Re: why did apple go mac?

[SynABit@kc.invalid (Dennis Doms)]

In article <3a3b9115.17448940@news>, cyberplague@hotmail.com wrote:

>
>
>On Thu, 30 Nov 2000 18:16:25 GMT, guy-jin <guyvf@my-deja.com> wrote:
>
>> why did apple 'upgrade' to the macintosh when
>>the ][ series was still going strong? i mean the
>>][GS came after the mac! why switch? why didn't
>>apple just keep improving the ]['s, like IBM did
>>with the PC?
>>
>
>Because the 65C02/65C816 series was due to be discontinued

There may be a bit more to it than that. I don't know of an intent by
Western Design Center to discontinue the chip.

In the past, there were questions about WDC's ability to delivery
faster chips (reliably) in large quantities affecting Apple's
commitment to the IIgs. In that light, however, the question would
have to be raised why Apple made a large commitment to Motorola for
the 68000 early in its product cycle. It turns into a "chicken and
egg" argument like this: WDC could have committed to making more chips
if they had a market, and Apple could have provided the market if
there had been enough chips.

To break that stalemate, look at sales figures (what you can find; I
think Apple stopped reporting them directly) for the Apple II and Mac
product lines, and at the marketing as it progressed from 1984 to 1993
or thereabouts. When I look at them, it always looks to me like Apple
tightly restricted the market for the Apple II by many methods over
time in favor of the Mac. I don't think any of that is supported by an
inability to get chips for the IIgs, at least at the basic speed. And
I don't think the basic speed (after GS/OS) was that large of an
obstacle.

The most salient example of the manupulation (to me): at the release
of the Mac Classic, look at the price Apple charged for it ($1995?, I
believe) versus the price for just an external 40-meg hard drive
($1495?) or 3.5 drive ($399?) for the Apple II (both of which were
included in the price of the Classic). The Apple II customer base was
declining. Gee, I wonder why...

I have not bought a major Apple (brand) product in over 15 years,
though I am occasionally tempted.I would like to like the company. But
the part I liked best they discarded, so how should I judge them? I
was part of a customer base they excluded by market emphasis and price
tricks. So be it.

 --
Dennis Doms  SynABit@kc.invalid
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"In the end, only kindness matters." - "Hands", Jewel Kilcher