Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!agate!web-1f!laba-4ad
From: laba-4ad@web-1f.berkeley.edu (Joseph Teo)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Apple IIGS
Message-ID: <1990Jan9.021220.27058@agate.berkeley.edu>
Date: 9 Jan 90 02:12:20 GMT
Sender: Calvin Cheng
Reply-To: laba-4ad@web-1f (Joseph Teo)
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Lines: 44

I have been using II Plus (rather the Europlus) and then the IIGS and now the
Mac SE/30. Back in Singapore where I came from (just 1 week or so ago), we've
got this bunch of Apple II diehards too and I have been reading with interest
(and sometimes amusement) at the mail left over Info-Apple. Unfortunately,
the folks at the National University of Singapore were not generous enough to
give all students access to the net. Now that I don't own the IIGS anymore 
(I actually wanted to keep it but that'd prevent me from buying the SE/30),
I am in a position not to be as defensive about it. I still keep my II Plus
namely because it's practically unsellable and it does retain a certain
amount of sentimental value in me.

As a long time Apple II user, I am rightfully displeased by the lack of
attention and regard given to a fine, long-standing machine. The folding of
Call-APPLE, the relegation of AppleFest into a free-for-all affair are just
2 recent unpleasant incidents in a long history of events. However, I do find
some of the statements here getting a little irrational. I'm living happily
with my Mac and I definitely find it the more useable machine. I don't even
need the color graphics 'coz I'm not really into that. The small size of the
display is more of a handicap. That's something I acknowledge. But as for
as my needs are concerned, the Mac is the better machine. Of course, that
doesn't mean that the Mac is the better machine to everyone.

What Apple is going through now is a serious identity crisis. The 2 lines
are just too different for any single sales policy to work. And the folks in
marketing probably only see the more prominent side of the 2. They don't
share the same fervor for the II as a lot of you out here. Worse still, I do
seriously suspect that a lot of them are driven by short term goals.

Much as I hate to say, the future lies with the Mac. The main problem here
is Apple's either not doing enough or not doing anything fast enough to
answer to the immediate needs of Apple II users. The optimum way out is to
provide a low-cost upgrade path to the Mac while protecting the current
investments of Apple II owners. That may sound a little far fetched
considering the high margins that Apple sells her products but that's the
only way out.

Some of my friends have been frustrated enough to consider looking at 
Amiga. And I'd really recommend it for anybody who hasn't got a substantial
Apple II grounding. I, on the other hand, have turned to the Mac. Well,
some people have remarked that Apple has been arrogant enough to ignore the
low end market. To some extent I do agree. But I still feel Apple should
retain her status quo as a quality company.

What of the rumor that Apple was going to split into 2 companies?