Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!zardoz.eng.ohio-state.edu!agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu!GAYNOR From: gaynor@agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware Subject: Re: Price cuts on motherboard upgrades ??? Message-ID: <1991May14.155036.26366@zardoz.eng.ohio-state.edu> Date: 14 May 91 15:50:36 GMT References: <1991May14.013023.18264@wlbr.imsd.contel.com> <1991May14.022258.8448@swbatl.sbc.com>,<1991May14.035501.7812@umbc3.umbc.edu> Sender: news@zardoz.eng.ohio-state.edu (Usenet news) Reply-To: gaynor@agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu Organization: Ohio Cooperative Extension Service Lines: 46 Nntp-Posting-Host: agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu In article <1991May14.035501.7812@umbc3.umbc.edu>, cs421317@umbc5.umbc.edu (cs421317) writes: >If you read the announcement about motherboard swaps being cheaper, it appears >that Apple is proposing motherboard upgrades as the 'dirty' ROM solution. >However, I hope it's obvious to others besides me that a $1500 upgrade is not >the answer we need. It's beginning to seem like 'bait and switch' time. > >What do you think? Plus side: (The plate is half full) I think Apple -is- trying to address it to some extent by lowering the prices of upgrades. There are a number of people out there who feel that their Macs don't have enough power to really take advantage of 7.0, but don't have enough money to buy a new machine. Reducing the upgrade prices helps them along the way nicely. It's a step in the right direction, especially for those needs that a ROM upgrade cannot address. Minus Side: (The plate is half empty) Reducing the cost of upgrades, along with Connectix's announcement of MODE32, is the ideal way to sidestep the ROM upgrade issue. If -I- wanted to discourage demand for a ROM upgrade, I'd do it the same way - by making other paths look more attractive (upgrade price reduction), and by enabling alternatives (MODE32, which Apple -did- help Connectix on [but then again, Apple helps all developers to some extent]). Sum Game: (Hey, there's food on the plate!) It's a step in the right direction, making the hardware upgrade to a IIci/IIfx easier to afford. Availability is still an issue (I'm told that some folks have been waiting 3 months for a SE -> SE/30 upgrade). And the SE/30 is still lacking a step-up to hardware 32-bit Cleanliness. But it is a step forward, nonetheless. Pure Conjecture: (What's for dinner tomorrow?) One wonders if a 32-bit clean hardware upgrade for the SE & SE/30 will come out of the rumored '030 Classic at year end? --- Jim Gaynor - AgVAX System Manager - Academic Computing - Ohio State University VMS: UNIX: Disclaimer : All opinions expressed here are mine and only mine. So there! Witty Quote: "Think, think, think, think..." - Winnie-the-Pooh, Taoist Bear.