Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!umich!yale!cs.utexas.edu!usc!henry.jpl.nasa.gov!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!gryphon!pnet02!lbotez From: lbotez@pnet02.gryphon.com (Lynda Botez) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: Dwindling Support Message-ID: <24529@gryphon.COM> Date: 10 Jan 90 06:40:31 GMT Sender: root@gryphon.COM Organization: People-Net [pnet02], Redondo Beach, CA. Lines: 54 I thought the loss of Call-A.P.P.L.E. was bad enough; but then the news of the demise of Applefest concerns me more than the collapse of a magazine. To think that last September was the "last Applefest". I thought the addition of Macs to the last of the Apple II tradeshows was deplorable, but now... I really wonder if Apple is aware of how crucial the Apple II computer is to the existence of Apple Computer, Inc. It looks like they are about to find out. All last year the Apple II was ignored (at least from a Marketing point of view); while a new Macintosh CPU appeared on the scene nearly every two months. Numerous reincarnations of Mac IIci's, portables, etc. seemed to be the main focus of Apple Computer. With every new CPU, the prices kept going up... out of most people's reach! Meanwhile, the IBM clones kept getting better and less expensive! Apple has lost track of it's original user base! It seems to be interested mainly in targeting businesses and the "workstation" market; it's dropped to home computer user entirely! Well, the figures speak for themselves. While Apple is still making more money than ever, it is selling fewer computers. The market it used to control is now being absorbed by IBM clones and Amiga computers. When a company sells less product than in previous years, there is an indication of a problem. Stock prices for Apple have dropped considerably in the last 12 months. The Apple II and the Macintosh have had a bizarre, almost incestuous symbiotic relationship with each other. The Macintosh survived and blossomed because of the financial support provided by the Apple II; and also because of the established user base of the Apple II. Users of Apples eventually migrated towards the Macintosh; mainly because of the user -friendly interface and the familiarity and trustworthiness of Apple Computer, Inc. The Apple IIGS (the latest reincarnation of the Apple II line) has taken advantage of many of the Macintosh features; especially the GUI. The biggest advantage of keeping the Apple II line alive is the fact that users of the Apple II tend to migrate toward the MacIntosh when "moving up". Scores of children raised on Apple II computers want their "Mac" when they move to colleges and corporations. If the IBM-compatibles take over the school and home computer market; Apple will have placed themselves in a small, segmented market share of workstations. The next generation of MacIntosh computers (the Mac IIxi ?) will be even more expensive than the current ones. Who can afford these "Lamborgini's" of the computer world? The Apple II is a "people's machine". It's affordable, and with it's open architecture, it can be customized to a user's needs. However, it lacks the speed and the graphics that it should have been born with. 1990 will be an interesting year. Will the Apple II survive? Will Apple Computer, Inc. move on without the II? Will MacIntosh be "forever"? UUCP: {ames!elroy, }!gryphon!pnet02!lbotez INET: lbotez@pnet02.gryphon.com