Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!apple!mjohnson From: mjohnson@Apple.COM (Mark B. Johnson) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: Re: To Clarify(Re: AppleSupport(wasre:ughh and the GS Message-ID: <27346@apple.Apple.COM> Date: 15 Mar 89 19:03:42 GMT References: <27151@apple.Apple.COM> Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA Lines: 50 In article jm7e+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU ("Jeremy G. Mereness") writes: > >Why? >Apple representatives during Mac shows demean the //. Why? _I_ am not dooming >the //, Apple is! Through their advertising (the // budget cut this year), R&D >(this budget cut across the board), and their lack of effort to make it >appealing to Universities and software manufacturers. The Ensoniq chip is for >the most part unexplored as a MIDI instrument. Why? > I am sure Keith will respond to some of the points in this message, but for myself I'll just hit this one. Let's not blame all of Apple here. It is a fact that the way the II is "marketed" is not the way many of us would like to see it, but this doesn't mean there are not engineers throughout the company who wouldn't kill to make the GS the machine of your dreams. There are many people at Apple who have spent most, if not all, of their time working on and supporting the II line. There are also people here don't have any idea what an Apple II is or why it should exist. That is just the way it happens in a company that is growing the way Apple has in the past few years, and it is hard to avoid. But the people in Apple do not have the power alone to make the II what it should be, you, the consumer, do. You are the reason we are here, and if we don't listen to you then we won't be here for long. As a consumer, you have to let people know that given the choice, you'll buy a PC before you'll buy a Macintosh. There are many here who can't understand why you would want a II or a PC when the Mac exists, and if YOU don't let them know then they will never understand. If it weren't for the consumer, the II would have died when the Apple /// came along, but the reason the II has been around for so long is that you, the consumer, kept it around. You've got a powerful voice, but if you don't use it, it won't do any good. So don't waste it telling us that we are dooming the II, there are many of us in this company who feel the same way you do. Rather, use it constructively to let others know the worth of the II line, use it to push third-party developers to push the limits of the machine, use it to actively support those people and companies who stake their existance on the II. Use it to support the II, not to number its days. Thank you and good night. Mark B. Johnson AppleLink: mjohnson Developer Technical Support domain: mjohnson@Apple.com Apple Computer, Inc. UUCP: {amdahl,decwrl,sun,unisoft}!apple!mjohnson "You gave your life to become the person you are right now. Was it worth it?" - Richard Bach, _One_