Re: Re. Sun-Apple

[rubywand@aol.com (RUBYWAND)]

In article <prHKpJ6.seanlynch@delphi.com>, seanlynch
<seanlynch@delphi.com> writes:

> 
>    I'd like to know how the ibm ps/2's have faired? Although I'm pretty
>much in agreement with you on the durability of apple's equipment, my
>experience is that the older ibm pc equipment is all high quality too.
> 
>    Was it the boards that had problems, and not the ps2's?
> 

      Ps/2 was IBM's big move to show the no-name clone makers (a.k.a. the
"gruds")  who's boss. Ps/2's were more attractive, more compact machines
which also included one or two technical improvements over the clone
AT's..

      Ps/2's were notably more expensive than, roughly, same-performance
clone machines. At least some models  would not accept standard-sized AT
plug-in boards unless the user added a special AT expansion box.

    The gruds barely noticed the Ps/2. They merely continued their own
cut-throat price wars. New, improved motherboards were churned out on a
monthly basis. Video, Sound, IDE Controller, and other board makers
continued to sprout newer, better AT peripherals. Software vendors
continued to generate bigger, more spectacular entertainment, telecom,
etc. applications. Users continued to buy the most performance they could
afford.

    Ps/2 was erased from the PC-compatible landscape.

    
    The lesson is that selling high-priced PC's is a very risky business.
You can score a hit on a small part of the market; but, sustaining a
position appears to require a combination of very good management, ESP,
and luck.

    Apple's experience in 1995 is a good example. Had Apple management
guessed that Windows 95 would be greeted negatively by so many computer
shoppers, they could have accelerated Power Mac production in time to meet
the blip in demand.

    Now, of course, Apple will be producing more Power Macs just about the
time yet another generation of Intel-fueled monsters hits the scene.
Simultaneously, piles of 'old' Pentium 166's will be dumped at
ridiculously low prices.

    Was Apple wise to turn Mac into a PC? Probably, yes. It was unprepared
to price pure Macs competitively; and, the Power Mac ploy bought the
company a few years. Unfortunately, as a result, the Mac user base is now
part of the PC user base. Poisoned, both the Mac and Mac users are of
rapidly diminishing proprietary value.

    Okay; so, Apple threw Mac into the maw of the competition to buy time.
Time, for what? Since, evidently, Big Green has run out of new tricks, the
company may be about ready to try an oldie. As in 1985, will Apple turn to
it's II series? After so many years, does Apple still have the savvy to do
it right?



     

Rubywand