying between sites...

But...

I have just had the distinct pleasure of running a cluster whilst
returning from my office in Switzerland on flight SR804 (Swiss Air).

Two Tadpoles make one neat LAVC.
-- 
Nick de Smith (who can still be interested by nice toys, now and then...)

This was on http:/www.bloomberg.com/, on the Bloomberg Personal page:


ECONOMY AND MARKETS 

Europe Today: Tadpole Hopes New PC Will Change It Into a Prince 
By Niklas von Daehne 

Cambridge, England: Within the next few months, Tadpole Technology
Plc, maker of the world's most powerful portable computers, will find
out if might makes right. The Cambridge, England-based company,
which six months ago was on the brink of oblivion after posting a fiscal
1995 loss of 9.9 million pounds ($15.3 million), is pinning hopes of
survival as an independent company on its Alphabook, the fastest-ever
notebook computer. The seven-and-a-half-pound Alphabook,
developed with Digital Equipment Corp. of the U.S. ``The products they
have are fantastic,'' said Ray Burgum, an analyst at Henry Cooke,
Lumsden. ``But they don't have the manufacturing ethos to get these
products out the door at the right price.'' Tadpole last month said its
first-half pretax loss narrowed to 1.7 million pounds from 5.9 million
pounds in the year-earlier period, primarily as a result of lower
overhead. That lifted its share price 18p to 66. Still, analysts are dubious
that Tadpole has what it takes to turn computing power into financial
fortune. (Full story published 14:39 London time on BBCO3.) 

    1. VMS customers are dissappearing. They ask if the ALPHAbook will run
    NT. I think the answer is basically that it can but the user won't be
    allowed due toomarketing considerations. The result is that a user is
    potentially stuck with a 7.5 boat anchor that lists for up to $22k.
    
    2. What about UNIX? "By the end of the year".
    
    So...would I bank on the ALPHAbook to save Tadpole? No... On the other
    hand, the SPARCbook is really well done and it's been selling briskly.

    
    Re: .242
    
    >2. What about UNIX? "By the end of the year".
    
    It already runs Linux

VMS customers are not disappearing.  In fact, the installed base is growing
somewhat.

I just read a press release about a new semiconductor fab which is to be
run using PROMIS software on OpenVMS Alpha.

				Steve

>I just read a press release about a new semiconductor fab which is to be
>run using PROMIS software on OpenVMS Alpha.
    
    Many Semiconductor Manufacturing plants use VMS machines for WIP
    tracking.  PROMIS and WorkStream are the two most popular software
    packages for this and they both run on VMS.  Companies that use these
    packages include Intel, Motorola, Analog Devices, AMD, Samsung, 
    National Semiconductor, Harris Semiconductor, along with Digital. There
    are many more, these are simply the ones I know about.  
    
    -Bruce

    Point is that customers (Government related at least) are clamoring for
    Digital UNIX. I know Tadpole has written (but received no answer yet)
    DEC management about improving UNIX availability dates. With NT, I
    believe there's a lot of customers who would use Tadpole for VMS but
    they're a little nervous about no firm plans to offer NT.