Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!yale!cmcl2!panix!alexis
From: alexis@panix.UUCP (Alexis Rosen)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.aux
Subject: Re: FLAME Concerning Apple's pricing of A/UX 2.0.
Message-ID: <748@panix.UUCP>
Date: 15 Jun 90 02:00:01 GMT
References: <1990Jun1.185845.24189@ox.com> <2669D0E0.340B@intercon.com> <3089@ursa-major.SPDCC.COM> <6614@umd5.umd.edu> <364@three.MV.COM> <2352@sequent.cs.qmw.ac.uk> <GDA.90Jun10160552@creare.creare.UUCP>
Reply-To: alexis@panix.UUCP (Alexis Rosen)
Organization: PANIX - Public Access Computer Systems of NY
Lines: 33


I would like to ramble (and rant and rave) at great length on this subject
but I will confine myself to three observations:

1) I honestly and seriously suggest that Apple owes all of its A/UX 1.x users
   a free upgrade. I would suggest that they should pay us for our trouble,
   but I said I was going to be serious. Isn't there some saying about "never
   have so few owed so much to so many?" :-)

2) All other things being equal, I'd be glad to pay double the price of A/UX
   2.0.  It's spectacular in lots of major ways. Of course, in the version I'm
   familiar with, they still haven't gotten basic things like UUCP right, but
   I'm assuming they will make the effort this time.

   The problem is that all other things are NOT equal. In terms of power, the
   Mac IIfx (much more so any of the other Macs) is a turd compared to any of
   the RISC boxes out there, some of which are selling for a good deal less.
   The reason Apple has been able to sell such slothly hardware is that their
   software makes up for it (so the argument goes, and I'm somewhat of a
   believer). By providing outstanding software at no cost (the system and the
   finder) they increase the value of the Mac to the point where it is no
   longer a price-performance loser. But if Apple starts charging a premium
   for the software too, there is no payback.

3) It's the whole market share vs. margins issue all over again. I can't
   believe that Sculley and his cohorts are so abysmally stupid that they
   still can't see this.


Alexis Rosen
A/UX victim
alexis@panix.uucp
apple!panix!alexis