But wait ... it can still be used. It can run (well, running may not be quite the word) Windows NT, it can run Digital UNIX, and it can run Linux. And they are still sold for prices that are, IMHO, too high for machines just around the corner from becoming obsolete. So there must still be people wanting to buy them.
Just for the hell of it, send me an e-mail iff {(you own an Alpha-powered Multia) .and. (use it for your everyday computing) .and. (are happy with it)}. I am not one of you for the lack of reason #2.
Still, the Multia has some virtues. An external SCSI port makes it easy to add harddisk space, cd-roms, a tape streames, even a cd-writer. The network port may be a tad slow, but it does work. The graphics may be in 256 colors only, but there is room for one short PCI card, and it might just be worth the hassle to put in another video card. The serial port will accommodate a modem, so Internet-connectivity is entirely possible.
Getting Alpha-specific software is another matter: Internet Explorer and Communicator are both available in Alpha-versions. It seems there is a Corel DRAW! v.8.0 native Alpha version, and there is a Wacom tablet driver. WinCDR from Goldenhawk is available for Alpha, as is Ghostscript.
For X86 applications, Digital has developed FX!32, an emulator/recompiler, so a large number of NT-Intel applications will work on the Multia. Naturally, emulation takes its toll in terms of speed, but with care, picking small applications and doing minimal installs, a workable system can be created.
And there you have it, a fairly old system proving quite useful to have around. It can write CDs leisurely, it can be used for the Encyclopedia Britannica and the phone book, it can handle your Internet traffic, and it can act as a Ghostscript print server. Nothing an old Pentium couldn't do, but I bet the Multia really is faster, especially doing the Ghostscript thing.
And it does look nice ... by itself.
Just for the record: would I buy another Alpha? I think not, because they are overpriced considering the effort involved in getting all the software parts, and I don't do 3D work. Would I like to own a 533 or 667 MHz Alphastation? Definitely. But curiosity has more than once eaten its way into my wallet, so I think I'll hold off. I'll just keep the Multia hooked up to the Sony GDM 1952, running the phonebook and the encyclopedia.