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From: gaynor@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Jim Gaynor)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Low cost Mac's ?
Message-ID: <3960@nisca.ircc.ohio-state.edu>
Date: 20 Aug 90 23:00:16 GMT
References: <1990Aug17.163840.3414@portia.Stanford.EDU> <3874@nisca.ircc.ohio-state.edu> <1990Aug20.204840.10895@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
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In article <1990Aug20.204840.10895@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner) writes:
>In article <3874@nisca.ircc.ohio-state.edu> gaynor@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Me) writes:
>>	I think these reasons are sufficient to show why, when
>>comparing pricing between PCs and Macs, one must use IBM's own
>>machines for the fairest comparison.
>
>I dunno.  Would IBM have sold more or fewer machines if there was no
>clone market?  Lest you think that a ridiculous question:
>
>1. If there were NO clone market, some clone-buyers would buy IBM.
>2. If there were NO clone market, some clone-buyers would buy nothing,
>   [...thus undermining IBM retroactively...]
>
>Now, as there IS no Mac clone market (yet), it seems to me that you
>must compare Apple to IBM if you think clones have hurt IBM, but if
>you think clones have helped IBM, then you must compare Apple to the clones.
>
>Have I completely lost everybody yet?

	Perhaps yourself.  <grin>

	I can't see how you can make that claim.  While the cheap
clone market, by my estimation, actually boosted IBM by helping
popularize the MS-DOS "standard", I can't see how that boost makes the
clones the closest MS-DOS analogue to Apple.  The only way I could see
your logic would be if you considered the clone market as a whole the
main "carrier" of the MS-DOS market, and Apple the main "carrier"
(true) of the Mac market.

	The problem with -that- analogy is that the clone market is a
-huge- number of companies.  Zenith, Dell, Grid, Laser, HP, NEC, AST,
Zeos, PCMAX, Epson, and innumerable others.  The Mac market is -one-
company.  You can't compare that.  This -entire- argument was based on
choosing -one- PC manufacturer that most closely paralleled Apple.
The entire Clone market, I hate to say, isn't it.

	<grin>  I knew that Philosophy major would come in handy.

-=-
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