Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!salt.acc.com!ucsd!orion.oac.uci.edu!rbarris
From: rbarris@orion.oac.uci.edu (Robert C. Barris)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: The future of the past mac
Summary: Get a clue
Keywords: obsolescence
Message-ID: <273C9EE2.28338@orion.oac.uci.edu>
Date: 11 Nov 90 00:44:18 GMT
References: <11390.273bec86@ecs.umass.edu>
Reply-To: rbarris@orion.oac.uci.edu (Robert C. Barris)
Organization: University of California, Irvine
Lines: 49

In article <11390.273bec86@ecs.umass.edu> hagan@ecs.umass.edu writes:
>
>  Isn't it sad, that apple treats the people who purchased their older 
>machines (when they were brand spanking new) like they were scum for 
>choosing such a low end machine, and that they should go out, and 
>spend outrageous sums of money for a new macintosh, in order to be
>able to use the latest, and greatest system. Its doubly annoying,
>when looking in their adds, they'll proclaim that all of the software
>works across all of their platforms, makng the mac great, because a
>a person could take MacBlah home from his IIfx at work, and presto,
>it will work on his mac+ (or classic, as the case may be, now).
>system 7 seems to be bringing that to an end. Now the question 
>comes up, when i do upgrade out of my plus, what should i get?
>if i get a macintosh, the odds are that when the macXXVIIgl is introduced,
>the IIfx will be treated the same way ("YOu bought that hunk of ---?!")
>apple should keep in mind, that their policies now towards their older
>machines that they are phasing out, will come back to haunt them
>as the industry progresses. Why not buy a NeXT, or an Amiga, when
>you know that your machine is not going to be supported, besides
>you'll save a bundle, and get more power out of the bargain.
>
>an option might be a REALISTIC upgrade plan..
>where a mac+ to SE/30 would cost less that the price of the SE/30
>and the same for the other macs.
>
>-- craig hagan Hagan@alpa.ecs.umass.edu 


   Your perception of how Apple treats its customers who have bought older
machines is grossly inaccurate. Apple has made the biggest push I've yet
seen to keep the old machines alive (at least, back down to the Plus). Your
statement that 'system 7 seems to be bringing that to an end' is way out
in left field: that is, unless you are still booting from a floppy and
can't afford 45 bucks to buy an extra megabyte of RAM. It is amazing to me
that so much information gets tossed about on this topic precisely. Also,
no one is grabbing you by the neck and forcing you to upgrade to System 7.
System 6 is going to be around for a long time, I think.
   InfoWorld this week (with the IBM 486's on the cover) held a tiny
announcement from Dove for a 16MHz 030 board which will be compatible with
the Classic, the Plus, and the SE... $799. This was in the Mac News section,
by the way. No, it doesn't have the Apple label on it, but it sounds like
a REALISTIC upgrade plan to me!
   Specifically how or where did you get this impression of how Apple (and I
mean the company, not a dealer sales person working on commission) treats its
customers? And I really don't think that NeXT or CBM-Amiga can really be said
to be so much better in their treatment of the installed base.

Rob Barris
rbarris@orion.oac.uci.edu