Re: Wozniak vs Jobs

[shack@onyx.southwind.net (Randy Shackelford)]

Mitchell Spector (spec@vax2.concordia.ca) wrote:

:     Consider the facts -- the Apple IIe and Apple IIgs selling then
: were functionally *identical* to the originals released in 1983 and
: 1986 (the Platinum IIe and ROM 3 were completely insignificant out-
: side of the Apple II community--and then even within the community,
: when you think about the extremely minor changes). Even a decade
: ago, computers become obsolite after short time periods; perhaps
: not mere months, but a few years were like a lifetime in computer
: years. You _have_ to continually keep computers up to date as
: technology is introduced (and enhance and maintain the existing
: features) or the machine is on a path towards death.

Obsolescence/replacement wasn't nearly so rapid earlier on as it is now.
For instance, consider how long ProDOS 1.1.1 and Mac system 7.1 were current.
And that is even more so with Apple hardware; my Quadra 840av, introduced
in summer of '93, is just now reaching the point where software support
is tailing off, and I consider that premature. And throw in the fact that
Apple equipment holds its value far better than PC hardware too. The going
price for a basic 840av is $400-500. Could you get that for a five year old
PC?

:     Also, consider that all advertising was dropped for the Apple II
: not long after the "Apple II Forever" hype began when the IIc was
: introduced. It was incredibly rare to see the Apple II advertised
: on television or in magazine adds around the time of the GS, and
: by the late 80's and early 90's there was no exposure whatsoever
: more or less. Finally, during all this time the price of the IIe
: and GS had remained outrageously high (even next to expensive Macs)
: and the company showed no signs of interest in supporting their
: own product. All things considered, it is quite remarkable they
: managed to sell a total of even 14 Apple II units.

Up until recently, Apple's marketing has been asleep at the wheel. Up until
the Think Different campaign and the Pentium II snail and burning dancing
Intel idiot commericals, when was the last time you recall seeing an Apple 
ad for anything?

:     Try doing the same for the PowerMacintosh: cut all advertising,
: drop support, keep costs high and do absolutely nothing to upgrade
: the machine (sell the same model, unchanged year after year) and
: see how long it lasts. You can even pretend the PC compatible is
: on equal footing in terms of market size and popularity for this.
: The end result will still be the same. The Apple II did not die
: because of lack of interest, it died because of Apple Computer.

I contend that it "died" because it reached the end of its life cycle. You
could consider 68K Macs "dead" for the same reason. I suppose that the
difference is that the Apple II crowd doesn't like the replacement for Apple
IIs as much as the 68K crowd like theirs.
--
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