Path: utzoo!yunexus!geac!syntron!jtsv16!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!amdcad!ames!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!bellcore!faline!thumper!ulysses!andante!alice!debra
From: debra@alice.UUCP (Paul De Bra)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: NeXT's BIG 3.5" mistake.
Message-ID: <8331@alice.UUCP>
Date: 25 Oct 88 14:44:42 GMT
Article-I.D.: alice.8331
References: <0XMtqn087E-0A14EYk@andrew.cmu.edu>
Reply-To: debra@alice.UUCP ()
Organization: AT&T, Bell Labs
Lines: 26

In article <0XMtqn087E-0A14EYk@andrew.cmu.edu> rg20+@andrew.cmu.edu (Rick Francis Golembiewski) writes:
"" He [Jobs]  suggested that certified
""developers might include their software (together with on-line documentation)
""on an optical disk to be shipped by NeXT with each machine.  Clearly,
""a great many applications would fit on a single magneto-optical floppy.
"...
"The scheme also has several BIG DISADVANTAGES:
"Lets suppose that I'm a developer who started programming (or wanted to port
"their software to ) for the NeXT Machine after a year or two.  Well then All the
"people (the entire potential market would not have a copy of my software)  In
"order to combat this problem NeXT would have to release a new disk (with ALL of
"the previous applications) to everyone ( or ideally to NeXT dealers, although
"why bother going to the trouble of releasing a "demo" version if everyone has to
"go to a dealer to pick up all the new stuff anyway?...

And then, look at it from the user's point of view: I buy a next machine with
the software-disk, and after 2 years I want to buy one of the software
packages. I *really* don't want the 2 year old version of that package which
I have on my disk. So I would have to pay $50 to get a new disk just to
get the one program...

Paul.
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