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From: shankar@SRC.Honeywell.COM (Subash Shankar)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: My decision for the LC
Message-ID: <1991Feb14.203348.22645@src.honeywell.com>
Date: 14 Feb 91 20:33:48 GMT
References: <361@alchemy.UUCP> <1991Feb11.172022.13565@nevada.edu> <1991Feb12.071357.4525@Neon.Stanford.EDU>
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In article <1991Feb12.071357.4525@Neon.Stanford.EDU> torrie@cs.stanford.edu (Evan Torrie) writes:
>alfter@nevada.edu (SCOTT ALFTER) writes:

>>Just wait...when Apple comes out with a new line of computers, you Mac
>>owners will be in the same miserable condition as all of us with Apple
>>IIs.  

>  There will always be a point when trying to add on the latest
>innovations to an aging architecture just won't work...  you have to
>make a clean break and start afresh.  When Apple brings out their
>"Granny Smith", with multiprocessor/voice recognition/pen operated...
>I'll be glad to switch.

So would I, but this overlooks one major difference IMHO - Apple's pricing
policies.  I don't think people would be hearing so much bitching about Apple
if the Macintosh had originally been reasonably priced, thus making it more
feasible for Apple owners to upgrade to Macs.  Alternatively, if the Mac II had
been available at the price of the IIGS when the GS came out, low-cost software
emulation of the //e by the Mac II would probably have been feasible without
too much of a performance hit for those who wished to transfer existing data.
Products do become obsolete and customers do need to change to keep up with
technology; however, Apple's pricing policies have not been conducive to
keeping up with technology.  If Apple prices Macs at prices only businesses can
afford, then the rest of us have every right in the world to complain when
Apple orphans its home line. 

At the time I bought my GS, my choices were the Amiga, a Mac II, and a GS - the
Mac II served my purposes better, but the prices were so exorbitantly
ridiculous that I bought a GS, expecting that it would be a temporary computer
until Mac II prices came down, thus giving me peripheral compatibility with the
Mac II and software compatibility with my old //e.  One year later, Apple set
another first in the history of personal computing by raising its prices on
existing models.  So much for that expectation.

The new Mac prices are a big improvement but there's still a way to go.  The LC
is the only reasonably priced model, but it seems to have been named after "lo
compatibility" and may thus be the first Mac II to be orphaned. The other Mac
II's are still a bit too expensive (though in the right ballpark relative to
the competition and capabilities if university prices are considered).   

KEY:
Apple = Apple Corporation
//e   = pre-IIGS Apple II line
//GS  = Apple IIGS
Mac   = Mac and Mac II lines
MacII = Mac II line
---
Subash Shankar             Honeywell Systems & Research Center MN65-2100
voice: (612) 782 7558      US Snail: 3660 Technology Dr., Minneapolis, MN 55418
shankar@src.honeywell.com  srcsip!shankar