Re: Action needed or Apple becomes a looser!

[rubywand@aol.com (RUBYWAND)]

In article <3204db36.18869701@news.earthlink.net>, markvan@earthlink.net
(Mark Van Nordstrand) writes:

>Subject:	Re: Action needed or Apple becomes a looser!
>From:	markvan@earthlink.net (Mark Van Nordstrand)
>Date:	Mon, 12 Aug 1996 13:20:00 GMT
>
>Apple could do what they used to do best: Innovate.
>They failed by trying to compete in other people's markets, like
>business. They should have solidified their position in their own
>market. They also depended on artificially inflated prices to survive,
>by restricting sales to "authorized resellers". 
>
>They already own a single-chip Apple II, right? It could be used to
>build all kinds of special purpose devices that don't exist already.
>Any general purpose computer they built would have to be completely
>open, to be hackable for hobbiests. It would use common PC slots,
>connectors, pinouts. Also USB. It would use flash-rom, which would
>have both the operating system and common apps available all the time,
>upgradable without expense. It would be easily openable, include
>schematics, and include sockets for chips likely to fail, like I/O
>chips and CPU. It would use regular DIMMs or SIMMs, maybe the 30-pin
>type that's abundant. It wouldn't need 16mb, four would be plenty.
>It could use PCMCIA cards instead of slots. It would be PlugNPlay. It
>would include the best improvements of late, without the development
>expense.
>

     This won't fly. There is no substantial market for individuals
interested in messing with low-performance machines. If you want to
attract hobby types and experimenters, come out with something FAST and
expandable.



>Specialty devices might include:
>
>	A home appliance controller, graphically programmable, using IR
>to control TV, stereo's, other computers, and X10 for appliances.
>Using TV or LCD for display, with a trackball / screen buttons to
>program. 
>
>	A dedicated net machine. TV or LCD (color) display. Good
>keyboard. Netscape in flash ROM, hard drive storage of pages / news /
>email. First year's net access free with purchase. IR connection to
>other APPLE II computers. Could include quickcam and Cuseeme for vid-
>conf. and a VERY cheap ISDN adapter. Would also have one-chip ethernet
>port for cable modems out soon. And cost <$600. 
>....

     It's fine to come up with applications. Unfortunately for Apple, it
is easy to handle needs as they arise via low cost dedicated controllers.
Any 'do everything' controller is certain to quickly become obsolete.



>
>The idea is, if you can't sell one big computer well, sell lots of
>small specialized ones that can interconnect. These are niche markets,
>some will fizzle, but one might take off.
>....

     You are talking about a situation where a company can, to some
extent, dictate standards. For example, if Apple had supported continued
development of the II series and expansion of the user base, then it would
be in a position to talk about associated controllers and interfaces for
all sorts of applications.

     Since Apple went for the quick bucks and gave up any attempt to
establish control of the home market, it is in a pretty poor position to
talk about controllers for anything.

     If Apple expects to stick around, it had best find some way to
attract significant numbers of home users to a machine it controls.


Rubywand