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From: ehanson@umbc2.umbc.edu (Mr. Erik Hanson; ARTS-SCI (UG))
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: New Macintosh LC & Classic keyboards...
Message-ID: <4706@umbc3.UMBC.EDU>
Date: 18 Dec 90 00:17:19 GMT
References: <246@alchemy.UUCP>
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hzink@alchemy.UUCP (Harry K. Zink) writes...
>I would really like to know who at Apple is responsible for the new keyboard 
>layout of the LC and Classic keyboards?  I have never seen a more useless and 
>in my opinion utterly stupid act.

Probably the same people responsible for the LC and Classic. I have never
seen a more useless and in my opinion utterly stupid pair of computers.

I don't mean to put down the engineers and designers, I'm sure they did a
good job (better than I could... I couldn't design a calculator if my life
depended on it. But then again, I'm not an engineer).

I _do_ mean, however, to put down the people who push the profit margin
up so high that to make a $1200 machine, the designers are forced to use
six bucks in parts. Haven't they been using the same CPU for 7 years?
(Okay, I realize the LC has an '020. Welcome to the 80's, guys.) For 
_only_ ;-) four times the price of a classic, you can have the best damn
computer ever built! (Yes, I'm talking about a NeXT. And no, I can't afford
one. So why do I bring it up? I don't know. Wasn't this post about keyboards?)

>Where does the idea for these news things come from.  Of all possible layouts, 
>I have never seen the ESC anywhere but where we are used to it (of course, I 
>also do not claim to know all standards).  Yet, what I afil to see is why would
>apple deliberately chnage the keyboard when the entire line finally had some 
>sort of homogenous layout?

Why would Apple have a hundred (or four or five) different "standard" 
expansion slot types? Somebody at Apple is a few cans short of a six-pack, 
if you ask me.

>Of course, the sensible thing is to just get a standard keyboard and toss the 
>new one out - even though it has a nicer feeling and look to it in my opinion.

Aha! Even though it comes with a keyboard (a considerable selling point), 
you want to buy another one? And since you're spending money on a keyboard, 
you might as well get the extended keyboard, don't you think? 
(mo' money! mo' money! mo' money!)

Maybe Apple thought of this, also.

(Now for the obligitory "Sure, I've got one. And sure, I love it. But I'm
going to bash Apple anyway" section.)

I may be a bit naive, but I think that Apple started out with the goal
of "making money by building the best damn personal computers around". And
now their goal has changed to "making money (and lots of it)".

>So, does anyone have any ideas as to this?
> 
>Harry
> 
> uucp : ucrmath!alchemy!hzink | Achieve True Wealth and Financial Independence!
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> -----------------------------+------------------------------------------------
> Wesley: "Captain, this doesn't look like the holodeck to me."
>   Worf: "Ready to cycle airlock, Captain." Picard: "Make it so."

Picard: "Data, how are your experiments to remove Mr. Crusher from all
of the reruns going?"

Erik Hanson, UCLA - University of Catonsville, Left of Arbutus.
ehanson@umbc2.umbc.edu