Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcsun!ukc!dcl-cs!gdt!gdr!exspes From: exspes@gdr.bath.ac.uk (P E Smee) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: TT versus Mac IIcx Message-ID: <1989Sep20.102326.24250@gdt.bath.ac.uk> Date: 20 Sep 89 10:23:26 GMT References: Reply-To: exspes@gdr.bath.ac.uk (P E Smee) Organization: University of Bristol c/o University of Bath Lines: 34 In article cmm1@CUNIXA.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Christopher M Mauritz) writes: >I don't understand what all the hoopla about the somewhat limited >capabilities of the TT is all about? Here in NYC, you can buy a brand >new Mac IIcx for $2999. The hoopla in Europe probably stems from the relative pricing policies of Atari and Apple. Atari seem to charge approximately the same price for things everywhere. That is, for example, something that costs 200 pounds in the UK will go for about $320 in the US (because the pound is worth about $1.60 US) and so on. Apple costs, on the other hand, seem to be based solely on a 'what's a nice sounding number' philosophy. Typically, an Apple machine in the UK costs more IN NUMBERS than an identical machine in the States. E.g. a $3000 Apple in the States might become something like a 4000 pound Apple in the UK -- or about twice as expensive when the exchange rates are factored in. (This is also why Apples haven't caught on in Europe as home machines to the same extent that they have in the States. Apple UK, at least, seem to say that that's fine by them, they'd really rather only support the 'serious business' market anyway.) Without going into debates about the 'fairness' (whatever that is) of 'what the market will bear' pricing, it's still clear at least that it will affect the relative perceived cost-effectiveness of the various machines. (There are rumours that Apple may be cutting its European prices, but it looks like they still aren't going to come down to parity.) -- Paul Smee | JANET: Smee@uk.ac.bristol Computer Centre | BITNET: Smee%uk.ac.bristol@ukacrl.bitnet University of Bristol | Internet: Smee%uk.ac.bristol@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk (Phone: +44 272 303132) | UUCP: ...!mcvax!ukc!gdr.bath.ac.uk!exspes