Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!shadooby!samsung!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!microsoft!brianw
From: brianw@microsoft.UUCP (Brian Willoughby)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: MacUser Rumor
Message-ID: <9017@microsoft.UUCP>
Date: 14 Nov 89 06:05:31 GMT
References: <7078.infoapple.net@pro-generic>
Reply-To: brianw@microsoft.UUCP (Brian Willoughby)
Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA
Lines: 37

In article <7078.infoapple.net@pro-generic> ericmcg@pro-generic.cts.com (Eric Mcgillicuddy) writes:
>Question: what company has the expertise, capital and vision to push the //
>into the 90's?

My first response was "Only Apple", i.e. the current Apple II employees
plus additional employees to round out a divided company (hey, I'd
volunteer).  Basically a Claris-style branch.  BTW, where did the bulk of
the Claris employees come from?  I'm assuming that they came from Apple
positions in software development.  How long has it been since Claris was
born, anyway?  Do you think that it is too soon for Apple to be
considering another major split?  Obviously, since I don't have a GS - or
a big checkbook, I haven't kept up with Claris' evolution.

Actually, Applied Engineering *might* have the capitol - they certainly
have the expertise and almost enough vision (they could still improve on
many of their products).  But a few calls to thier engineering dept. have
revealed that AE is a very small company.  There was only one engineer
available who worked on the TransWarp (not the GS version), and while he
was away for two months, nobody at AE had a clue about technical details
on that product.  There are some advantages to Apple's size.

Finally, no matter what you say, Laser doesn't have what it takes to
replace Apple Co. in the Apple II realm.  Every circuit they *copy* from
Apple doesn't retain the quality when Laser manufactures it, and every
circuit they actually *design* themselves is total garbage.  That's the
opinion of one EE after experience with the Laser drives and the UDC.

Sure, Apple is a clumsy giant, but I wouldn't want Laser's goods to be
the only Apple II systems available.  I feel that Apple's products are
(almost) worth the price, but there are definately tradeoffs involved in
saving money with a Laser product.

Brian Willoughby
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