Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!van-bc!mdavcr!ewm
From: ewm@mdavcr.UUCP (Eric W. Mitchell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Next intro: any effect on Mac _high-end_ prices?
Message-ID: <1030@mdavcr.UUCP>
Date: 28 Sep 90 20:48:08 GMT
References: <1990Sep28.050506.19522@midway.uchicago.edu>
Organization: MacDonald Dettwiler, 13800 Commerce Parkway, Richmond, BC, Canada  V6V 2J3
Lines: 69

In article <1990Sep28.050506.19522@midway.uchicago.edu> gft_robert@gsbacd.uchicago.edu writes:
>Sure, the Next has lots of negatives, and I'm always glad to point them out. 
>Some of them in this low price model are: grayscale, and never more than 4096
>colors even if you upgrade to color -- that is you can kiss 24-bit goodbye; not
>much room on the included HD for all the software you have license to, and
>about $1600 upgrade to the next larger HD size; etc.

I think you are wrong here.  You can buy a NeXT slab with 16 bit colour
on the board ($7995), or you can buy a 32 bit "NeXT Dimension" colour board
(with a 33MHz i860 chip, 30,000 shaded polygons/second, 12MB (?) RAM) for 
about $3995 (retail).  This is expensive for a colour board, but not bad
when you consider the performance.

As for the HD, go buy a external SCSI 300+MB HD from a third party for
between $1000 and $2000.  Not a bad cost, really.  Cost out what a
similiar mac would set you back.

>But still....it's a pretty nice deal.

I agree.


>So, my question is: does anyone have any speculation on how Apple will respond?
>Surely the high-end Macs, in particular the IIfx, have become less competitive. 
>I don't expect the Mac to come down to Next's prices; not unless Next starts
>selling mega amounts.  But some more competitiveness would be nice.
>
>Any thoughts?  (And please, no "Next will win!" opinions; I'm so sick of
>hearing Next agitprop I could puke!).


I have owned Macs for years, but I have recently been getting more and
more frustrated with Apple.  I am sick of hearing the "R&D" argument for
their high prices.  Maybe they should lose their "Not Invented Here"
phobia and stop trying to do everything themselves.  This splits their
R&D dollar far too thinly.  Thus, instead of producing really up to date
products, they are constantly playing catch up with the rest of the
industry.

Let's face it.  The only thing Macs have going for them is their user
interface.  They are not particularly technically innovative.  I applaud
Apple for their sense of vision, but I think they need glasses.

As for what I think Apple will do - I have resigned myself to seeing
little or no change in their corporate direction/culture.  Their
"low-cost" Macs sound under powered and over priced to me.  Instead of
producing a really competitive system, their rationalle seems to be to
cripple one of their higher-end systems (or marginally improve a low-end
system) and cut the price a bit.

The only way Apple is going to be competitive is to either slash the
price of it's entire line in half and bring out a new high powered (040)
system at the price of a IIcx.  Sounds like fantasy land to me.  I have
been waiting for Apple to wise up for too long.

I'm not sure that "NeXT will win", but, quite honestly, I am almost
prepared to put my support behind them (with $$$ - buy a machine)
because I believe they are going where Apple would be right now, if they
weren't running the company like IBM.

I really hope NeXT is successful.  I also hope Apple is successful.  It
may be that success for NeXT will put pressure on Apple and make them a
little more hungry/competitive.

Eric

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