Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!julius.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!agate!garnet.berkeley.edu!knrgroup From: knrgroup@garnet.berkeley.edu (Raymond group) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc Subject: Re: Not another NeXT defector???!!! Message-ID: <1990Nov5.191518.1095@agate.berkeley.edu> Date: 5 Nov 90 19:15:18 GMT References: <1990Nov4.201838.26983@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <500@caslon.cs.arizona.edu> Sender: usenet@agate.berkeley.edu (USENET Administrator) Organization: University of California, Berkeley Lines: 35 jtgorman@cs.arizona.edu (Quaestor) > Mentioning the Macintosh GUI does point out one thing - when the Mac came >out, one main selling point was it's GUI - something that IBM couldn't match >then and it only starting to match now (NO Win 3 flames, please). > Now with the NeXT looking for market share, it's GUI doesn't matter that >much. One of the factors that almost prevented the Mac from taking off was its radically different user interface. The NeXT has the advantage that Mac and Windows have paved the way for acceptance of its state-of-the-art interface. The original Mac was also crippled by insufficient memory, poor connectivity, and a difficult software development environment. The NeXT has huge memory, unsurpassed connectivity, and a software development environment that everyone will frantically try to catch up with in the near future. Questor also writes: >Joe can buy an IBM clone dirt cheap and a Classic for a grand, but the >thing that IBM and Mac have over the NeXT is that Joe needs to spend 3-4 >grand to get "started." Joe is not the target market for the NeXT. NeXT is selling to those who would otherwise buy a high-end PC, a mid/high-range Mac, or a workstation. By the way, I think the Mac is an example of a low-end NeXT. If Jobs had built his machine at Apple, the NeXT could be called Mac III or Big Mac (John Sculley actually calls it this in his book Odyssey). Funny thing is that this Mac III is cheaper than a Mac II and more powerful and innovative. Quaestor also writes: >Are there any discount NeXT software houses? That has to be the true >indicator of when a computer 'makes it.' Yes, PC Connection, Inc. (responsible for PC Connection and MacConnection) has formed NeXTConnection for the low-cost, volume-sale of NeXT software. So, the NeXT has already 'made it' by your criteria!