Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!pur-ee!mentor.cc.purdue.edu!leburg
From: leburg@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Brian Pierson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Low-Cost Macintosh
Summary: we won't be happy
Message-ID: <7504@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>
Date: 15 Feb 90 14:13:02 GMT
Expires: 28 Feb 90 05:00:00 GMT
References: <126900165@p.cs.uiuc.edu> <25c8e25c.62bb@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU> <6793@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM> <1981@rodan.acs.syr.edu>
Reply-To: leburg@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Brian Pierson)
Organization: Purdue University
Lines: 34
Distribution:na

In article <1981@rodan.acs.syr.edu> isr@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Michael S. Schechter - ISR group account) writes:
>In article <6793@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM> larryh@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM (Larry Hutchinson) writes:
>>There exists a growing body of programs that will only run on 68020/'881
>>level machines.  This is particularly true in science and engineering.
>>
>Yes, but how many people that are interested in $1000 machine are going
>to be buying Spice or Mathematica at $800 a shot?? You coudn't possibly
>imagine that "borrowing" of programs such as these could ever occur?
>
>--
>Mike Schechter, Computer Engineer,Institute Sensory Research, Syracuse Univ.
>InterNet: isr@rodan.acs.syr.edu   Bitnet: SENSORY@SUNRISE

	It is true that getting a low-cost machine wouldn't stop people from
 hijacking software but you do have an excellent point. If you were 
interested in a low end Mac then why are you trying to use high end software?
There is a whole world out there that doesn't need or want high end computing.
The number of xt clones on the market shows that. Microsoft is also aware of 
this with their watered down version of Word.(MS Write) The low cost mac needs
to have a upgrade path that is reasonable but when the user grows beyond the 
need to do just simple word processing or spread sheets. All of us on the net
are more the high end users, we will not benefit from that low-cost Mac much.
Some of us will be able to acquire one for home finally but we won't be happy 
until it does every thing that our machine at work does. Well the only way to 
do that is to get one like we have at work. Apple does need to get one out on
the market so they can get the user base back up where it deserves to be. If 
Apple has all the troubles that the business rags say they do it will a needed
boost. Well enough of me running off at the fingertips.

Coming down off of my soapbox

Brian Pierson   pierson@midas.mgmt.purdue.edu

Disclaimer: What I say is What I say. Ignore it my bosses do