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From: tdrinkar@cosmos.acs.calpoly.edu (Terrell Drinkard)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Corrections...
Message-ID: <1989Oct22.185701.11162@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU>
Date: 22 Oct 89 18:57:01 GMT
References: <1237@utkcs2.cs.utk.edu>
Sender: news@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (News Guru)
Reply-To: tdrinkar@cosmos.acs.calpoly.edu.UUCP (Terrell Drinkard)
Organization: Cal Poly State University -- San Luis Obispo
Lines: 44

In article <1237@utkcs2.cs.utk.edu> wozniak@utkux1.utk.edu (Bryon Lape) writes:
>
>	Would someone please let me while Intel is still making the
>8086 and the 80286?  There will always be DOS as long as these machines
>are still being made. I guess IBM has the same problem Apple has:  make
>the "new" technology so expensive, people will have to buy the old stuff
>under a new hood, ie- PS/2 20,30,50,50Z,60 and the new Apple IIe, IIc.
[stuff deleted]
As I understand it, haveing worked for a clone manufacturer, the
reason we continued to build the 8086 class machine was that the
market demanded it.  We sold something like 2000 XT machines a
month.  And the 286 machines were very hot sellers.  The company I
worked for is currently holding second place in Europe with a 286
machine.  The 386's were just more money than some people were
willing to pay.  And have more power than they really need.
 
My experiences as a consultant tend to bear this out.  One man that
I've done some work for has just upgraded from an XT to a 286
within the last two weeks.  And he wasn't sure he was ready to do
that.  Another bought the PS/2 with the idea that nothing could be
more 'compatible' than True Blue.  When he couldn't get a hard
drive to replace his 20Meg, he was rather depressed.  Another
bought a drill rig rather than upgrading his computer (AT&T PC6300)
because he could continue to get by on the XT platform.  Business
people have a different perspective on computers than programmers.
 
To summarize, I would say that the 8086 and the 80286 machines are
going to be around for quite a long time yet because of the
combination of price vs performance.  Might I point out that 5
years ago the XT was considered a major powerhouse by IBM users and
it 'only cost $3000'.  Now you can purchase one any day of the week
for $650.  If the 'new' technology is expensive, and I'll grudgingly
admit that you *may* have a point there, then it serves to drive
down the price of the 'older' (but still quite useful) technology
so that even more people can afford a computer.  A very good thing,
I think we will all agree.

Terry


Disclaimer et la Signaturo:
Hell no, I'm not responsible for what I say!  If everyone were
responsible for what they said, we'd have had a balanced budget in
1984.