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From: ranger@ecsvax.UUCP (Rick N. Fincher)
Newsgroups: net.micro.apple
Subject: Re: to Upgrade, or not to Upgrade, that is the question!
Message-ID: <2140@ecsvax.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 16-Oct-86 09:34:54 EDT
Article-I.D.: ecsvax.2140
Posted: Thu Oct 16 09:34:54 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 18-Oct-86 23:09:47 EDT
References: <8610102141.AA08083@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> <1547@k.cc.purdue.edu>
Organization: UNC Educational Computing Service
Lines: 62

> In article <8610102141.AA08083@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, abc@BRL.ARPA (Brint Cooper) writes:
> > 
> > Tamir Weiner asks whether to update or keep is Apple II+ and 'live in
> > 1979.'
> > 
> > What about us?  My wife has an Apple IIe, 2 drives, RS-232 board and
> > printer interface, also a printer.  She owns this machine for
> > compatibility with her professional environment.
> > 
> > She is a public school teacher of children in Grade 4.  Her school is
> > about to get a 'computer laboratory' consisting ultimately of 12 Apple
> > IIe machines connected via a 'network.'  
>  
> > Are 8-bit machines obsolete?  Should our schools throw out their Apple
> > IIe investment for "larger" machines.
> 
> 8-bit machines should never become obsolete for elementary education.  Since
> they will come down in price soon, they will be ideal.  These machines have
> been satisfying serious programmers and businesses for years and still do. 
> They should be more than sufficient to introduce 12 year-olds to the world
> of computing.
>  
> > Perhaps our existing machines are not  as "obsolete" as the industry
> > would have us believe.  If they still do useful work for us, are
> > they obsolete?
> 
> Good point.
> 
> > Tamir, if one were purchasing his/her first computer, I'd not recommend
> > a IIGS or anything less than a Mac/Amiga/PC-AT level machine.  But you
> > have a computer; so do I.  The question for both of us is:   What do we
> > want to do at home that our present hardware won't do?  What's the
> > cheapest/easiest/quickest way to get that capability?
> >
> > Brint
> 
> More good points, however the question is also about whether it is better to
> upgrade or buy new.  I own an Apple //e and would not dream of selling it.
> Unfortunately, continuous upgrades bring with them the risk of incompatability.
> If I had a choice between upgrading my //e to a mac class computer, or buying
> a mac for $500-$1000 more, I would save my pennies and buy the mac (actually,
> I can't stand mac's, it is present in this missive for illustrative purposes
> only!!).  It is important to remember that you may need new capabilities later
> on and you need to guarantee that you don't have to spend even MORE on the 
> upgrade to get the capabilities you should have gotten with the first.  The 
> important points here are to consider what you NEED or WANT and if your present
> system supports those needs then hang on to it.  On the other hand, if you 
> require more than what you have now, (like multitasking or large data base
> applications) I would seriously consider buying new.  By the time you have 
> invested in all the upgrades, you may have spent enough to buy new AND 
> guarantee compatibility.
> 
> 				Colin

Why not upgrade your //e, keep the motherboard (they can't keep so         
your spare parts, you paid for them when you bought your //e) buy a
cheap case and have the best of both worlds, and two machines to 
boot [pun intended :-)]?  This way you are 100% certain of compatibility
and you get a //gs too.

Rick Fincher
ranger@ecsvax