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From: gillies@p.cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Apple's Pricing, IIx question
Message-ID: <76000370@p.cs.uiuc.edu>
Date: 16 Mar 89 16:24:00 GMT
References: <919@fornax.UUCP>
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Nf-ID: #R:fornax.UUCP:919:p.cs.uiuc.edu:76000370:000:1026
Nf-From: p.cs.uiuc.edu!gillies    Mar 16 10:24:00 1989


You just don't understand marketing.

The point in PC marketing is to introduce some products, and then make
them outdated as soon as possible, so people have to buy NEW products.

There is a perfectly good reason to offer upgrades.  It prevents other
third-party companies from offering a cheap upgrade.  This ensures that
nobody will buy the upgrade!

So here is the flaw in your logic: $2000 is not charged with YOU in
mind.  $2000 is the price of keeping OTHERS out of the market.  If the
total market is 2000 units, and engineering costs a million dollars
($500/unit), and manufacturing+distribution+advertising costs $1500
dollars, because you have to scramble to get Apple roms and Apple
custom sound chips, then nobody can compete with Apple, and nobody
will buy the upgrade and VOILA -- everyone buys a new machine!!!

half-sarcastically  8-)

Don Gillies, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Illinois
1304 W. Springfield, Urbana, Ill 61801      
ARPA: gillies@cs.uiuc.edu   UUCP: {uunet,harvard}!uiucdcs!gillies