Re: Apple advertisement

[cheer@i.hate.spam (Christopher D. Heer)]

It was Tue, 25 Feb 1997 14:04:44 -0800.  I was reading instead of working.  And 
B.J. Major & Dennis J. Gorin <NOSPAM***bjbear@ibm.net> said:

>> >I just acquired an Apple //e
>> >system. Nothing beats an 8 bit and/or 16 bit Apple II computer.

>> Well, I think realism is required here.  I fully concede that modern
>> Wintel and Mac machines do things an Apple II cannot.  Lots of things.  But 
>> I still love my 8-bit Apple, and when I commute to and from work on the 
>> train, I'm usually running Apple II software on my laptop.  :)

>I'd like to know what kind of laptop, first off!

Toshiba Tecra 700.  Pentium 120 and all that.  Not a religious decision; it's 
what my company supplied me with.

>> The trick is to not become a zealot, and to acknowledge the benefits and 
>> weaknesses of any system.

>Unfortunately, modern computer society does not allow for this anymore. 

Fiddlesticks and poppycock.  It most certainly does.  I do it all the time.  In 
fact, if you are making business purchasing decisions using ANY other criteria, 
you're being silly.  Mind you, that gets into a debate about weaknesses.

>The constant put-down of Apple by the media, despite its obvious successes,
>has had an effect on modern day Macintosh users similar to a "call to
>arms."  

You can't possibly be serious.  It's all the media's fault?  Are you really 
saying that?  (Paging alt.fan.conspiracy. . . )

>I feel this myself, with all the propaganda and misinformation
>being thrown at the computer buying public by the powers of Intel and
>Microsoft.  

I'll concede they market in a misleading fashion.  Apple, however, is just as 
guilty.  That's what marketing is all about.  :)

>I'm mad as hell and I'll fight to the death over this.  Even if
>Apple went "out of business" tomorrow--I'd still never jump ship to the
>Wintel world (and I am saying this with some experience as I had 10 plus
>years of having to work on Wintels in my job).  I'd just keep on using Macs
>until there wasn't one left on the earth.

And that's *exactly* the kind of zealotism I was warning against.  It defies 
rationality.  I've supported PCs for over 10 years, Macs for nearly as long, 
and I'm here to tell you that I will use whatever gets the job done.

>> Does the Mac have some advantages over the PC because the design and 
>> engineering is all under one roof?  You bet.
 
>> Does the PC have some advantages over the Mac due to economies of scale and 
>> pricing?  You bet.

>This is extremely debateable as Mac prices have come down drastically in
>the last six months.

No it's not.  The wide variety of brands of PCompatibles make the market far 
more price-competitive.  Macs have closed the gap, but it still exists.
-- 
          Christopher D. Heer - cheer at us dot oracle dot com
     My opinions are my own and do not reflect those of Oracle Corp.
    SPAMProtect: You'll need to fix my email address before replying.