Re: ANN: Retiring from A2 world - Good Bye All!

[pausch@saaf.se (Paul Schlyter)]

In article <jalapeno1-8AAE0D.10564515062002@nnrp05.earthlink.net>,
Jalapeno  <jalapeno1@mac.com> wrote:
 
> [Please don't top post, it interupts the dialog]
> In article <3d0b2a2b_1@news3.prserv.net>,
>  "Tom Zuchowski" <tzuchow@attglobal.net> wrote:
> 
>> Uh, you seem to be disregarding the fact that the Apple II+ was the original
>> "business machine" and was very, very successful in that role. 
> 
> Really, show me some figures on that, please. During that time my 
> partners and I had a technology consulting firm that reviewed and 
> negotiated contracts, mapped out techonology strategies, built data 
> centers from the ground up, and consulted in hardware upgrades for many 
> large corporations and businesses. The vast majority of our business 
> dealt with mainframes and mid/mini computers but we always looked at all 
> technologies.
 
The "original business machine" was of course a mainframe.  Perhaps
it's time for a reminder that IBM is an acronym, meaning
"International Business Machines"...
 
...............
 
>> Meanwhile, the Mac was largely a toy for years until the SE30 finally hit
>> the streets. Even then, it was a poor excuse for a "business machine" and no
>> competition for the PC. And let's not forget that IBM was well on its way to
>> market dominance by the time the first pitiful Mac128 hit the street.
>> 
> 
> Well, you appear to have some kind of passion about the topic. I was in 
> business then. In business you need to be as objective as you can. Apple 
> conceived of the Mac as a business machine. It stated so in it's 
> literature of the time. It was marketed for business. It was a complete 
> failure. From 1979 to mid 1980 most (actually all) business managers I 
> dealt with said they'd look at a micro-computer solution if IBM came out 
> with one. When IBM announced the PC in 1980 we were asked by our clients 
> to investigate PC solutions for most of the first half of 1981. When we 
> talked with IBM field engineers they used to laugh. It was my impression 
> at the time even people in IBM thought the "PC" was a fad that would be 
> short-lived. IBM dumped a whole lot of money into advertising though, so 
> someone there took it seriously. 
 
The IBM PC was originally conceived to be a toy/game computer, and
IBM created it merely to enter the microcomputer business.  They
probably had no idea at the time that they would be creating a new
microcomputer standard....
 
-- 
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Paul Schlyter,  Swedish Amateur Astronomer's Society (SAAF)
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