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From: earleh@dartvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: New Mac Prices
Message-ID: <5753@dartvax.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 27-Feb-87 19:19:35 EST
Article-I.D.: dartvax.5753
Posted: Fri Feb 27 19:19:35 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 1-Mar-87 13:22:00 EST
References: <5751@dartvax.UUCP>
Organization: Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Graduate Students
Lines: 71
Summary: I'm still driving my '67 Dodge


In article <5751@dartvax.UUCP>, merchant@dartvax.UUCP (Peter Merchant) writes:
> Chatted with our local Apple person in New York and he gave me some interesting
> information on Apples prices.
> 
> 
> Maybe it's just me, but I think Apple might end up pricing themselves out of
> sight.  Maybe I'll pick up some Commodore stock.  (Saw the specs on the Amiga
> 2000 -- IBM compatible with a card, accepts IBM cards, pretty graphics, and
> $1500ish)
> --
> "How does it feel                                 Peter Merchant
>  to be without a home?"


     Maybe Apple will price themselves right out of sight, I don't care.
I have my 512 KE, I can draw pictures with it, I can talk to real
computers with it, and, unlike some people I know, I am aware that it is
not a Sun.  (I don't mean you, Peter.)  Who knows how long it will last
before I have to send it off to the computer junkyard?  This reminds me
of the situation with Volvo.  Before I got my '67 Dodge, I had a '64
Volvo.  Real sweet, lots of power, classy looks.  The thing had cost
$600 new, I believe.  I finally sold it to some hippies for $500 in '80
or '81, I forget which.  In 1987, a new Volvo probably cost 20 or 30 times
what that thing cost new.  Dodge tells the same story: my Dodge van
probably cost $2000 new, if that, and what do they cost now?  (I
wouldn't even consider purchasing a new Chrysler product, they look funny.)

     Can Apple equal this performance?  You betcha.  Will I be able or
willing to buy Apple products in the 90's?  Not unless they put in a 
system error handler and cursor keys that work when the shift key is
held down.  Color and two disk drives and an enormous monitor is nice,
but will the thing have any real improvements?  Probably not, but my Mac
will most likely still be running as long as I need it, and I can put
up with the way it is now.

     By the way, I have seen some blurbs on the new Macs, but I have 
not seen these points addressed:

     a) Does the thing have any responsive system error handler?
        -> Is an attempted divide by zero an occasion for reboot?
           (Imagine if Seymour Cray did this...)

     b) Do the cursor keys become arithmetic operators when the
        shift key is held down?

        Inside Macintosh:  "The left-arrow key will produce a plus
            sign whenever the shift key is held down, in order to
            confuse the user, and there is not anything the programmer
            can do about it.  This is a good example of integrated
            architecture."

     c) Does it have multi-tasking, or not?  (I don't care, I use it
        as a terminal emulator 90% of the time anyway.  I just thought
        I would throw that in.)

     If regular people cannot afford the new Macs, that is no cause for
alarm if you already own one.  Most of the people here have new Volvos,
and I get to work every day in my '67 Dodge.  Most of the people here
have "plus"s, and my 512 gets the job done.  Now you're probably
thinking "Boy, this sucker is really against progress, I bet he
brushes his teeth with a twig and dresses his kids in animal skins."
Well, that's my business if I do, but I'm just trying to point out
that a useful possession can retain its usefulness even though there
are newer, flashier models on the showroom floor.

     Buy the Amiga, decide that Apple is not worth it, and sell your
512, plus, or 128.  Maybe someone who recognizes real value will buy
it...

     Enjoy the spring, it may be your last!