I.B.M. Adds 10 Megabytes to New AT

Peripherals

By Peter H. Lewis
The New York Times

October 15, 1985

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES has rolled out a new model of its most powerful personal computer, the AT. The new version comes with a 30-megabyte hard disk, able to store 30 million characters of information, 10 million more than previous models. This means the new AT can store the equivalent of a few more James Michener novels than the 20-megabyte (20-MB) version. In addition, a second 30-MB hard disk can be installed in the new AT for users with truly Texas-sized storage needs.

The new AT, which will be arriving in I.B.M. product centers this month, also comes with 512 kilobytes of random access memory and a high-density (1.2-MB) floppy disk drive. It has a list price of $5,995, just $200 more than the older 20-MB model, which was bedeviled by cantankerous hard disks from the start.

A spokesman for I.B.M. said the company would continue to sell the 20-MB version of the AT. This suggests that I.B.M. will soon lower the price of the old model to establish a clear price difference.

Current AT owners who feel that their old 20-MB drives are now too puny will be able to replace them with a new 30-megabyte disk drive for $1,995.

Apple Package

Sales of computers at Christmas last year were much weaker than the industry had expected, and some models sold briskly only when prices were cut significantly. The lesson was not lost on Apple, which has already lowered list prices on some models as the holidays approach. The list price of the IIc with a monochrome monitor was cut recently by $300, to $995, and the cost of a Fat Mac - a Macintosh with 512K memory -will be lowered almost as much, to $2,499 from $2,795.

Javelin Is Hurled

Early reports on a new spreadsheet software package called Javelin indicate that the long dominance of Lotus's 1-2-3, for more than two years the premier multifunction program, may be stoutly challenged.

The challenger, developed by the Javelin Software Corporation of Cambridge, Mass., and scheduled to reach stores this month, has been getting enthusiastic reviews from some test users across the country who said it is easier to use and more flexible than 1-2-3, reducing the likelihood of errors by spreadsheet users. Lotus, on the other hand, has responded that its new version of 1-2-3 will also be significantly improved.

Javelin will not come cheap ($695) and it will make voracious demands on memory (512K minimum).

But for You, $9,995

When it comes to lotteries, everybody has a gimmick. This holds true for the software business, too.

A new program called Win (for Apple II, Atari, Commodore 64, I.B.M. PC and PCjr and Kaypro II, from f/22 Press, P.O. Box 141, Leonia, N.J. 07605) promises to generate ''winning'' lottery and Lotto numbers at the touch of a key, relieving the user of the dreadful responsibility of trying to decide which numbers to play day after day. According to its developers, Win shuns ''Mickey Mouse'' statistics and uses instead ''an exact analog of Lotto's mathematical system'' - whatever that means - to produce the ''winning'' digits.

The quotation marks around ''winning'' are provided by f/22 Press, suggesting that if the program for some inexplicable reason fails to hit the big jackpot, f/22 is not to be held accountable.

The clever gimmick is the pricing of Win: $99.95 outright, but reduced to $19.95 if the buyer promises to pay f/ 22 Press one percent of all winnings over $100,000. ''Some of you cynics probably think that we will never be able to collect,'' said Robert Martin of f/22. ''However, unlike many in the software industry, we trust people to do the right thing.''

Some cynics might also think that if the program was all that hot, the developers would have retired to Tahiti by now. And other cynics might suggest that even $19.95 could be excessive for a program that is basically a simple random number generator.

Self-Made Computers

Research engineers at the University of Florida are teaching robots the skills needed to replace humans on computer assembly lines. In doing so, however, they may have made the robots overqualified for their new jobs, leaving them nothing to do but march, roll or clank directly from the assembly line to the unemployment line.

The use of computers to design computers is nothing new, nor is the use of robots to make delicate electronic parts used in computers. Until recently, though, putting the pieces together has required a delicate human touch.

Not any more. By wedding a $50,000 artificial vision system developed by General Electric to a $150,000 robot developed by the International Business Machines Corporation, the Florida team has created a machine that can be taught to assemble an I.B.M. personal computer.

Dr. Eginhard Muth, an industrial engineer at the university, said a key step was making several simple design changes in the computer itself, making it much easier for the robot to assemble. However, he said, ''People have found that once they design the product for robot assembly, it's easier for people to assemble too, and sometimes you don't even need a robot.''

Back to the drawing board.

GRAPHIC: drawing