Re: Woz is back!

[rubywand@aol.com]

In article <pdueck-1602972327450001@dial5.pli.mb.ca>, pdueck@pli.mb.ca (P. Dueck) writes:

>
>In article <nugundamE5n5Gy.7s9@netcom.com>, nugundam@netcom.com (Joseph Lee) writes:
>....
>
> I think the reason why Apple really lost market share is the bad "premium
> pricing" idea and moving so far away from a computer that a shmo can just
> sit down to use AND also hack away on the side.  PCs seemed to have picked
> up on the hacking part with the decent pricing, and now recently, a nice UI.
>

     Price surely helps get reasonably up-to-date PC's into lots of homes, schools, and businesses. It does not, however, make PC especially hackable.

     For starters, there is, really, no such thing as _a_ PC. PC is a 'black box' which can come in hundreds of different hardware configurations; and, detailed documentation for any given configuration is hard to come by. In any case, PC has never attracted a base of hardware hackers comperable to '80's II users-- hardware hackers were much more interested in the Apple II.

     No doubt the main barrier to PC hacking is the absence of motivation. What is one supposed to hack? Sound, Video, I/O, mass storage, ... are being upgraded so rapidly that any gain from user mods will be swamped by low-cost products you can find at any computer store.

     Byte made a valiant try at boosting interest in PC motherboard, video card, and similar home-brew projects; but, after a brief spurt of activity, the effort flopped. Builders of '286 motherboards, etc. soon discovered that they owed doorstops. As happened with ham radio, home hi-fi, and similar hobbies, the home builder was over-matched against floods of cheap, compact, high-performance wares from commercial producers.


     Apple II was an accident. The world was dropped into Apple's lap and Apple handed it to the PC clone makers. Apple, Inc. is in a crack now because, rather than establish Apple II as the 'Standard' platform, corporate strategy has been to score in relatively small, high-profit markets. Well, the markets have dried up and most of the new opportunities seem to involve PC.

     It is nice to see the return of Woz. Perhaps, as some claim, it was just a 'might as well' move. e.g.:

    "Sir, our stock price is dropping like a rock; how about bringing back Woz. That should give our stockholders a confidence boost."

    "Sure; might as well."

On the other hand, it's interesting that, when Apple is on the ropes, "confidence boost" always seems to end up looking like "return of the Apple II".

     Granted, Big Green's moves over the last year appear to best fit a strategy which aims to get the company out of hardware manufacturing. This is not as easy as it sounds. 

     The company has no great desire to bring out a new Apple II. Yet, it cannot have escaped management's notice that 'for some reason' echoes of the Apple II days always seem to shore up sinking fortunes. Perhaps Apple will catch on before it's too late and go for the real thing.


Rubywand