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

[Sheldon T. Hall]

Mike Meredith said ...
> On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 11:49:17 -0700, Sheldon T. Hall wrote:
> > Yeah.  Lilith.
> >
> > Interesting machine, but, as the record executive is reputed to have
> > told FZ, "No commercial potential."  Or, maybe, "timing is
> > everything."
>
> 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 given up the
cassette port.  No PC-AT yet, either.  Not even any rumors of a Macintosh.

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.

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.

> > They must have sold a few, somewhere, to somebody outside ETH ... I
> > wonder where they are.
>
> Yes. Jerry Pournelle managed to get his sticky hands on one.

Yeah, I think I remember that, too.  I used to read Byte cover-to-cover
every month....

-Shel