The fact that the RT Personal Computer has been a modest commercial success for IBM in Europe – albeit in large part running business rather then the technical applications for which it was intended – completely escapes most US industry observers, who see only the dismal failure of the machine in the US, where most of the installed base is thought to be within IBM itself. Nevertheless, making it clear that IBM has by no means lost faith in its Unix workstation, Advanced Engineering Systems director Arthur Goldberg lifted the veil a little further on IBM’s future plans for the line earlier this month. Speaking and a conference in Boston, Goldberg revealed that IBM is working on a RISC-based engineering workstation that will have the power of the 3081, yet cost under $100,000, and that it will be followed by one with the power of a 3090/200 with Vector Facilities fitted, also to go for under $100,000. Future models of the RT are expected to standardise on the Micro Channel Architecture bus of the PS/2 line.
