Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!ginosko!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!psuvm!uh2
From: UH2@PSUVM.BITNET (Lee Sailer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: NeXT Policy
Message-ID: <89274.174058UH2@PSUVM.BITNET>
Date: 1 Oct 89 21:40:58 GMT
References: <5572@tank.uchicago.edu> <5831@asylum.SF.CA.US>
Organization: Penn State University
Lines: 23

In article <5831@asylum.SF.CA.US>, langz@asylum.SF.CA.US (Lang Zerner) says:
>
>
>Point is, if NeXT is stressing business applications primarily, then businesses
>are a primary target.  If they are not stressing academic/research applications
>primarily, then academia is not a primary target

As an additional point, I don't think that NeXT ever meant "student" when it
said "academic," though of course students could buy one if they wanted.
They meant faculty and staff, for research, and labs for students networked
with the faculty machines.  Also, NeXT probably never meant to be a comp
sci machine.  When they said academic, they meant the Business and
Chemistry and Mathematics and Spanish.

To sell to these folks NeXT needs word processors, spreadsheets (for grant
budgets and computing grades), database (for managing research data),
statistical packages (for testing all those little hypotheses),
and well integrated voice, image, and text in Email and applications.

In other words, ACADEMIA is a BUSINESS, and most computing in academia
(as measured by number of user hours) is business computing.

lee