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From: fry@huma1.HARVARD.EDU (David Fry)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Color for the SE? (Is this a dumb question?)
Message-ID: <2851@husc6.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 18-Sep-87 21:58:51 EDT
Article-I.D.: husc6.2851
Posted: Fri Sep 18 21:58:51 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 20-Sep-87 05:51:18 EDT
References: <1470@ingr.UUCP> <11540017@hpsmtc1.HP.COM> <6275@prls.UUCP> <20842@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender: news@husc6.UUCP
Reply-To: fry@huma1.UUCP (David Fry)
Organization: Harvard Math Department
Lines: 40

In article <20842@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> oster@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu.UUCP (David Phillip Oster) writes:
>If apple had included color quickdraw in the SE's ROM instead of pictures
>of the Mac development team, then there would be a way for third
>parties to produce color boards for the SE that work with the standard
>for Macintosh color applications.
>
>If apple makes color quickdraw available as a supported system
>upgrade, on an O.E.M. basis to hardware vendors (in the same way they
>already license their system software) then only those people who
>bought color boards would give up RAM space for the a RAM version of
>color quickdraw.  This would even allow color displays to be added to
>MacPluses on their SCSI port.  This idea is particularly nice since
>Color QuickDraw supports multiple displays (drag windows between your
>new color screen and the stock macPlus/SE screen.)  Apple could even
>make a few bucks by legitimizing this market by selling a few high
>priced units themselves.  How about it Apple?

I don't think the Mac II is so expensive that this contorted
effort would be cheaper.  You'd have to get a color monitor,
more RAM and associated electronics and the license for the
Quickdraw.  Plus, Color Quickdraw would be painfully slow for
all but the simplest operations unless a 68020 was included.
Why not just get a Mac II then?

Remember that the Mac SE and the Mac II were made by separate
teams with separate schedules.  There was no assurance that
Color Quickdraw would have been finished in time for the SE.
(Even now, certain aspects of the Color Manager are still badly
documented and buggy.)
And the high demand of SEs would probably make for 68020
supply problems.  And what machine would be left to be cheap
and compatible yet still better than the Plus.  In short, you
can't arrange some miracle deal where you get an SE and color
and 68020 for little more than the price of an SE.


David Fry				fry@huma1.harvard.EDU
Department of Mathematics		fry@harvma1.bitnet
Harvard University			...!harvard!huma1!fry
Cambridge, MA  02138