Re: Apple //f...

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

"Greg J. Buchner" <buchner@tcfreenet.org> wrote:

>On 27 Jun 1999, Supertimer wrote:
>
>> "Greg J. Buchner" <buchner@tcfreenet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> >There may have been sample quantities of faster 65816's, but there wasn't 
>> >the large quantity available that Apple would have needed to go into
>> >production (not that they would have used them if there had been the
>> >numbers of chips available).  After all, look at a smaller company
>> >like Applied Engineering...they had problems getting 7MHz units for
>> >their first TransWarps.
>> 
>> Intel wasn't the company it is until IBM "discovered" it.  Why would WDC
>> gear up to produce large volumes of fast 65C816 chips if Apple couldn't
>> make a commitment to the IIGS and moved toward placing an order?
>> The chips he had proves that Mesch could deliver fast chips.
>
>OK, maybe it's the business accounting talking that I took in the 
>80's, but at that time, Apple generally only ordered stuff out of
>a manufacturer's stock.  This was done to make sure there would be
>enough chips for a production run.  It's often done differently
>now, but that was standard business practice back then.

You make a good point, however, progress is a two way street.
For Western Design Center to gear up to produce large volumes
of fast 65C816, there would have to be SOME indication that
Apple would buy the chips.  A genuine interest in marketing the
IIGS would be a good indication.  However, Apple showed
nothing but neglect for the IIGS.  To WDC, it was anything BUT
moving toward the purchase of large volumes of the faster chips.

I think WDC decided that there was no interest at Apple.  When
Mensch grabbed that microphone, it was to respond to Apple's
allegation that *WDC* was stunting the IIGS, which was not
true.  Apple could dish it out (stifle the IIGS) but couldn't take
the heat (in front of all those IIGS fans) so they used WDC as a
scapegoat.

>And if Mensch could deliver fast 65816's, then why didn't the
>Transwarps come with faster chips?

AE wasn't large enough to justify a large production run of fast
65C816 chips.

>I really don't think Apple would have made a faster GS if the
>mass amounts of 65816's were available...I think Apple was too
>committed to the Mac by then.

On this point, we are in agreement.

Steve Jobs mentality, begun in his Macintosh division where he
labelled everyone outside of the Mac group (ie. the Apple II
people) an outsider, had long taken over the company.  I think
that when John Sculley reintegrated the Mac and Apple II
divisions, it was already too late.  Jobs had made sure the Mac
division got all the perks so that when the two divisions merged,
the Mac folks ruled.