Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!dptg!mtune!rkh
From: rkh@mtune.ATT.COM (Robert Halloran)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: Sculley letter (was: Low Blow from Apple)
Message-ID: <799@mtune.ATT.COM>
Date: 24 Sep 90 13:57:33 GMT
References: <794@mtune.ATT.COM> <13924@smoke.BRL.MIL>
Organization: AT&T BL Middletown/Lincroft NJ USA
Lines: 51

In article <13924@smoke.BRL.MIL> gwyn@smoke.BRL.MIL (Doug Gwyn) writes:
>In article <794@mtune.ATT.COM> rkh@mtune.att.com (Robert Halloran) writes:
>>If Apple were to announce a RISC box in October, then say that existing
>>Mac owners could get a board for it to run Mac Plus programs (NO color,
>>etc), how would the Mac community feel?
>
>Note that this is in fact a plausible scenario, although not in the
>October 1990 time frame.  The 68xxx architecture is nearly maxed out
>at this stage.  Note that Sun Microsystems Inc. shifted their future
>from 68xxx to SPARC (a RISC architecture) some time ago, similarly
>for Silicon Graphics Inc. (68xxx -> MIPS), and even Digital
>Equipment Corp. is moving in the RISC direction for workstations.
>I detect a trend here..

Doug,

	My gibe wasn't at the possibility of a RISC Mac, but at the
idea of Apple announcing such a box, offering the existing Mac users
an emulation of only the minimum 68K-based model and cutting them off
from making use of any of the applications targeted for the Mac II line,
and then disowning ALL the existing 68K-based models.  

	This is the current perception of the A2 community with regard 
to the GS; to read the letter from InCider, Sculley's idea of supporting us 
seems to be to have us all buy Macs and then ante up further for an emulator 
of the (now) low-end model (low-end since the IIc+ runs faster).  The market
that Apple has recently targeted with the ][, K-12 schools, are NOT likely 
to buy into this; they're doing well to cough up for ][c's.  With my wife
a teacher, I have been given some idea of their outlook on the matter. 
Something like the Duet, which would let them run Mac software ON THEIR
EXISTING ]['S, would sell a d*mn sight better since the perception would
be that they wouldn't have to throw out their existing hardware, no matter
that the end cost may be the same.

	I agree that the rumors lean towards a 'RISC Mac' sometime soon.
I expect, though, that when that time comes, the Mac community will not
be cut off from their high-end 68K applications.  We in the A2 community,
especially those of us that have supported the GS, appear to be getting 
kissed off.

	I would *LOVE* to be proven wrong next month, but I'm not holding
my breath....

						Bob Halloran
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