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From: lange@lanai.cs.ucla.edu (Trent Lange)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: The New Macs: Greedy Compromises?
Message-ID: <1990Dec5.072931.4079@cs.ucla.edu>
Date: 5 Dec 90 07:29:31 GMT
References: <109755@convex.convex.com> <1990Dec4.092217.26859@cs.ucla.edu> <47110@apple.Apple.COM>
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In article <47110@apple.Apple.COM> das@Apple.COM (David Shayer) writes:
>In article <1990Dec4.092217.26859@cs.ucla.edu> lange@lanai.cs.ucla.edu (Trent Lange) writes:
>>As for all those other "nasty choices" (color and whether to get an
>>optical), the average user doesn't have to worry about them.  The
>>NeXTDimension color is a production-quality 32-bit board, coprocessor,
>>and monitor system that is priced accordingly.  No average user will
>>have to bother with it.  So for them, the choice is color (get a
>>NeXTStation color), or no color (get a basic NeXTStation).
>
>FLAME ON:  Isn't that interesting?  When Next charges so much for a
>machine that you couldn't afford one even if you sold your sister into
>white slavery, its understandable because its "production quality".  
>When Apple does it, they're a bunch of greedy capitalist bastards.
>
>David

My, my.  A little touchy, aren't we?

As a matter of fact, to get a NeXTCube with the production quality
NeXTDimension board and monitor, you don't have to sell your sister
into slavery.

Though you might have to sell your IIfx.

At UCLA student prices, the NeXTCube ($5800) with the 32-bit
NeXTDimension color board and a 16" color monitor ($5100) will
cost you a total of $10,900.

Of course, if you're a person that needs that kind of quality, you better
get a IIfx and attempt to equip it similarly.  That will be $7250 (you want
a decent hard disk, right?) for the IIfx, plus $1350+$380 for the
8-24gc card (not nearly as fast as the 80 MIP i860 on the NeXTDimension
board, but it will have to do), plus, I don't know, what does a
third-party 16" color monitor with 1120x832 resolution cost these
days, at least another $2500?

That's $11,500 dollars so far, and we haven't gotten to the
NeXTDimension's JPEG video compression chip (lets you play back
full-motion video from your hard drive).  Not to mention Unix,
the fact that the NeXTCube itself is three times as fast as the
IIfx, has a better development environment, comes with Unix,
etc, etc.

Oops.  The 8-24gc doesn't let you use 24 bit color on monitors
larger than 13".  Back to the drawing board.

Get the picture?

So, once again, we see NeXT giving a strikingly reasonable price on
each member of their line.  The i860 RISC chip in the NeXTDimension *alone*
is a very expensive chip.  Some posters in comp.sys.next were thinking of
getting the NeXTDimension *just* to use that chip, since it is one of
the most powerful chips around and they hadn't found anybody selling a
card with one on any machine for less than $10,000.  NeXT is selling it
for $5100, and it comes with a $2500 monitor.

Your flame, as you see, is wrong.

About the greedy capitalists thing:  *Of course* Apple is run by a bunch
of greedy capitalists.   So is NeXT.  Their approaches, however,
are different.  Apple seems to believe in squeezing every last drop
of blood out of their customers (the high profit-margin approach).
NeXT, partially out of necessity, and partially out of Steve Jobs
philosophy, is trying to give the best value possible compared to
other machines and therefore making them available to as many
people as possible (the market-share approach).

Both are greedy.  Which leaves a better taste in your mouth, and
which gives customers the better value?

I've been a fanatic about Apple computers since 1979, and I know which
approach I like better -- and which one is going to get my money.

Now, if people would stop making these inflammatory and patently wrong
comments about the NeXT, this thread could stop.  Defending a company's
policies by making false attacks about anothers will get you nowhere,
except with the ignorant.  (This isn't a congressional race, you know.)

- Trent Lange

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