Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!unmvax!aplcen!ginosko!uunet!ncrlnk!ncrcce!pasek
From: pasek@ncrcce.StPaul.NCR.COM (Michael A. Pasek)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Is Apple Dumping Mac IIs?
Summary: Less Expensive "upgrades"
Keywords: Mac II, hardware, upgrade, NuBus
Message-ID: <1631@ncrcce.StPaul.NCR.COM>
Date: 16 Oct 89 17:20:41 GMT
Expires: 23 Oct 89 04:00:00 GMT
References: <1989Oct12.163734.26748@agate.berkeley.edu> <963@bridge2.ESD.3Com.COM> <1989Oct13.165741.28675@agate.berkeley.edu> <1989Oct13.223420.17194@agate.berkeley.edu>
Reply-To: pasek@c10sd3.StPaul.NCR.COM (M. A. Pasek)
Followup-To: comp.sys.mac
Distribution: na
Organization: NCR Comten, Inc.
Lines: 49

In article <1989Oct13.223420.17194@agate.berkeley.edu> bmug@garnet.berkeley.edu (BMUG) writes:
>In article <1989Oct13.165741.28675@agate.berkeley.edu> steve@violet.berkeley.edu (Steve Goldfield) writes:
>>Apple apparently is choosing (somebody correct me if there are
>>more reasonable justifications for what they are doing) to
>>upgrade its technology in ways which force consumers to buy
>>entirely new machines to get the latest technology, rather than
>>to upgrade through plug-in boards in the slots that Apple sold
>>them.
>I can understand why you'd like to simply slip a card into a slot
>and have a newer, faster machine.  However, there is one big problem
>with doing this on a Mac II: the Nubus is rated at 10mh.  The Nubus
>spec (which Apple has only partial say about) is for 10mh.  It is
>[some stuff deleted]
>If you want a faster machine, one way to do it is to get something like
>a DayStar board, which these days will give you over 33mh.  It is also
>entirely possible that a logic board switch will be available in the
>future to bump the old venerable II to beyond x stage.

What I would hope to see (and am surprised that it did not appear with
the "x" series), is to have the NuBus "separate" from the processor,
and even to have processor functional blocks "separate".  By "separate",
I mean "able to be replaced/upgraded without scrapping the whole thing
and starting over".  For example, if the "slots" part of a MacII were
on a separate board, with some sort of connector between the two, Steve
could upgrade his II to a IIx without having to pay for the NuBus
connectors and glue logic that he's already got.  Even things like
new ROMs should be able to be installed without having to discard a
whole logic board.  

Now, I'm sure Apple will argue (and I cannot dispute the fact) that it
is cheaper for THEM to replace the whole board....the dealers don't have
to know diddly, and the failed/upgraded/replaced components can be
worked on by the "experts" at the manufacturer.  Less spare parts to
stock, etc., etc., etc.  Of course, what they (and many others) often
forget is that WE end up paying for the money they save....sigh....

In closing, I certainly thought like Steve did....when the MacII came
out I figured "great...a machine that will never ( :-) ) be obsolete 
because you can always pop the latest & greatest in...."  Oh, well.

M. A. Pasek          Switching Software Development         NCR Comten, Inc.
(612) 638-7668              CNG Development               2700 N. Snelling Ave.
pasek@c10sd3.StPaul.NCR.COM                               Roseville, MN  55113
>
>John Heckendorn
>                                                             /\
>BMUG                      ARPA: bmug@garnet.berkeley.EDU    A__A
>1442A Walnut St., #62     BITNET: bmug@ucbgarne             |()|
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