Re: "The Apple II is DEAD" - Long Live the Apple II

[mark@trillian.jsc.nasa.gov (Mark Manning)]

Well, for myself, I would first suggest to the school that they should
look around and acquire a contract with someone in the area to fix
whatever problems they might have with their computers.  By contract,
I do not mean a maintenance contract per se, but more of an assurance
that the school will turn to that particular person first for help when
one of the computers go down.  In return, since the person would be getting
several calls a year from the school, maybe they could reduce their
"normal" service charges.  Not in the manner of a kick-back, but simply
in the manner of a normal discount due to the high volume of work the
person would be doing for the school.

This would alleviate some of the concern about availability of parts,
labor, and other matters along these lines.  Further, it would free
up worries about their old equipment and its usability in the near
(and hopefully far) future.

The next question is whether or not Apple products over IBM products
should be used in the schools.  I can not speak for others.  Only
myself.  For myself I can see that IBM CLONES are becoming more and
more accepted as the standard type of computer.  Notice though that
even IBM itself is being pushed out of the way by the clone manufacturers.
(Remember that IBM a year or so ago laid off 40,000 people because of
this.)  Windows, although a look-a-like for the Macintosh
environment, is gaining in popularity because it is still evolving.
Not that I WANT it to become the defacto standard, but it is.  The
reasoning is very simple - price.  Many people will say that this is
not true.  But when you walk into almost any computer store and compare
the prices of the Macintosh versus the prices of the clones you can
see that people are going to buy the clones.  They are just cheaper.
Further, computing power past a certain point, is meaningless to the
average buyer.  Whereas I might want a Quadra, many other people are
perfectly happy with a Mac LC.  Therefore, if they are happy with a
Mac LC they will probably be happy with a 386SX (which you can get
for around $450.00 now in some shops).  I have heard, in computer
stores, people make comments like "Well, what's the big deal if it
redraws a picture in one second or two?"  Speed, to them, is not the
issue.  Whether the computer works is the issue.  How much it will
cost them to repair it is also an issue.

So which to use in schools?  I would still recommend Apples over
Oranges..er...clones.  Why?  Mainly because the machines are not as
intimidating to children as IBMs are.  A little //e or //gs is not
anywhere near as massive, powerful, or scary to little kids as some
of the clones can be.  If the school can get an agreement with someone
to fix their systems, then I'd keep them around forever.  Start them
out on the smaller systems and then graduate them to the larger ones.
Unfortunately, the larger systems I would graduate them to would be
clones with windows.  Hopefully by the time they reach that point
the Windows OS will have also gotten even friendly (especially since
Apple and IBM are working together to create the Power PC this should
happen).

My $0.02 worth. :)

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I saw a mountain rising.  Rising above the sea.  I heard the wind calling. 
Calling unto me.  Oh, who has seen the sunset?  Who has seen it rise?  Who
could ever be so blind?  As to never open their eyes? - Mark Manning

mark@trillian.jsc.nasa.gov