Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!UCONNVM.BITNET!SEWALL
From: SEWALL@UCONNVM.BITNET (Murph Sewall)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: To Clarify...Apple Support
Message-ID: <8903260147.aa09456@SMOKE.BRL.MIL>
Date: 26 Mar 89 06:41:55 GMT
References: <mjohnson@APPLE.COM>
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 34

>(I could have had a few marketing positions in Apple, but as many others I
>know feel, "marketing" is a four-letter word and I preferred a more "honest"
>job -- developer technical support.)

Alas, I can't recall who said "War is too important to be left to generals!"

Perhaps marketing (Apple computers at least) is too important to be left to
the MBAs.  The notion that business and universities are more important
because they have big bucks is short-sighted (and possibly wrong).  The
number of individuals TIMES the little bucks they have may well total more
than the businesses and universities (who after all are buying mincomputers,
mainframes, and Sun workstations as well as the occasional Macintosh - few
indivduals buy even a Sun workstation; though you might sell them an
occasional Macintosh).

The chilling thing about your explanation is that it reads like the same
short-term shortsighted focus on "the bottom line" that has emasculated the
steel industry and is threatening the auto industry.  From what I've read,
once the Mac line is upgraded to 33 MHz 68030's not much thought has been
given (really) to whither hence.  If the present train of marketing myopia
(something most of those marketing MBA's surely have read, but sadly don't
seem to have understood) continues, Apple may not be in very good shape
when the century turns.

Murph Sewall                       Vaporware? ---> [Gary Larson returns 1/1/90]
Prof. of Marketing     Sewall@UConnVM.BITNET
Business School        sewall%uconnvm.bitnet@mitvma.mit.edu          [INTERNET]
U of Connecticut       {psuvax1 or mcvax }!UCONNVM.BITNET!SEWALL     [UUCP]

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