Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!apple.com!chewy
From: chewy@apple.com (Paul Snively)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Is the Mac 512 still a semi-viable system?
Message-ID: <5814@internal.Apple.COM>
Date: 16 Dec 89 00:57:36 GMT
Sender: usenet@Apple.COM
Organization: Apple Computer, Inc.
Lines: 61
References:<5799@internal.Apple.COM> <17929@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU>

In article <17929@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> earleh@eleazar.dartmouth.edu 
(Earle R. Horton) writes:
> In article <5799@internal.Apple.COM> chewy@apple.com (Paul Snively) 
writes:
> ...
> >A large part of the answer to the question, I think, has to come from 
what 
> >you mean by things like "viable" and "obsolete."  The Plus will always 
be 
> >able to run System 6.x, and applications that will run in one megabyte 
or 
> >less under System 6.x, so yeah, the Plus will be around for an 
> >indeterminate amount of time equal to however long the users find that 
> >combination (Plus, System 6.x, their favorite apps) useful.
> >
> >As for how long Apple Computer, Inc. will continue to manufacture
> >the Plus and continue upgrading its System Software, that's anybody's 
guess.
> 
> I was under the impression that the Plus would be able to run System
> 7.0 with 2 Mb installed.  I own a Plus.  Don't scare me like this, Paul!

Sorry, Earl; I didn't mean to imply that the Plus would only run System 
6.x; I was trying to point out that since a lot of users never upgrade 
beyond a certain point, the Plus will be viable for them for quite some 
time.

In article <17929@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> earleh@eleazar.dartmouth.edu 
(Earle R. Horton) writes:
> In addition, at least one manufacturer makes a 68030 add-on board for
> the Plus and claims full compatibility with System 7.0 virtual memory.
> These boards are cheap.  A Plus with one installed and a math chip will
> cost about half the price of an SE/30, especially if you use a Plus you
> already have and figure in its present value rather than the cost of a
> new box.  There isn't a whole lot of difference between such a Plus and
> an SE/30, either, except for those 256k ROM calls that are not (yet)
> implemented on a Plus.  You can put all the hardware you presently need
> into a Plus, so Apple will continue to support the Plus for quite a
> long time yet, assuming that the place is run by Nice People who are
> grateful to the customers who put them where they are now.

Cool, but what you get when you do this is no longer a Macintosh 
Plus--it's some mutation of one.  And the SE/30 is a heckuva lot closer to 
a IIcx than it is to a Plus.  And you may be right about us continuing to 
support the vanilla Plus, but you never can tell for sure.

In article <17929@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> earleh@eleazar.dartmouth.edu 
(Earle R. Horton) writes:
> I don't see any reason for the Plus to become obsolete for a while
> yet.  In my opinion, what really separates a stock Plus from better
> Macintoshes is the 68000.  When the Plus goes, the 68000 SE isn't too
> far behind.

Good point.

__________________________________________________________________________
Just because I work for Apple Computer, Inc. doesn't mean that they 
believe what I believe or vice-versa.
__________________________________________________________________________
C++ -- The language in which only friends can access your private members.
__________________________________________________________________________