Re: Quality Computers (was FAXination Update)

[kindall@ic.net (Jerry Kindall)]

Mitchell Spector (spector@vax2.concordia.ca) wrote:
: In article kindall@ic.net (Jerry Kindall) writes...
: >
: >We probably will not be publishing any new Apple II programs ourselves.  
: >The development cost is just too great for the potential return.  
: >Possibly something got mixed up in the translation somewhere.  We are a 
: >Vitesse dealer and, if people call us to order something that they make, 

: 	However small, there is still an Apple II market out there. If 
: Quality Computers will not update popular software like Platinum Paint or 
: AppleWorks GS, then perhaps they should consider selling the rights to 
: someone who will. I understand how difficult an update to AWGS would be
: and what a kludge it is, but Platinum Paint is (IMO) the best available
: paint software currently available on the IIgs! With a new graphic cards
: just on the horizon, I'd really like to see this program updated to 
: support them. If not, then I truely hope Sequential Systems, RezTek,
: Procyon, ByteWorks or Seven Hills can come up with a program that will...

First of all, I didn't say we wouldn't be updating any of our existing 
titles, although there would have to be a good incentive for such an 
update.  I merely said we wouldn't be publishing any new Apple II titles 
of our own.

But still, I'm afraid your are vastly overestimating the number of people 
who will buy enhanced graphics cards for the IIGS and vastly 
underestimating the amount of programming required to support them.  
We'll be selling the Second Sight, and if we sell enough of them and we 
have people beating our door down and waving cash for a Platinum Paint 
update to support the card, why, I can see that changing rather quickly.

: >I expect we will order some.  B)  (Hint: next time, don't listen to
: >something someone in New Zealand "heard.")

: 	This "someone" in New Zealand happens to be the most knowledgable, 
: informative and reliable poster on comp.sys.apple2 FYI! ;-)

Yes, actually, I meant no slight to David Empson, who I've often seen 
posting reliable information on this newsgroup.  Still, before I got bent 
out of shape over information someone "heard" I'd want to know where 
they heard it.  After all, we should be able to do better than MacWeek. ;)
(Reminds me of something Tom Weishaar's journalism prof told him: "If 
your mother tells you she loves you, check it out!")

: >II Alive should be getting better shortly.  We recently hired a new 
: >writer for our staff, since I and current Managing Editor Dean Esmay have 
: >been busy with other projects in the last few months.  We will likely 
: >continue publishing II Alive for at least another year; I don't 
: >expect it to get any smaller, and the content should improve.  (Slated 
: >for an upcoming issue: an interview with Steve Wozniak, among other things.)

: 	Doesn't sound like a very promising future for II-Alive. The above
: statement sound like QC's has plans to discontinue printing within a year
: or less. Are there a decreasing number of subscribers? 

No, as I said, we have plans to continue publishing it for at least 
another year (that means a year or more, not a year or less as you said 
-- now you see why I don't trust things people "heard").  And yes, 
unfortunately, subscribership has decreased dramatically.  When we started 
publishing the magazine, it had 96 pages (64 pages for the magazine plus a 
32-page catalog insert).  Now it has 32 pages total.

You could assume that the number of subscribers has been decreasing in 
proportion to the number of pages, and you wouldn't be far off.

: >We don't have a Mac/IBM catalog.  However, our Enhance publication (which 
: >is an educational technology newsletter/catalog which covers Mac, Apple 
: >and IBM compatibles) has a cover that reflects the contents of the 
: >publication.  As does our "Nothing but Apples" catalog.  The frogs, toy 
: >bears, etc. are all characters from software titles which we sell and 
: >which appear in the catalog.  We are primarily an educational technology 
: >company.  What would you have preferred to see on the catalog cover?

: 	Understandable, but remember QC also caters to people who use the
: Apple II at home and in small-business as well. An Apple II catalog should
: be appealing to both educators and the rest of us out there. Something a
: bit more conservative would probably be a better idea in future (perhaps
: part of the cover show characters from children's software, another area
: with Apple II hardware items displayed, a IIgs CPU or discQuest, 3rd party
: software/hardware company logos, etc). Appealing to a wider range of people
: means more business.

I will admit that our art department went a little nuts on the Apple II 
catalog.  They wanted to produce something dramatic and artistic, and I 
think they succeeded.  However, I don't think any of them has ever used 
an Apple II, nor do they really have have any kind of conception about the 
sort of community that uses it.  It's so hard these days to find talented 
commercial artists who have used an Apple II.  ;)

Three years ago, we realized that we were as big as we could ever get in 
the Apple II market, and that the Apple II market wasn't an expanding 
market, so we began making a concerted effort to shift the focus of our 
company toward educational technology in general -- we already had a 
foothold there, of course, since the Apple II has always been a favorite 
in education.  You don't do $10 million in sales in the Apple II market 
these days, I'm afraid.  Anyway, the Apple II business we do must support 
the company's direction -- hence the format of the Apple II catalog.  I 
have made an effort to keep II Alive more of a consumer/hobbyist 
publication, though.

: >: A 270mb SCSI hardrive for $500? Why, when most any other vendor will 
: >: sell you the same thing for $179!
: > 
: >The prices are higher on Apple II drives because they require special 
: >setup, formatting, and support.  However, I'll have our purchasing guy 
: >check and see how long it's been since the pricing was updated on 
: >those.  It might be we're inadvertently printing old prices or something.

: 	I'm sorry, there's no excuse for this. Apple II SCSI drives are no
: different than Macintosh or IBM SCSI hardrives. Formatting a drive with 
: ProDOS is not some complex proceedure, nor is there any "special setup"
: involved. Many educators are not up to date or ignorant on hardrive market
: prices, so it would seem to me QC is purposely overpricing to take advantage
: of these individuals. Charging more for Apple II specific hardware can be
: rationalized (smaller market) but I disagree when applied to items it happens
: to share with the PC and Mac. This includes hardrives, printers, modems, 
: keyboards, disk-drives, etc.

I already mentioned in a reply to another message, I think, that the 
drive mechanisms come pre-formatted for the Macintosh.  At least that is 
my impression.  But it's not the formatting; it's the support.  The 
average Apple II technical support call lasts 20-30 minutes (some as long 
as two hours).  The average non-Apple II technical support call lasts 
5-10 minutes (up to about 30 minutes).  In addition, we routinely field 
questions from people who just bought Apple IIs at a garage sale (or 
wherever) and need to have the entire computer explained to them before 
they can buy anything.  (Apple refers these people to us.)  They have no 
idea what the Finder is or how to say "ProDOS."  Frequently these people 
call on our 800 number and talk to a sales rep, so we're paying for the 
call.  Obviously, we do this in hopes that eventually they will become a 
customer.  But it is expensive to acquire customers this way, as you can 
imagine.

I am not complaining, as any customer we can acquire is valuable to us 
through repeat business, but it is also clear that a lot of people don't 
understand the economics of the business we do.  Things like technical 
support don't just happen.  An hour-long call costs us well over $25 in 
personnel costs and overhead -- more if we're paying for the call.  And 
Apple II hard drives need a lot of technical support.  Most of the people 
who buy them have never used anything but floppies and in many cases they 
don't "get it" for quite a while.  (As an example, we frequently have 
people ask us why they need to expand their computer's RAM to run a 
particular program when they already have 80 MB of memory in their hard 
drive.)

: >: At least their price on the Second Sight card is reasonable...
: > 
: >Wait, isn't the Second Sight a new Apple II product?  And Quality is 
: >carrying it?  Well, golllllleee!  %)

: 	I'm glad QC is doing this, and for less than the retail price!
: Unless another vendor will offer it for much less, I'll purchase a Second 
: Sight through QC. :) If and when it's available, is there a possibility
: you'll be carrying the TurboRez as well?

Good question.  If Second Sight does well, it could mean that everyone 
who wanted an enhanced video card for their IIGS has already sated that 
desire by the time TurboRez is available.  On the other hand, if Second 
Sight does poorly, it could mean that there is simply no market for such 
a card.  Of course, if the TurboRez had been released, oh, four or so 
years ago when I first saw it at the last AppleFest, it would have stood 
a slightly better chance.  All I can say is that we'll have to wait and 
see where the market is when the TurboRez comes out, if it ever does.

: >: 	I still think Quality Computers is a vaulable resource for Apple II
: >: users and a great source of support, but I'd hate to see any of that to
: >: start slipping. I'm *not* trying to bash QC, I'm more concerned with where
: >: their future with the Apple II lies based on the above.
: > 
: >We will continue supporting the Apple II as long as significant 
: >numbers of people continue to buy Apple II products from us.

: 	I'm glad to hear that, hopefully this will be for many years
: to come! Afterall, Quality is the largest vendor of Apple II products
: in the United State (the world?) as far as I know...

It depends on the market.  We support the market the best way we can 
given its size.  It's not a matter of us no longer being able to support 
a market; it's more a matter of the market no longer being large enough 
to support us.  I literally got started in this business through the 
Apple II, so I'm hoping for a long haul myself.

: Mitchell Spector
: m_spect@pavo.concordia.ca / spector@vax2.concordia.ca

--
Jerry Kindall (kindall@ic.net) -- Manual Labor

I pay for this account myself and do not represent Quality Computers via 
this address.  For QC questions & info e-mail quality@genie.geis.com.