Path: utzoo!censor!geac!jtsv16!uunet!fernwood!apple!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!SUN-BEAR.LCS.MIT.EDU!dcw
From: dcw@SUN-BEAR.LCS.MIT.EDU (Dave Whitney)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: the whole apple II line.
Message-ID: <8909191758.AA25227@sun-bear.LCS.MIT.EDU>
Date: 19 Sep 89 17:58:14 GMT
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 33


>     I think that apple should kill the whole apple II line.  Instead they
>should implement II in a mac or some such standard on every machine.  That way
>they could still support the environment without wasting alot of development.
>Some say they still have a place in the high school - but the truth is they
>are loosing popularity.  The way to continue them is to slowly integrate the
>macs into the schools as apple II clones and a whole lot more.  Just a thought
>from the bored...

I disagree. For starters, putting the // in the mac would require some
pretty fancy acrobatics as the // has all sorts of quirks that the
original design had. For example, there is a text-only display (no
graphics). The screen is *not* linearly addressed. Trying to get the
mac to do *everything* that a // can do may be more costly than you
think

Secondly, the // is not losing popularity. The //GS just underwent a
motherboard revision, and the OS has been upgraded to version 3.0.
These two items are making the //GS more useful than was originally
thought. When first delivered, the OS was too sluggish. A friend of
mine said, "oh, it's just like a Mac, only slower."

What we have now is a computer that can do what most schools need for
a very affordable price. If Apple is going to kill the // (and perhaps
let it survive inside a Mac), it's going to need to drop the price of
the Mac something fierce, lest they wish to lose a giant portion of
their market. Murphy Sewall, wish to eloborate (I have know working
knowledge of economics).

Dave Whitney
dcw@sun-bear.lcs.mit.edu  ...!mit-eddie!sun-bear!dcw  dcw@athena.mit.edu
My employer pays me well. This, however, does not mean he agrees with me.
I wrote Z-Link & BinSCII. Send me bug reports. I use a //GS. Send me Tech Info.