Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!know!sdd.hp.com!ucsd!ucbvax!MTHVAX.CS.MIAMI.EDU!bsherman From: bsherman@MTHVAX.CS.MIAMI.EDU (Bob Sherman) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2 Subject: A Letter From JJJ Message-ID: <9010150603.AA04956@mthvax.cs.miami.edu> Date: 15 Oct 90 06:03:12 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Reply-To: bsherman@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (Bob Sherman) Organization: The Internet Lines: 117 From bsherman Sun Oct 14 18:59:19 1990 From: Bob Sherman Subject: A Letter From JJJ Return-Receipt-To: bsherman@mthvax.cs.miami.edu Reply-To: bsherman@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (Bob Sherman) This message was sent to me via e-mail by Jay Wilbur, Editor in Chief at Softdisk Publishing Company, publishers of Softdisk and Softdisk GS magazines. Since he does not have net access at present, he asked that I post it on comp.sys.apple2 for him. Bob Sherman ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jay [76646,2631] Subj: go for it Let'er rip Bob! :) ------------------ After a few phone calls to various RELIABLE sources I've come up with some BAD news for the Apple II world. Of course these are all rumors. I HOPE! -=- Towards the end of the summer Ralph Russo's group at Apple Inc. was reorganized to promote synergy between the II and the Mac. Most everything they said at KC fest will not come true. I do believe Jane and Ralph believed what they said when they spoke to us. I do believe they had our best interests in mind and wanted to provide us, their customers, with what we wanted. Unfortunately there are those with higher positions at Apple Inc. who feel the need to dictate to the consuming public what it wants. They must know what's best for me, right? Here's my information on what the Apple II marketing group was told when the reorg took place. No Apple II ads No New CPU's Work to create synergy between the II and the Mac To paraphrase one respectable source; The Apple II marketing group at Apple Inc. is now in the business of turning Apple II users into Mac uses. -=Ready for more good news?=- -Apple Inc. pulled its reserved ad space from InCider. It should be noted that this happened without Jane's knowledge. -There is no mention of the II in the Apple's 1990 Holiday Promotion Resellers Reference Guide. Rebates and ad copy on tons'o'Mac stuff, but no mention of the II. -Apple will do direct mailing to 800,000 new and potential customers in Nov. to promote the new Macs and the holiday promotions. NO MENTION OF THE II! -Several companies have software to be announced with the new Macs that will allow them (and the rest of the Mac line I imagine) to read, convert and write to ProDOS disks directly. In other words, new Mac spreadsheet XYZ will be able read AppleWorks SS files, convert it for its use, and write an AW SS back to a ProDOS disk without the need for Apple File Exchange. -AppleFest/West will be more of a regional show. This explains why they only expect 3,000 - 5,000 people to attend. Those numbers are right off the official press release. Will Apple Inc. take that show on the road? Who knows. -=- I tried to call Jane Lee to talk to her about these items, but she never returned my call. -=- Those of you who know me, know I don't publicly pass rumors around. In fact this is the first time I've even posted anything like this on this BB. I would like to be proven wrong as soon as possible by someone at Apple. My income is a result of Apple II users buying my product. The prospect of Apple Inc. working to make my income dwindle by not selling new Apple II users is not an easy one to live with. Yes I know Apple Inc. is working to provide hardware additions and better system level software for existing users. I salute those involved. My question is: What would be wrong with providing a better CPU and actually making a minuscule attempt to sell it? What ever happened to the computer for the rest of us? ----------------------------------------------------------- This was written on my own free time and reflect my personal feelings. So....the opinions expressed in this post do not reflect those of my employer or my fellow employees, but I bet they do! --new message-- Last night my roommate gave me a message that John Santoro from Apple, Inc. returned my call (only 3 days late, which isn't bad for Apple Inc.). It was after normal working hours so I missed the call. I tried to call him from the house, but I was too late. I plan on calling him or Jane on Monday so I can get some of the items I posted earlier straight from Apple Inc. I'll post what happened soon after I get off the phone. -- bsherman@mthvax.cs.miami.edu | bsherman@pro-exchange | MCI MAIL:BSHERMAN