Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!snorkelwacker!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!osu-20.ircc.ohio-state.edu!zatezalo-s From: ZATEZALO-S@osu-20.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Shane Z) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2 Subject: More about Apple Inc. Message-ID: <12630076332007@osu-20.ircc.ohio-state.edu> Date: 15 Oct 90 22:01:25 GMT Sender: news@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu Organization: The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio Lines: 193 I saw this on a not-so-local bulletin board. Check it out. (Don't start on about apple-bashing either... I'm just posting it so you have the opportunity to read it) Skuttlebutt from Apple Inc. ___________________________________ Ralph Russo was given the assignment: "Evalutate the II family and come up with a PLAN for it's future!" Here's what he came up with (in an eggshell) "Intrduce the new Macs (Classic, LC etc) with the message... 'Here is Apple's low cost line (PERIOD, end of case)' Now let's wait till about March or so and see if the Apple II users and the School systems buy our brainwashing and switch to the new machines... " "IF they yell too loudly, we'll throw them a bone in the form of a card that will run IIe software (NOTICE I didn't say IIe and IIGS) and keep them happy (ha ha)". IF THAT don't keep them happy and quiet by July 1991, THEN and only then will we try to exhume the IIe market we've caused to disintegrate and we'll resume development on the II line." Talk about communistic priciples.... YOU WILL JUMP THRU OUR HOOP WHEN WE PUT IT UP FOR YOU TO JUMP THRU ! IF you are an Apple User, IF you are a teacher in a school system with Apple II computers, IF YOU CARE about having YOU and YOUR WALLET dictated to. . . . . . YELL LOUD and LONG that: 1) YOU aren't going to spend $$$ on ANY Apple product since their support and development is SO UNSTABLE. 2) Urge your school system to stick by their guns and NOT to SPEND Mega bucks updating their computer labs with YOUR hard earned tax dollars because Apple Inc. has a whim! 3) Make it CLEAR to Apple Inc. you've paid Top Dollar for thier II system when EVERY OTHER computer AND thier peripherals on the market have sold for MUCH less and YOU DO NOT intend to get STUCK doing it again on the MAC! 4) Make it CLEAR to Apple Inc. that a card to run IIe software DOESN"T fill the bill, when you've got a $2500 machine that become ANTIQUATED before it got STARTED! 5) Make it CLEAR to Apple Inc. that if forced YOU will buy another computer, BUT IT WILL NOT BE AN APPLE OF ANY KIND! Who to contact at Apple: Mr. Sculley - HE won't listen of course but. . . . Ralph Russo - the One responsible for this GREAT BALL of WISDOM ? ? ? ?? Micheal Spindler - The Apple II person responsible for COMPLETELY killing the II Family of computers in FRANCE and trying hard to repeat that ACT HERE! Bernie Gifford - The II Family advocate at Apple Inc. that still believes we need and deserve more than just MACS. Give him fuel to fight the fire with. Give him enough MAIL to dump on Sculley's desk that maybe we can BURY him. Take this bulletin and POST it ANYWHERE there are Apple users... IN your Schools, in user groups, on BBS systems and Online services... ANYPLACE it'll reach Apple users.... Let's let Apple Inc. know that we DO have minds of our own and WE Will control our purse strings whether THEY like it or NOT. Also found on another BBS.... I just happened to luck into this article in the Wednesday October 3, 1990, edition of the Wall Street Journal Page B1: Apple Peels Prices of Its New Models by G. Pascal Zachary Apple Computer Inc. launched a bold plan to win a bigger share of the personal computer business by offering unexpectedly low prices on new models, handing out fresh incentives to resellers and unleashing a $40 million global marketing campaign this fall. Apple's new offensive is tied to the Oct. 15 debut of three new Macintosh computers, which are aimed partly at shoring up the battered low end of Apple's product line. Declaring that the new machines will shatter the belief that Apple's products are 'too expensive,' John Sculley, the company's chief executive officer, said, 'This will be the most aggressive pricing Apple's ever had.' Mr. Sculley expects the machines -- which include a low-end, midrange, and high-end offering -- to quickly transform Apple's business. The company will roll out the products simultaneously in 121 countries. Mr. Sculley's bid to revive Apple comes not a moment too soon, and almost seems scripted by some of his harshest critics. Since last fall, many industry observers have urged Mr. Sculley to do something about the steady erosion of Apple's share of the total PC market, which fell below 10% this year. Their prescription: introduce at least one Macintosh model that sells well below $1,000. Analysts reacted warmly to the shift in Apple's strategy. 'It's a go-for-broke strategy at a time that demands it -- but there's just no way around it,' said Peter Rogers, an analyst at Robertson, Stephens & Co. 'Apple to date has had the best [PC] technology, but they have a minority of the market.' Now even that minority is at risk, however. In May, Microsoft Corp. released a new version of Windows, a basic program that matches some of the Macintosh's easy-to-use features but runs on less-expensive compatibles of International Business Machines Co.'s PCs. 'Apple now has a close competitor in Windows, 'Mr. Rogers said. 'They once had a lucrative niche market to themselves, but they don't anymore.' Wall Street investors showed some concern yesterday about the company's outlook. Apple's stock fell 87.5 cents yesterday to close at $29.625 in national over-the-counter trading. After going through a wrenching year of self-examination -- yesterday Mr. Sculley called it 'his hardest period at Apple ever' -- he now agrees wholeheartedly with his critics that vastly increasing the number of Macintosh customers is critical to Apple's survival. Macintosh Classic And he's betting that the company's new Macintosh Classic, an updated version of the original Macintosh, will drive the company's rejuvenation. The Classic is expected to sell for $700. The other key machines: the Macintosh LC, which at a street price of roughly $2,500 will sell for at least 50% less than Apple's current color models. Lower prices are expected to sharply reduce Apple's gross-profit margins, which are among the highest in the computer industry at 50% plus. Michael Spindler, Apple's chief operating officer, decline to forecast Apple's margins for its current fiscal year, which began Monday. But he said they will go 'much, much lower.' Cont'd next message . . . . . Mr. Sculley conceded there remains a gaping hole in Apple's product line and strategy -- a line of portable computers. The company introduced a 16-pound portable last year, which is selling poorly and has been ridiculed by analysts. 'There's nothing we're working on harder' than new portable and notebook computers, he said. Mr. Sculley declined to comment on reports that Apple is negotiating to contract with Sony Corp. to build one or more of its future portables, but he noted that Apple already is Sony's biggest customer and that 'you'll see us be more open to relationships and alliances that can help us achieve our strategies.' Apple's conversion to what Mr. Sculley called a 'market share' strategy occurred quickly, with major decisions coming only this spring. At the end of January, Mr. Sculley, a career marketeer with no engineering training, became Apple's chief technical officer, taking the company's research and development organization, with its more than $400 million annual budget, under his wing. The move was a gamble, if only because responsibility for any delays in the company's plans to deliver low-priced products would fall squarely on his shoulders. While Mr. Sculley concedes, 'I'm not masquerading as an engineer,' he clearly relishes his new role, noting that he isn't searching for a permanent technical chief and plans to keep the mantle himself for some time. And he appears to be getting results. Two months ago, for instance, the Macintosh LC, the centerpiece of the Oct. 15 introduction, looked to be unavailable for customers until next January. But Mr. Sculley said yesterday that the LC would ship immediately, along with the other two models -- and ahead of schedule. While Mr. Sculley has been absorbed with products, Mr. Spindler, a German native who cut his teeth running Apple's European business, has been revamping Apple's global marketing. Yesterday, he confirmed that the Cupertino, Calif., company is ceasing efforts to sell its products directly to nearly 60 large corporate accounts, opening up an estimated $100 million in annual business to its authorized dealers. The move is being warmly received by dealers, who fear that Apple's lower margins could pinch their own profits. 'It removes a source of conflict and opens up some nice business,' said William Y. Tauschler, chief executive officer at Computerland Corp. ------------------------------------------- Macs will SAVE the company? I thought Mac FEVER was killing the company. Sheesh! At least we know now why Apple pulled its advertising campaign. And our local dealer actually bought STOCK on these new Macs - and they don't hardly EVER want to do that. I hope these new machines are worth the $400 million that Apple's going to spend advertising them. --- TMail v1.17 # Origin: CMOS - Tulsa's Home of the Apple 918 747-0250 (8:7104/9600) * Origin: NETWORK Echogate (1:129/34)