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From: toddpw@tybalt.caltech.edu (Todd P. Whitesel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Matt, please listen! (Was Re: contacts in Norman, OK)
Message-ID: <1990Mar9.015630.19919@spectre.ccsf.caltech.edu>
Date: 9 Mar 90 01:56:30 GMT
References: <9003050139.AA19408@apple.com> <39202@apple.Apple.COM> <1990Mar6.121631.2034@spectre.ccsf.caltech.edu> <39314@apple.Apple.COM>
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Organization: California Institute of Technology
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mattd@Apple.COM (Matt Deatherage) writes:

>Todd, what would you do if you were working 60+ hour weeks developing new
>products for the Apple II just to read on newsgroups like this one that
>you and your coworkers are "developing at a snail's pace"?

I would wonder what prompted someone to say that. They wouldn't say something
like that about their favorite machine if there wasn't a reason.

My reason: while you guys are pulling all nighters to turn the II into the
computer we know it can be, APPLE has to let the world know that the II has a
future.

You've heard that one before, now listen to it, PLEASE:

The PERCEPTION of the PC industry is that Apple is trying to phase out the II.
Everything we bitch about and more are commonly cited by other people as
evidence that Apple has no serious plans for the II.

Apple has managed to let a bear of a market perception problem form over the
years and had better deal with it soon because too many people believe MacWeek
when they print stuff about the II getting phased out in favor of a low cost
mac.

This is a problem because most of the people who read the 'trendy' computer
mags also believe that Apple has given up on the II because, as they see it
(and the evidence points in this direction too), it gets barely visible to
inadequate levels of support and development, as compared with the rest of the
low end computer industry.

The problem is when friends ask them to recommend a computer system and they
DO NOT RECOMMEND THE APPLE II because of it.

Add to that the technical lag between the IIGS and its competitors (hardware
is only half of it) and you begin to see why we are complaining...

I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings by implicating you directly. That was wrong.
Apple has got to realize that it has not broadcast the II's situation to the
public and has even hampered it with all sorts of non-disclosure garbage which
we are sick of seeing when the Mac people never have to even think about it.
The PC market itself is what percieves the II as a dead machine, and Apple had
better fix it soon before the situation becomes irreversible and too many
customers are lost to competitors' machines.

If you doubt any of this, or if you are considering flaming me for being
unrealistic about the II's market position, ask yourself if the current IIGS
can kick the Amiga or a PC clone at the same price range. Ask yourself where
all the big name software developers are when it comes to IIGS and //e
support, and why there aren't powerful industry standard programs available
for the IIGS when they are available for every machine it competes with.
Ask yourself how it is that Apple's education reps push people onto Macs and
discourage them from buying II's, and why schools have ended up buying PC
clones instead. Or why few colleges (if any; Caltech doesn't) sell II's but
all carry the full line of Macs.

And ask yourself why it is that former II owners have given up and bought
Amiga's or PCs because they want what they do not SEE Apple doing: actively
developing the machine so that it remains competitive in its major markets.

Apple's past policies have allowed a market which sees the II as 'dying' to
develop, and Apple will have to deal with it. It doesn't take much, but we
see no solid indication that Apple is aware of the perception problem and that
is what worries us.

I apologize for my past comments which implied that you and DTS were somehow
at fault. You folks do a wonderful job without a lot of personnel or a huge
budget, and I really do appreciate it. But the fact remains that Apple
Corporate in general has gotten way out of touch with many of their
representatives in the field; this affects many Mac owners as well except they
seem to have enough clout with dealers and reps to make themselves heard.
I can't expect you to do anything about it from DTS, but hearing an Apple
employee, ANY Apple employee, acknowledge that Apple understands and is doing
something about it would help immensely.

When we try to tell you how bad the II's situation looks from out here in the
real world and you tell us to quit whining, how do you think we feel?

Todd Whitesel
toddpw @ tybalt.caltech.edu