Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!wuarchive!udel!burdvax!dave
From: dave@PRC.Unisys.COM (David Lee Matuszek)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Left in Dust? (was: Adobe Type Manager)
Message-ID: <11545@burdvax.PRC.Unisys.COM>
Date: 25 Sep 89 18:12:10 GMT
References: <15514@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> <1179@adobe.UUCP> <459@amanue.UUCP> <20020@usc.edu> <1211@cbnewse.ATT.COM> <1989Sep23.005117.7490@NCoast.ORG>
Sender: news@PRC.Unisys.COM
Organization: Unisys Corporation, Paoli Research Center; Paoli, PA
Lines: 36

In article <1989Sep23.005117.7490@NCoast.ORG> allbery@ncoast.ORG (Brandon S. Allbery) writes:

>Have I finally made it clear why I'm upset?  Has it finally percolated through
>to people that THE MAC COSTS A LOT MORE THAN MS-DOS HARDWARE THAT DOES THE
>SAME THING?  Oh, sure, I could go back to DOS to "solve" the problem -- but
>DOS has its own disadvantages and so does MS Windows.  (Read:  YECCH!)  But

Absolutely right.

Apple charges all the market will bear.  The market can bear this much
because Mac software is head-and-shoulders above IBM software in
ease-of-use and uniform interfaces.  Likewise, the hardware is almost
entirely plug-to-plug compatible--no CGA/EGA/VGA nonsense, for example.

As for me, I'd like a second Mac+.  My whole family makes heavy use of
it, and a second one would eliminate a lot of competition.  But $1200
is just too much to pay for a $600 piece of hardware.  And an IBM as a
second machine is out of the question, because we all want to use the
computer, not hassle with it and read manuals.

If and when IBM gets its act together and produces a machine with a
decent, uniform user interface, at IBM prices, I will demonstrate to
Apple exactly as much vendor loyalty as they have shown me customer
loyalty.  Meanwhile, I will continue to purchase Apple hardware with
reluctance, and only as absolutely needed.

Ah, well.  I believe in capitalism.  It's unadulterated capitalism
that keeps Mac prices high, but it's capitalism that gave us the Mac
in the first place.  It's only Apple's lawyers that have kept this
software technology in Apple's hands, and they can't fight the tide
forever.

-- Dave Matuszek (dave@prc.unisys.com)
-- Unisys Corp. / Paoli Research Center / PO Box 517 / Paoli PA  19301
-- Any resemblance between my opinions and those of my employer is improbable.
* 20th anniversary?  Yeah, but it's 17 years since the LAST man on the moon! *