Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!jarthur!spectre.ccsf.caltech.edu!tybalt.caltech.edu!toddpw From: toddpw@tybalt.caltech.edu (Todd P. Whitesel) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: Re: More Macweek Rumors Message-ID: <1990Mar8.003513.3310@spectre.ccsf.caltech.edu> Date: 8 Mar 90 00:35:13 GMT References: <90@ <15800095@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <1990Mar7.103520.22977@spectre.ccsf.caltech.edu> Sender: news@spectre.ccsf.caltech.edu Organization: California Institute of Technology Lines: 45 gbrown@tybalt.caltech.edu (Glenn C. Brown) writes: >cs122dc@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu writes: >>At any rate-- it seems the only people who really know what is going to happen >>are the only people we aren't hearing from-- Apple. >I hate to say this, but "Don't you think Apple would have contradicted the >romours of the demise of the // ifthey were not true? After all, the rumours >cannot be helping sales..." >--Uh, I don't know if I want to sign this. I can feel the heat already! No heat from me or anyone else; this is what's always in the back of our minds and it's what prompts me to write everything. Apple seems to have things in mind but they've got to realize that their unequal treatment of the II and the Mac in the past has been conditioned into the public by now, and that they need to actively stir interest in the II because it is still their best low end contender, and an excellent machine in its own right, but has lacked certain resources that the 'trendy industry' sees as necessary. Most of these are now available or will be shortly, and Apple can't be soo short-sighted to not realize that they can make a IIGS compatible Amiga killer. I am sick of people who think that the II is a liability to the Mac. When the Mac was first getting started, Apple would have gone under if not for the steady //e and (later) IIGS sales that Apple enjoyed. Problem is, the rest of the industry has moved on, and Apple hasn't done enough to keep the II current; a major problem has been the loack of coordination with Bill Mensch. I claim that Apple has long since had the clout necessary to get the 65816 mask made to run faster reliably. Now that the ASIC guys are going to make their job easy then there will be no excuse if Apple allows the Amiga to continue to draw hackers away from Apple's machines. I do see a coordinated strategy developing in the low end and mid range PC markets which uses and (matter of fact) _requires_ both the inherent strengths of the II and the Mac, and pretty much satisfies everyone (except the fanatics who should be run out of town anyway). I'm just sick of Apple not telling us anything when what we need is real reassurance and not hollow-sounding promises. Todd Whitesel toddpw @ tybalt.caltech.edu