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From: barry@pico.math.ucla.edu (Barry Merriman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: Laptop NeXT (dream) (+ What NeXT Should Do)
Keywords: laptop
Message-ID: <27@kaos.MATH.UCLA.EDU>
Date: 14 Jun 90 01:35:24 GMT
References: <5847@helios.TAMU.EDU>
Sender: news@MATH.UCLA.EDU
Organization: UCLA Department of Math
Lines: 35

In article <5847@helios.TAMU.EDU> daugher@cs.tamu.edu (Dr. Walter C. Daugherity) writes:
>Here is my dream for a laptop NeXT I could take anywhere 

I suppose they could put it in a flat box and call it ``The Square'':-)

My dream is for a ``Micro Cube''---something that would compete
with the MacIntosh SE/Plus line, priced in the $2,000---$3,000 dollar
range. Essentially, they would keep the Cube as is, and cut costs
by making a smaller (say 13'') monitor and not including the 
accelerater 40MB hard drive.

The reason this would be attractive is that it really would
be appropriate for students and first time users. They could 
afford the price, and it beats the alternative---a Mac SE
or IBM clone---hands
down. The resulting large user base would encourage
more software development, and  NeXT could recover their costs
(they would barely break even on the Micro Cube) by moving more
of their real Cubes, and charging Hefty amounts for people
to upgrade their Micro Cubes to Full Cube Status (better display,
better drives, personal printer).

This also wouldn't undermine NeXT's original goal of
raising the lowest common denominator---the only reduced
functionality of the Micro Cube is the size of the display.
Developers could still assume all the other whistles and bells
(DSP, 8MB Ram, OD, NeXTStep, PostScript, Bundled Apps) were in place.

If NeXT would do this---and it would be easy, since they only
need to procure a smaller display and bite the bullet on
(at least educational) prices---I think it would really take off,
and get them out of the slump they're in. And we'd all be better off.

(And I would be able to buy my 13 year old sister a NeXT for her first
computer, rather than a Macintosh!!!)