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

[foegelle@sleepy.cc.utexas.edu (Michael Foegelle)]

In article <1993Nov27.005935.26608@gallant.apple.com>,
David A Lyons  <dlyons@apple.com> wrote:
>In article <2d2le3$68t@news.ysu.edu> Eric S. Ford, ag471@yfn.ysu.edu
>writes:
>> Perhaps it's only "doom-smithing", but the computer industry strongly
>> resembles the Video Recorder industry situation of the early and mid
>80's
>> with Apple (in particular the Mac) playing the role of the Sony BetaMax
>> and MS-DOS that of the VHS.  Sony did not perish, but they now sell VHS
>> and I can easily perceive the same transition occurring with Apple,
>> particularly with their Power-PC line.  Is this an apt analogy?  I think
>
>VHS vs. BetaMax is a difference in packaging only:  The content, recorded
>programs, is the same (except for a small difference in picture quality?).

Not exactly..  Actually, Beta typically has better picture quality for the
original (standard) speed, vs. that of VHS.  However there were limitations,
the first being the fact that a Beta tape at the fast speed (short time) 
couldn't hold most full length feature films, so that hurt the home video 
market.  (And of course changing the speed to accomodate the longer times
reduced image quality..)  But what really hurt Beta most of all was Sony's 
over pricing and poor marketting strategy.  VHS makers soon flooded the 
market with comparatively cheap VHS machines which value conscious shoppers
opted to buy over the Beta.  That, more than anything else, resembles the 
current Apple situation.  Granted Macs have nice features and some good looking
software, but compared to the flood of low cost IBM clones with software having
similar capabilities, it's getting harder and harder to say  'buy a mac'.  In 
the end, that may be Apple's downfall (if it isn't already) in the war over a 
computing standard.  

>The Macintosh user experience is substantially different from the
>other-GUIs experience.  There are enough similarities on the *surface*
>that marketers try to convince customers that Macintosh has no advantage.

True, but don't all companies rely on the retailer (and the customer) to get
their products sold?

>I don't forsee a BetaMax-style convergence, and I'm certainly not ready
>to write off innovation.

Who is?  But unless Apple starts making innovation inexpensive, they're gonna
hurt I'm afraid.  (Of course, look at all of us in this forum who've shelled
out a significant amount of money to Apple for our computers...  But that's 
another story..)  

>Dave Lyons, dlyons@apple.com
>Mr Tangent
>
>My opinions are my own, not Apple's.

Michael Foegelle

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