Re: First WinModem for Linux
Fred Reimer (fwr@ga.prestige.net)
Tue, 3 Aug 1999 12:42:51 -0400
On Tue, 03 Aug 1999, Steve Underwood wrote:
> "Mike A. Harris" wrote:
>
> > On Mon, 2 Aug 1999, Jeff Garzik wrote:
> >
> > >>From LinuxToday:
> > >
> > >"PC-TEL announces new LinModem"
> > >http://www.linuxworld.com/linuxworld/lw-1999-08/lw-08-linmodem.html
> > >
> > >Does anybody have links to code or the original announcement? The
> > >article here says only that the drivers went to OEMs today. No useful
> > >links, code, or discussion of software license could be found in a quick
> > >scan.
> >
> > Woohoo! It is about time! I'm going to get rid of this damned
> > real modem that I have now, and walk^H^H^H^H_RUN_ to the nearest
> > store that sells PC-TEL Linmodems, and buy one immediately.
> >
> > They've done a great thing for the Linux community now, and
> > deserve to be supported. Now if we could just convince 3Dfx to
> > create LinVoodoo III cards, we'd really be rocking. Just
> > imagine, your CPU acting as the main chip on the Voodoo III card!
> > I'll bet you could burn two CD's at once on a single IDE channel
> > while having a game of Quake II on a 200Mhz system (online of
> > course with your Linmodem).
> >
> > Lets all try and get as many companies as possible to create
> > peripherals that contain not even one atom of silicon - just
> > wires. Hey - 1Ghz CPU's are just around the corner right? Gotta
> > have something for them to do...
>
> Not a very smart response. A dumb modem may not be what you are I want, but
> its certainly what people making <$200 Internet access boxes want. A $50
> modem in a $200 computer makes about as much sense as a $50 Winblows licence.
I understand the problem, but I think the solution is all backwards.
The problem being that (DSP) chip vendors charge too much for their
product. So, if you want a "real" modem you are going to have to pay
(you say) $50 to include it in a computer. The issue though is that
you can apparently include a CPU that is sufficiently powerful enough
to do HSP and not have to pay for the DSP on the modem. How can this
be? How can Intel, AMD, whoever produce a CPU that is so powerful yet
so cheap that it makes more sense, economically, to move the 'SP
functions from a dedicated DSP chip inside the host CPU? The answer is
simple, the DSP chip vendors are charging way too much for their
products. When one technology (generic function CPU) can perform the
work of another (special function DSP's) at a lower cost overhead it is
obvious, from a capitalist supply and demand viewpoint, that the DSP
vendors are overcharging.
fwr
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