Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!bionet!ames!oliveb!apple!mattd From: mattd@Apple.COM (Matt Deatherage) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: Re: Why, why, why? Message-ID: <27536@apple.Apple.COM> Date: 19 Mar 89 02:52:28 GMT References: <9098@claris.com> <1869@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA Lines: 71 >So Keith, Matt, whoever, how about somebody denying this or are you being >quiet because this is true? I'm getting damned sick and tired of the >silent treatment out of Apple because folks might stop buying the current >computer. Hell, people are going to stop buying because more and more it's >seeming like these rumors might come true, what with the fact Apple seems >to want to dump the whole II line and make everything a Mac. > Denying what? An article in next week's MacWeek that I haven't even seen? >I think any real response out of Apple will do a hell of a lot more good than >hurt by slowing Apple sales. It'll say that Apple is dedicated to the >computer that made your company, that created all those jobs that have, that >made it possible for you to put out a Mac in the first place. I've often >heard rumors about new and better Macs. And they've come true. Last rumor >I heard about the IIgs was that the IIgs+ was gonna be a major disappointment. > No response about a rumor could do anything other than hurt current sales. If I say "What you want is not coming", you tell all your friends not to buy Apple IIgs computers. If I say "What you want is coming", you tell all your friends to wait until it gets here. In either case, current sales go down the tubes. >So I challenge you to answer the questions before you, is the Apple II gonna >die or what? And if you're not in the position to, then tell somebody >higher up to do so. These rumors are starting to seem a bit too much like >the truth. Keith you once said something about the fact that we couldn't >know about all the great things in the works behind closed doors. Seems >stuff about what's being worked on for the Mac's keeps coming, but never >hear anything about the II's to make me want to invest my faith in the >II line. It's time Apple shored up the morale of it's II users. Or Amiga >here we come. (I'm sure the Amiga folks would have no qualms with that what >so ever) > If the Apple II ever dies, I'd be really surprised. We're not talking about a machine that sold a few thousand, maybe a hundred thousand or so, and was then dropped after a couple of years. We're talking about a family that, at the LAST AppleFest, had an installed base of four and a half MILLION computers. Nearly one out of every ten Apple computers in the world is a IIgs. I think the world would stop rotating before Apple would stop selling any computer that people want to buy, even if something better is available (the IIe is still on the price list; schools keep buying 'em). Don't say it; I can hear it already: "It doesn't do any good to keep selling the Apple II if they're not going to make it better." This may or may not be true; there are a lot of people who'd buy them for the programs already available. But ignoring that case, "improvements" can come in two areas: hardware and system software. The past two system disk releases have seen great improvements in the system software, and I personally believe there's more that can be done. Steve Glass often talks about "tools that take no space and execute in zero time", which sounds like a neat goal if he can pull it off. That would make QuickDraw as fast as Alien Mind, it would mean GS/OS could read disks at 1:1 interleave, it would make printing faster -- I could go on, but I think you can see that new hardware isn't necessary to make things a whole lot better. (That doesn't mean I don't *WANT* new hardware [drool].) So just because you don't see Apple talking about the particular improvements you want to see, doesn't mean they're not in the works. It doesn't mean they are, because Apple obviously can't do everything, but it doesn't mean they're not. When the moment's right, any improvements will be unleashed in all their gory glory. >kareth. ============================================================================== Matt Deatherage, Apple Computer, Inc. | "The opinions expressed in this tome Send PERSONAL mail ONLY (please) to: | should not be construed to imply that AppleLink PE: Matt DTS GEnie: AIIDTS | Apple Computer, Inc., or any of its CompuServe: 76703,3030 | subsidiaries, in whole or in part, Usenet: mattd@apple.com | have any opinion on any subject." UUCP: (other stuff)!ames!apple!mattd | "So there." =============================================================================