Xref: utzoo comp.sys.mac:28322 comp.sys.mac.hypercard:1657 Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!decwrl!sun!pitstop!sundc!seismo!uunet!ssbell!mcmi!amperif!unocss!dent From: dent@unocss.UUCP (Dave Caplinger) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.mac.hypercard Subject: Re: The power to be your best, and how much it costs Message-ID: <707@unocss.UUCP> Date: 10 Mar 89 03:40:58 GMT References: <988@taurus.BITNET> Organization: U. of Nebraska at Omaha Lines: 66 From article <988@taurus.BITNET>, by shani@TAURUS.BITNET: > > ... > anyone's interest. What does interest people is that you can buy two PC's > for the price of one Mac SE, and when it comes to a class of 40 computers, > that's a great difference. > > I'd like to know more about how to deal with this problem. I think apple > should take note here. I think the Mac worth what it costs (especialy comparing > to IBM-PC and it's competibles), but how can we make others see it? > I almost agree with you here. The Mac is certainly worth more than a "made- in-Taiwan-PC-Compatible", but I'm not willing to concede that current Mac prices are "worth it". But apparently, the <1000$ Mac will come out eventually (soon? "Year of the CPU"?). One solution that I think Apple might be going for is the Apple ][ (No, not "//", I have a ][+, and it's NOT a //+ :-) Education market. Apple has just about wrapped up the Education market, and with all those Apple ]['s, they're not going to just "go Mac" and throw away all the software they already have. Enter project "Golden Gate" that I think they've been talking about on comp.sys.apple recently... A Mac that runs Apple ][ software. (It doesn't look like it should be /all/ that difficult but you never know.. the Mega ][ chip has been doing just fine... ) Hopefully, the "<$1000 Mac" will /be/ project golden gate. (And of course, I would expect (hope?) for a Nubus card to do the same for existing Macs.. (but I hope it's CHEAP...) > And don't send me to the local dealers - They only care about making safe > money... > > O.S. Especially the smaller Apple dealers. Apparently, the small dealer is at a great disadvantage because the larger dealers get greater discounts from Apple because of the volume of sales they "move" out the door. So, the smaller dealer is hard pressed to compete with the larger ones (Heath/Zenith is an Apple dealer here in Omaha, and they are BIG. They can even match Apple's Education Discounts for the University Consortium usually.) How can a start- up compete with something that big? Easy. They have to throw in the towel and get bought out by one of the big fish. I'm not flaming upset here, but I'm a little dissapointed, since I used to work for that small-town Apple Dealer that I'm talking about, and I bought their very first computer (back when the ][+ was NEW.) from them. I've known the owners since they opened the store, and most of the employees as well, and they were excellent. They were always helpfull and friendly, and now that they're run by one of the "big fish" in Omaha (not Heath/Zenith, incidentally), their staff stinks. I used to send anyone that asked to that computer store, and now I warn them away from it. Get a clue, Apple. As one of your former emplyees (in a way), I have to admit that I'm quite disappointed in your salesmen now. Maybe I'm wrong, and the Apple salesmen stink only in Omaha. Surprise me! Post about an actual /excellent/ dealer that you've had experiences with. -/ Dave Caplinger /------------------+----------------------------------- Microcomputer Specialist | Internet: unocc07@zeus.unl.edu "Computing and Data Communications" | UUCP: uunet!btni!unocss!dent University of Nebraska at Omaha | Bitnet: UNOCC07@UNOMA1 Omaha, NE 68182 | or dc3a+@andrew.cmu.edu