Re: OS questions draft, III

["Pete St. Onge" <pete_st_onge@iname.com>]

> Good. Controlling audio/video equipment is the big usage idea behind
> P1394. Even radio, AM and FM, are going to be broadcast digitally in
> addition to the analog signal. Once its digital, zeros and ones, the
> computer can do most anything with it. Next 'use'. I mentioned in an
> earlier post that I had seen an article on Video Presentations in the
> recent SCO World. Since, at the time, I hadn't read it, I didn't
> realize that the article wasn't talking about UNIX but about Windows
> 95. Anyway one can now set up their own video editing studio by
> purchasing a kit from Matrox Graphics Inc. which includes both the
> hardware and software for $360. Inputs can come from DVD, VCR, video
> camera and AVI or MPEG files.

>                            Once the video data is on the computer,
> one can edit it to create their own video presentation. Of course one
> can then e-mail it and the recipient can use their computer with a
> video capture card to view it on their monitor.
     I can see it and it scares me. I'm not sure that this would go too
far before email gateways start putting a very strong limit on email
transmission sizes, given the resources large file distribution would
take. There are efforts in the community to revamp the internet to deal
with the bandwidth issue (primarily focusing on SPAM) and from what I
understand it would be a mixed sender pay/reader pay model; wish I could
tell you more of the specifics, but I don't have them.

> I guess I keep harping on these things because in my opinion current
> Window users are not likely to switch to Linux. For the most part
> they're getting along. The switch is most likely when they go to new
> technology.
> If these emerging technologies only exist under Windows, they have no
> choice but to go with Windows. That is why I believe it is crucial to
> understand what is important to users in this area.
     Agreed. In order to crack the market, if you will, linux will have
to emulate as well as innovate.

> I think I started this one. My first thought was about what is known
> as multiheaded, that is, support for multiple monitors. I just read
> it this past week. I believe X-Windows will support up to 8 monitors
> and MS Windows up to 9 monitors.
     Used to use a two-screen DOS box for GIS work years ago. I hear a
lot of people put down the idea of more than one monitor, but I would
say that I'm a convert.
     I know NT4 is multiheaded out of the box (with certain caveats - 
if Matrox cards are used, multiheaded can only be exploited if the cards
are identical.). Apparently 'Doze 98 is multiheaded.

> Berlin will also be multiheaded.
     = NT5?

> Then I thought, well, USB will support multiple keyboards and mice,
> so why not put this all together and create a multiterminal computer.
> Real advantage for Linux since multiple users could easily be running
> different programs. Cost savings for schools since up to eight
> students could use the same computer. I also thought about our home
> business and how nice this would be to run two terminals off the same
> computer. When we get the third computer, which should be anytime
> now, I am going to try this. Anyway, perhaps, for now it would be
> better to break the question into two as  follows:
     I've seen a solution which uses a large tower containing several
dual-processor boards networked to a series of low power 386's running
an emulator program. Basically the big programs run on the NT boards in
the big box and the 386 is strictly the dumb terminal window (albeit a
graphical one). TCO came down to about $300 per terminal, assuming you
already had the 386 boxes lying around. Many schools do.

> *Is it important for you to be able to use multiple monitors with
>  your computer.
     I'll never play A10 Cuba! the same way again! :-) Seriously, I saw
a Sun Onyx demo about a year ago, and they were using a jet simm to get
people into it (too bad they used a real hokey Tandy TRS-80 type
joystick for it... :-).  Pretty impressive, though.

> *Is it important for you to be able to use multiple keyboards and
>  mice with your computer.
     This question raises the possibility of using several different
types of input devices with the box. I could see certain programs using
the keyboard for some things, a specialized controller for the mouse,
etc...

     Cheers,

     Pete

-- 
Pete St. Onge - McGill U.  Limnology - Fun with Ropes & Buckets
pete_st_onge@iname.com         http://wwp.mirabilis.com/4322052
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