Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!snorkelwacker!usc!cs.utexas.edu!mailrus!iuvax!news!cse.nd.edu
From: flynn@cse.nd.edu (Patrick J. Flynn)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: NeXT Religion
Message-ID: <448@news.nd.edu>
Date: 25 Sep 90 13:27:59 GMT
References: <20467@orstcs.CS.ORST.EDU>
Sender: news@news.nd.edu
Organization: Computer Science & Engineering, Univ. of Notre Dame
Lines: 58

In article <20467@orstcs.CS.ORST.EDU> pvo@sapphire.OCE.ORST.EDU nostalgizes:
>Remember alt.next?
>Remember magnesium fire extinguishers?
>
>	"There is only one religious issue at NeXT -- no floppy disk."
>
>What happened?

Reality struck.

They don't seem willing to drop the OD concept entirely, but it's
clearly less important (now) than getting CHEAP machines OUT THERE.
Either OD prices haven't fallen to a level which makes them the medium
of choice for the low-end market, OR access times are still higher than
those attainable with hard disks, OR capacities haven't doubled like
everyone expected them to (how many of you heard the rumour that the
next NeXT would have a 512M optical with 16ms access time?).  Coupled
with the precipitous drop in the prices of hard disks, it looked like
the optical no longer had the `edge'.  Perhaps the notorious
optical-drive problems scared them a little.

Another buzzword I picked up in the prerelease presentations is
`interoperability.'  If they want to penetrate the business arena, NOT
ONLY do they need great software (will Improv do?), they have to
coexist with what's already out there: PCs and Macs. The floppy drive
gives the new slabs and cubes the capability to read PC and Mac
floppies.  Someone has already developed a PC emulator for the machine
(egad).  This is a somewhat more sophisticated approach to the business
market than the Businessland deal, in which no attempt was made to
interoperate.

I think it's also important to point out that the pricing structure for
the original cubes had a tendency to anger business customers, who
had to pay a premium for their machines by buying them through B-land.
Here's a box that your kid at Moo U can buy for $6500 through the
University.  If you wind up liking it enough to buy one for yourself,
too bad- you gotta go to Businessland and pay an extra $3500 (unless
you're going to buy several hundred boxes, in which case you can negotiate
directly with NeXT).

I was told that NeXT is taking the Apple route in future pricing:
 -Announced prices are retail.
 -Academic discounts are negotiated on a case-by-case basis
  with interested schools. The more the school *promises* to buy (for its
  use or for resale), the better the deal it can get.

That way, Joe Businessman isn't slapped in the face by the markup. It's
still there, of course ;-), but it's not as blatant.  Business is now a
legitimate market for NeXT rather than an afterthought.

Nope, I'm not NeXT-bashing.  I think they made some mistakes early on,
identified them, and are making a good effort at remedying them.

Disclaimer: my opinions.
--
Patrick J. Flynn, Computer Science & Engineering, University of Notre Dame 
flynn@cse.nd.edu  <--- best
flynn@cps.msu.edu <--- still works