Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!rex!dejesus From: dejesus@rex.cs.tulane.edu (Francisco Xavier Dejesus) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: New Apple Mac rumored... Message-ID: <4536@rex.cs.tulane.edu> Date: 14 Oct 90 22:14:40 GMT References: <6025@vice.ICO.TEK.COM> <7340003@hpfcso.HP.COM> Organization: Computer Science Dept., Tulane Univ., New Orleans, LA Lines: 42 Distribution: Keywords: In article steve@thelake.mn.org (Steve Yelvington) writes: > >Apple isn't cleaning out old inventory. They're setting up new production >lines to crank out hundreds of thousands of low-cost, low-price Macintoshes >in an effort to regain market share lost to PCs and clones. I don't know >precisely what the new machines will have (the announcement is Monday) >but advance reports suggest they'll have 16-megahertz CPUs. These are not >marked-down Mac 512s with extra memory. They're Macs for the masses. >They're Macs for Apple II owners. They're Macs for would-be Tandy/Blue >Chip/Amstrad/PS-1 buyers. Apple is hurting because of MS Windows 3.0. For the first time, Apple is seeking help from Japanese computer manufacturers... they are going to license someone to make a new Mac portable for them. I just finished reading the latest issue of MacWorld, which features a preview of all three new Macs, and for Apple, the prices are _low_! The Mac Classic is simply one model to replace the Mac Plus and SE... it's an 8MHz 68000. The other two are the Mac IIlc (low-cost color) and IIsi. The lc is a 16MHz 020 with built in 256 color video (16.7mil pallete), and has and expected street price of about $2000 (!), the si is a 20MHz 030, also with built in color video, and expected street price of about $3000. Both new Mac IIs include a built in sound digitizer, and they will probably replace the SE30 and the IIcx. These now low cost Macs, along with the $1500 price reduction on the IIci, are a bold move to regain market share by Apple. They will make good competition for similarly equipped 386/486 PC's (though the new NeXT machines might compete with them too, but those are more workstation-type computers). What does all this mean for Atari (as well as the Amiga)? They will be caught in the middle of a major price/performance war between Mac II's and PC clones. I don't expect the ST/STe/Mega (or similar Amiga models) to survive... Atari and Commodore had better concentrate on their 68030 computers, and Atari in particular should actually start _selling_ the TT instead of just announcing that it's "coming out soon"... -- ___ / _______________________________ - Francisco X DeJesus |- / \/ \\ ' / /\ dejesus@comus.cs.tulane.edu \\__________________________ / ak662@cleveland.freenet.edu ////////////////////////////