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From: rsfinn@CONCERTO.LCS.MIT.EDU (Russell S. Finn)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: Apple Trade-in Offer
Message-ID: <1991Apr19.204758.1263@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu>
Date: 19 Apr 91 20:47:58 GMT
References: <3757@ux.acs.umn.edu> <steveh.671982370@tasman>
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In article <steveh.671982370@tasman>, steveh@tasman.cc.utas.edu.au
(Steven Howell) writes a number of things that managed to set my flame
bit.  Don't take it personally, but:

|> Apple simply charge TOO MUCH. if it wasn't for copyright, i could
|> sell my mac copy for 1/10 of apples price. These machines are pure
|> profit for apple and not many people notice how little is inside
|> the box, ...

Oh, please.  If it wasn't for copyright, I could make a hundred
cassette tapes of <insert your favorite artist here>'s latest album,
and sell them for $3.00 apiece; it only costs $2.00 to buy blank
tapes, right?

When you buy a record, you're buying more than the tape/vinyl/CD;
you're paying for the music recorded on it.  When you buy a Macintosh,
you're buying more than a collection of silicon; you're buying the
software in the ROM that makes it a Macintosh -- software that took
smart programmers years to develop.  Why do you think you have some
basic right to copy that work?

I understand Apple has had over 250 people working on System 7.0;
since they do practically give that away, how do you think those
people get paid?

|> Its obvious that the classic is the lowest priced machine ever
|> released within the mac circle, but the low prices have undercut
|> something bad the second hand value of the remaining mac's. People
|> either have the option of selling their plus for $500 (considering
|> they bought it for $4000 only 3 years back) or keeping it.  Se
|> owners are even worse off. the se retailed in AU for an easy $7k
|> for a reasonable HD setup.

Well, you can't have it both ways.  Were you one of the people
complaining about the lack of an inexpensive Macintosh?

And what's wrong with the option of keeping it?  The only thing a
Classic will do that a Plus won't is read 1.4 MB floppies.  Are you
implying that people who spent $4000 for a Plus three years ago got
ripped off?  I spent US$3000 for a Plus five years ago, and I got my
money's worth of use out of it before I sold it last November and
bought a IIsi.

|> If they can't upgrade, then they canm either sell at stupid prices
|> or stick with a SLOW (like 128k,512,+ speed). but if apple was
|> original with its low prices, and not just cutting some off here
|> and making it up over there, they would offer there previous, and
|> many loyal users, the option of upgrading to the SE/30.

1) The Classic is exactly as slow as the Plus.
2) SE owners *can* upgrade to an SE/30, with a board swap; Plus owners
can upgrade the way I did, by selling their old system.

|> i am looking forward to a reasonable price for our useres to
|> upgrade.  Its just a matter of when!

Have you considered finding out how many of your users actually need
to upgrade?  (For that matter, have you considered donating your old
equipment to a school or charitable organization, and taking the tax
writeoff?)