Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!know!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!apple!portal!cup.portal.com!ts
From: ts@cup.portal.com (Tim W Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: RE: Is the SE30 going too???
Message-ID: <35055@cup.portal.com>
Date: 20 Oct 90 04:07:42 GMT
References: <82494.271C867D@cmhgate.FIDONET.ORG>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 43

Even if Apple drops the SE/30, those who just bought one are not
really screwed.

First of all, the SE/30 looks pretty much like a Mac II to software.
So you are not going to suddenly stop being able to by software.
You will be able to by software for it as long as those with the
newer machines are able to get software.

Secondly, there are enough of them suckers out there that people
will keep selling cards for it, so you don't have to worry about
that.  You will still be able to get video cards and network
cards and stuff like that.

You will probably even still see new cards for it.  It is easier to
design a card for it than for the NuBus machines, so there is no
reason for a card maker not to do an SE/30 card if they are also
doing a card for a NuBus Mac.  And if they are doing a card for
a NuBus Mac, then they are doing SE/30 software, because the
SE/30 ROM makes the SE/30 slot look like a NuBus to card driver
software.

Apple did very good with that.  Too good, in fact.  When the SE/30
came out, I kept expecting Dove to send me one, since I wrote their
NuBus ethernet drivers, and I knew they were doing a card for the
SE/30.  They never did send me one, because the drivers for their
NuBus card worked with absolutely no change with their SE/30
card, so it turns out I had already done the SE/30 software without
ever having gotten an SE/30. :-(  I knew I should have put an explicit
check for machine type in there.... :-)

In summary, even if they drop the SE/30, you are really no worse
off then those of us who have Mac II's (the ones without all the
extra letters).

In fact, it was rather nice when they got rid of the II.  A few months
after they announced the demise of the IIo, they offered a special
deal to developers in order to get rid of the last few II's.  The
deal was something like a Mac II, 4 meg, 40 meg hard disk for around
$2300 or something like that.

If only they would drop the IIfx soon! :-)

							Tim Smith