Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ginosko!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!UCONNVM.BITNET!SEWALL From: SEWALL@UCONNVM.BITNET (Murph Sewall) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: Re: AppleWorks SELLS! Message-ID: <8907151338.aa15795@SMOKE.BRL.MIL> Date: 15 Jul 89 18:19:45 GMT References: Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 53 >most of the salesmen know very little about computers, since the majority >aren't Users... And it is a very complicated industry. Quite a few customers DO know a lot more about what they're buying than the salesperson does, but MOST do not (otherwise MANY of those copies of AppleWorks wouldn't have been sold at the same time as the computer). Most of the Apple sales people I've met DO use the computers, for correspondence, customer record keeping, and the like. They seem to be pretty typical of many household users, *but* they are not very sophisticated users (they usually haven't given any thought to producing a manuscript with footnotes, for instance). In my experience few computer store sales personnel have ever used a modem (they barely have an idea what a modem is for). When I firt bought a //c it took me nearly a month to get a cable to connect the //c to a Hayes Smartmodem. Even though the dealership had a Robotics in inventory, they didn't seem to understand that the cable for an Apple Personal modem wasn't universally applicable (I finally got the cable from a retailer specializing in printers). >When I bought my Apple II GS, the salesman tried to convince me that I should >buy Appleworks, since it was the program that everyone used. I couldn't quite Circular logic :-) Everyone used it because it was the only program most salesmen knew how to sell! While there may be some value to the idea that so many people wouldn't use it if it didn't have some value, it's outright lazy of salespeople to assume that everyone's needs are so similar that they can be satisfied with the same software. >figure out why I needed to use spreadsheets and data bases at home... so I Some pretty reasonable uses for both occur at income tax time :-). I use a simple flat filer to keep track of a number of tax deductible items during the year, so when I start doing my taxes I'm not confronted with a mound of odd sizes of scraps of paper and reciepts to try and categorize and summarize. I've been keeping my auto maintenance records with a flat filer for some years. It's very helpful being able to quickly tell how long it's been since I had the oil changed or how many miles I (really) got on the last set of tires (do I want to buy the same brand again? My conclusion, by the way, is that Michelins *really* are worth the premium price and all the rest are 'hokem'). Murph Sewall Vaporware? ---> [Gary Larson returns 1/1/90] Prof. of Marketing Sewall@UConnVM.BITNET Business School sewall%uconnvm.bitnet@mitvma.mit.edu [INTERNET] U of Connecticut {psuvax1 or mcvax }!UCONNVM.BITNET!SEWALL [UUCP] (203) 486-5246 [FAX] (203) 486-2489 [PHONE] 41 49N 72 15W [ICBM] -+- I don't speak for my employer, though I frequently wish that I could (subject to change without notice; void where prohibited)