Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!ames!oliveb!sun!plaid!chuq From: chuq@plaid.Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: Computer for the rest of us? Message-ID: <70045@sun.uucp> Date: 24 Sep 88 16:54:44 GMT References: <430043@hpcea.CE.HP.COM> <3600031@iuvax> <69545@sun.uucp> <1282@cbnews.ATT.COM> <6295@ut-emx.UUCP> Sender: news@sun.uucp Reply-To: chuq@sun.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach) Organization: Fictional Reality Lines: 46 >I do feel somewhat "used" at this time. I'm not sure I understand this statement. Why? Does the fact that Apple has shifted marketing emphasis mean they came and took your computer back? Or that your computer suddenly stops working? What has this done to remove value from your machine that makes your perceive yourself as being used? I'm an old 128K'er myself. We have two of them, plus a laserwriter, at home. The amount of money I have invested in MacDuff (early 128K+early 512K+ROM+2Meg Dove+SCSI+Fan+two power boards+etc+etc+etc) would probably BUYT a Mac2 if I'd saved it all and waited until now. But then, I would have lost all those years of work and production and fun (especially fun) by not having the Mac. I don't really understand how shifts in future marketing directions suddenly invalidate the past, or cause existing hardware to suddenly become worthless. I don't understand how you can be 'used' in this context. Besides, I really think you're looking at one thing and ignoring the entire marketing picture. Apple has not tossed out the University program. Students can still get major discounts on Macs and equipment. Apple is still donating hardware to schools. Apple hasn't, by any means, tossed out the University market. Concentrating on one item in the entire marketing structure isn't realistic. And think about it: what other manufacturers have ANY program like the Apple University program? Or their developer discount program? Has IBM ever Fed-Ex'ed a new release of the operating system to their entire developer base? Maybe Apple succeeded too well, if you think about it. They've won the University market and the small business market and the home market -- as well as they're going to win them. If they want to continue to gain market share and sales growth, they have to find new markets. That means Business, which is the only area where sales haven't kept pace. They have to shift marketing orientations. It's a grow or die world out there. If Apple wants to grow, they can't decide to simply be satisfied with what they have. They have to go out and take more. And if you really look at it, they haven't abandoned their old territories -- if they had, all those student discounts would be going away. Chuq Von Rospach chuq@sun.COM Delphi: CHUQ Editor/Publisher, OtherRealms