[rescue] Modula-2/Lilith (was: Rescue of a life-time.. orthe year at the very least.)

[Mike Meredith]

On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 14:24:55 -0700, Sheldon T. Hall wrote:
> > In other words, "if it isn't PC-compatible nobody's buying"
> > even though it was in many ways considerably better.
> 
> Well, this was 1982, remember, so the PC was still pretty new.  I
> think CGA graphics was still the best you could get, and they had just

There may have been PGA, although I've no real idea when that was
introduced. I wasn't intending to be fair :)

> I remember the Lilith as _big_, too.  IIRC, the CPU/RAM/disk unit sat
> on the floor, and was about 18" x 18" x 24".  And it cost about three
> (maybe six) times what a full-spec PC-XT cost.

There's a pic at :-

http://www.smaky.ch/en/bcm/part1.php

> If the PC had anything going for it in that match-up, it was the IBM
> label. Spending $10-20,000 (I can't remember) on something from an
> unknown company in Switzerland, versus $3,500 on something from IBM,
> is a PHB's dream decision.

Or nearer $7500 if you were buying in the UK ... it originally cost
UKP3,500ish over here. More than a few companies got started by
importing "grey" IBM's and selling them at slightly less over the top
rates. It wasn't just IBM that ignored the true exchange rate and tried
to sell computers at ridiculous prices ... AppleII's used to sell for
over UKP1,000 when you could buy a better equivalent for UKP400 (the BBC
B).