Re: What if..........

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

"Donald C. Lee" writes ...
> 
> Guys n gals,
> 
>     I'm bored tonight and I had a bunch of ideas floating around to post
> to CSA2.  Here's my first one:
> 
>     For those with real imaginitive minds and love fantasys and/or what if
> scenarios, how about picking some point in time with regards to Apple
> Computer Inc. (or even the Apple II itself) and thinking....."what if this
> had happened?" instead of what actually occured.
> 
>     Some possible scenarios to get people started:
> 
> 1.  What if......the Apple III had SUCCEEDED?  How would that have changed
> the course of Apple history?
> 
> 2.  What if......the Lisa had succeded?  Same questions as above.
> 
> 3.  What if......the Apple IIGS (I think this has been discussed
> before) was marketed and pushed more than the Mac?  Where would we be
> today?
> 
 ....
> 
>     If I have time, maybe I'll construct a scenario or two.  But I would
> be interested in seeing how your wild imaginations would go!
>
 ....

     Okay.

> 1.  What if......the Apple III had SUCCEEDED?
....

     Too far-fetched. For the Apple III to have succeeded would have meant
that reality had been seriously warped. It was an incredibly stupid idea from
the start.


> 2.  What if......the Lisa had succeded?  Same questions as above.

     Same answer.


> 3.  What if......the Apple IIGS (I think this has been discussed
> before) was marketed and pushed more than the Mac?  Where would we be
> today?

     Of the three scenarios, this is the only one which cashes in on the huge
Apple II user base and recognizes that II users of the early-mid 1980's would
be very difficult to move to another machine. It is, also, the only one which
requires just a change of policy at Apple.

     Even so, we are talking about a fundamental reorientation. Pushing the
IIgs as its #1 product means that Apple places user numbers ahead of
short-term profits. It means that Apple leadership understands critical
elements of the 80's Computer Wars which it utterly failed to grasp the first
time around:

o- The primary objective is to wipe out competing platforms.

o- The center of power is the home market. If you win here, you win
everywhere else.


     So, within a year of introducing (and pushing) the IIgs, Apple is ready
with it's first model upgrade and a motherboard swap offer. The ROM-02 model
boosts base RAM to 4MB, base speed to 8MHz, video to 320 x 200 x 256 colors
and 640 x 400 x 16 colors, and Sound RAM to 256k. Stereo sound and a SCSI
interface are included; and, a 40MB hard drive is available for $300.

     In the meantime, GS System 2 is delivered (approx. equal to today's
System 6) along with a ProDOS capable of handling 2GB partitions and a good
GS BASIC.

     When, in 1989, Apple moves to a larger display with more colors, ...,
8MB of base RAM, and a 32MHz 65C1632, everyone bitches about having to get
the new model and install the new OS; but, they do it because, with 85% of
computer users, the Apple II is the standard platform everyone is producing
software for.

     Oh, and in 1998, a company called "Microsoft" sues Apple for unfair 
practices in the marketing of its GS-Net98 internet browser!



Rubywand