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From: rdeal@rucs2.sunlab.cs.runet.edu (Butch Deal)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: The Fate of the Macintosh
Message-ID: <1991Mar22.154811.8691@rucs2.sunlab.cs.runet.edu>
Date: 22 Mar 91 15:48:11 GMT
Organization: Radford University
Lines: 82

>Best I can figure (correct me if I am wrong), my Macintosh SE/30 is rated
>at somewhere between 2 and 3 MIPS (not too bad), but when you consider
>that the new NeXT (retail priced at around $5,000) checks in at around 15
>MIPS, I question the future of Macintosh.

Well you are wrong closer to 5 MIPS.  But lets consider the LC, about 3 or 4
MIPS and around $1000 (educational price).  

>Hey, I for one love the standardization of the software, the graphically
>based user-interface, the operating system, etc., etc., but when one
>considers that (in theory) a software emulator could be (fairly easily)
>derived which would allow the NeXT to run Mac Software, it is questionable
>if Apple does not have a serious problem on their hands.

Well I am a cs major and this is not at all an easy thing to do in fact rather
difficult, and very leggal considerations to be considered.  

>Yes, Apple is finally  becoming somewhat (but not truly) competitive price
>wise with the Macintosh, but to be honest, nothing Apple has (IIfx included)
>can come close to running with the new NeXT, and certainly not at the price!

Granted I like the NeXT but only as a unix machine.  I would wait for the 
faster 68040 chips.  The NeXT is using the first rlease of the 68040 running
at its slowest speed 25MHZ; it can go up to 80MHZ giving over 50 MIPS.  The
NeXT is not the kind of machine that most people whant.  It has very limited 
software and is only supported by a few software developers.

>If you ask me, all someone would have to do is copy the Macintosh ROMS, make

go to jail .....

>a Macintosh Software Emulator for the NeXT, and post it as freeware to the
>NET, and all of a sudden, I would say Apple Stock might take a rough ride.
>Adam Smith's version of capitalism might say someone probably wouldn't do
>this without the proper incentive, but the world isn't necessarily made up
>solely of those who cling to the virtues of capitalistic incentive.

>I haven't done any extensive calculations to prove it one way or the other,
>but I figure the NeXT should be able to (software) emulate the Macintosh
>and still run faster than even my SE/30.  Hey, the instruction set should
>be close between the Motorola 68040 and the 68030, huh ?

why should they be close Apple has been having a great deal of trouble 
settting up a system for the 68040.  The 68040 is vastly different from
the 68030.  Much of the instructions of the mac are in hardware also.

>Right now, the NeXT disk drive is not set up to read/write Mac OS disks,
>but how long would it realistically take to change that.

>I for one am going to watch the computer market with great skepticism--
>once again.  Apple could quite possibly go from being the second largest
>supplier of personal computers in the world to simply a legend of the
>past within a matter of five years.

and NeXT could go bankrupt leaving no support to users.

>Apple has for years built some innovative, fairly reliable, and satisfying
>to use products, but until recently, they have taken for granted their
>market share (allowing those God-awful MS-Dos clones to dominate the PC

I love UNIX but if you don't like DOS you would !@$#^%* if you had to use
UNIX and NeXT is a UNIX machine.  Granted that the NeXT has a mac like 
interface on the UNIX but to do anything more than basic stuff you would
have to get your feet mudy in UNIX.

>market).  Yes, it appears they are making a symbolic gesture with their
>present pricing strategies, but I think perhaps they had better try harder
>to please (and by all means impress the heck out of) their customers
>rather than their stock-holders--Wall Street's financial capital won't keep
>the company afloat for ever (yes, I know their stock trades OTC)...

It is more than a symbolic gesture, an LC is far cheaper than a big blue
windows speed not deamon.  When the new mac 68040's are released then
the 68020 machines will go down even more as well as the 68030's

NeXT machines are fast and look good but just wait till you try and find some 
software to run on that speed deamon.  Giv the NeXT another year atleast before 
you put any money into it but don't expect to run your mac software on it.

Butch Deal
The Butcher
rdeal@rucs2.sunlab.cs.runet.edu