Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!ucla-cs!math.ucla.edu!pico!barry
From: barry@pico.math.ucla.edu (Barry Merriman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: The Price Wars Cometh?  (was: Re University price differences)
Message-ID: <428@kaos.MATH.UCLA.EDU>
Date: 28 Sep 90 20:29:53 GMT
References: <1990Sep25.052907.4351@Neon.Stanford.EDU> <39445@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>
Sender: news@MATH.UCLA.EDU
Distribution: na
Organization: UCLA Dept. of Math,
Lines: 50

In article <39445@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> lange@lanai.cs.ucla.edu (Trent Lange) writes:
>
>The price lists from the UCLA Bookstore finally came out today.
>The minimum model is $3449.
>

Yes, but, in a surprise move, they have just dropped the price
another $100 to $3349---before even selling any! (Yeah, bookstore!)
This is in line with other University prices. (Thanks, whoever is responsible.)

However, danger looms on the horizon. In another surprise move,
Apple has just dropped the bottom out of their Mac Plus prices.
The UCLA price was just today lowered to $499 (!) (from $699, which
was just a few months ago lowered from $899...)

Is this an attempt by apple to undercut NeXT sales by luring
folks into buying low end apple junk? As pointed out elsewhere,
it causes major problems to lower prices on the high end of a product
line, but much less to lower them on the low end. Apple seems to be taking 
this route.

Still, this could backfire on them, by saturating their market for
the forthcoming Mac SLC with these grossly outdated Mac Plus's---thus
tying them to support for an outdated line (or screwing their customers...)

The Price Wars Cometh? (no response from IBM yet, but thats not surprising.)

However, NeXT users _can_ benefit. The $499 Mac Plus is a reasonable price 
for a floppy drive, considering it comes with a control console, a
1MB RAM buffer, and a bonus Mac emulator board. :-)


>This brings up an interesting question.  Does NeXT, like Apple, limit
>each student to buying one machine at a given University?
>
>With these kinds of price differences between schools, it sounds like
>it might be a good idea for students at high priced schools to have
>friends at a low-priced schools buy their machines for them.
>
>Is it possible?  If so, does any school have a lower price than
>Stanford?

Record low is U of Arizona, at $2995, I hear. Hey--its not too far...:-)


--
Barry Merriman
UCLA Dept. of Math
UCLA Inst. for Fusion and Plasma Research
barry@math.ucla.edu (Internet)