dvac@drutx.UUCP (VachonD) (10/24/86)
The //x was initially being worked on about 2 months behind schedule of the Apple //c...(In other words, was to be released 2 months after //c)...at any rate, it got tabled when the //c didn't do as good as they had expected, Woz left, Jobs screwed up the company, etc.....Then they got Woz back and hence, the IIgs was brought around....The IIgs is the finished version of the Apple //x. The //x just made planning stages, and was getting ready to be put into production when it got tabled. I'm glad Apple finally came out with a computer that looks to be promising....Sure they have had some great computers... (Apple II/II+/IIe, The Mac, now the IIgs), but they have had a couple of flops at crucial times in the computer industry (i.e. IIc / Lisa / IIx <never made it>)... There, now that I got that out of my system, I will plug my BBS a bit.... It's The Laboratory BBS System...10 Megs...300/1200 Baud...303-423-3156 Matchmaker Computer Dating Service Casino Arena 20 Sub-Boards and Lots more!! There....I feel better now! Later Days -=> Dan Vachon <=-
lyourk@ihlpf.UUCP (Loran N. Yourk) (10/25/86)
............ > Dan Vachon writes: >production when it got tabled. I'm glad Apple finally came out with a computer > that looks to be promising....Sure they have had some great computers... > (Apple II/II+/IIe, The Mac, now the IIgs), but they have had a couple of flops > at crucial times in the computer industry (i.e. IIc / Lisa / IIx <never made > it>)... You forgot the the all powerful forgotten Apple III as one of the flops. > There....I feel better now! > > Later Days -=> Dan Vachon <=- And so do I (feel better). Loran Yourk ihnp4!ihlpf!lyourk
bezanson@gumby.WISC.EDU (Brian Bezanson) (10/26/86)
In article <822@ihlpf.UUCP>, lyourk@ihlpf.UUCP (Loran N. Yourk) writes: > > Dan Vachon writes: > >production when it got tabled. I'm glad Apple finally came out with a computer > > that looks to be promising....Sure they have had some great computers... > > (Apple II/II+/IIe, The Mac, now the IIgs), but they have had a couple of flops > > at crucial times in the computer industry (i.e. IIc / Lisa / IIx <never made > > it>)... > > You forgot the the all powerful forgotten Apple III as one of the flops. > > > Later Days -=> Dan Vachon <=- > > Loran Yourk I can't agree with your listing the //c and Lisa as 'flops'. The //c was the backbone of the // line for the last year or so. A lot of home shoppers bought a complete //c system (//c,monitor,stand) for under $850. A comprable //e was over $1000. There is nothing wrong with the //c so long as you know what you are buying. A //c owner shouldn't worry about slots, hard disks, or those things that a //e is suited for. A //c is ideal for someone who only needs floppy storage (you still can add unidisks & a hard disk), power of the Apple // line, and portability. The bombs on the //c were that it came out during a depression in the industry, right after the Mac, and finally that some of it's companion products (LCD monitor and scribe printer) were the REAL FLOPS. I don't think the //c was or is a flop. The Apple /// was a flop because of bad quality in the early units that blacklisted it for life. It did flop. How could the '//x' flop if it never made it out. But if you look at the videocassette that goes with the GS promotion, the engineers talk about the GS as 'cortland', 'rambo', 'vegas', and '//x'. The original //x dies out, but the GS rose from //x ashes and is in part //x because of that. The Lisa I would not call a flop. I would call it unfortunate. It was and still is, Apple's most powerful micro. It has slots that Mac people have been yelling about. It also has true multi-tasking. It was UNFORTUNATE that is was originally proced at $10,000. When it was renamed the XL and put as the psuedo-head of the 32-bit line, everyone bought one up. During Apple's Lisa trade-in program, only a small percentage of Lisa's were sold. As a sales item, the lisa might have flopped, but wouldn't any micro with a $10,000 price-tag? On the Lisa/XL I will say I am biased, I am using one right now. I run mine in full Mac mode and use it exclusively for communications, word processing, and other 'business-like' things. I use my MacPlus for development. As surprising as it may seem, the Lisa is having a revival with 800K floppies now available, SCSI ports, 4 megs of RAM, new/modified MacWorks to allow HFS, and 68020 cards. Some of these products are available now, and the rest are due by the end of this year/first quarter '87. In summation, the only real flop was the Apple ///, it was doomed by initially bad hardware and other failures. The Lisa sold well (not great), but was plagued by a high price-tag. The //c's only flop was in it's peripherals (LCD flat-panel display and scribe printer). The computer has and is selling well. -- Brian Bezanson {seismo,ihnp4,allegra,topaz,harvard}!uwvax!gumby!bezanson Manta Software Corp. bezanson@gumby.wisc.edu
ee161abt@sdcc18.ucsd.EDU (Grobbins) (10/26/86)
In article <1754@drutx.UUCP> dvac@drutx.UUCP (VachonD) writes: >The //x was initially being worked on about 2 months behind schedule of the >Apple //c...(In other words, was to be released 2 months after //c)...at any >rate, it got tabled when the //c didn't do as good as they had expected, Woz >left, Jobs screwed up the company, etc.....Then they got Woz back and hence, >the IIgs was brought around....The IIgs is the finished version of the Apple >//x. The //x just made planning stages, and was getting ready to be put into >production when it got tabled. I'm glad Apple finally came out with a computer >that looks to be promising....Sure they have had some great computers... >(Apple II/II+/IIe, The Mac, now the IIgs), but they have had a couple of flops >at crucial times in the computer industry (i.e. IIc / Lisa / IIx <never made >it>)... > The IIGS just isn't the //x. Among other problems, apple wanted the //x to be based on the 65816, which simply wasn't available several years ago. Furthermore, the //x and IIGS were dramatically different computers. The //x emphasized expandability and openness, while the IIGS boasts improved graphics, excellent sound, and Mac-like ROMs. Plus, would any company shelve a product less then two months from announcement for poor sales of a complementary machine? After years of work? In any case, "the planning stages" do not immediately precede "production" in any large corporation. Apple has made some dramatic errors, but there are hundreds of people, at least, who will testify to the greatness of the ///, the //c, the Lisa, and with good reasons. The quality of the computer isn't determined by how it does in the market, but by... okay, that's too subjective. You get the point. Grobbins, making good use of the hour Congress has given us.
kamath@reed.UUCP (Sean Kamath) (10/27/86)
In article <1754@drutx.UUCP> dvac@drutx.UUCP (VachonD) writes: >(Apple II/II+/IIe, The Mac, now the IIgs), but they have had a couple of flops >at crucial times in the computer industry (i.e. IIc / Lisa / IIx <never made ^^^ >it>)... > >Later Days -=> Dan Vachon <=- I think that should be apple ///. It was a major flop. The //c is not a flop in any sense of the word. They just came out with a motherboard upgrade that allows a 1 meg add on board. Why support a flop? ________________________________________________________________________________ Sean Kamath UUCP: {masscomp, decvax, allegra, psu-cs, ucbcad, ucbvax, purdue, hplabs, hp-pcd, sequent, uw-beaver, ihnp4, cbosgd, gatech, nsc-pdc}!tektronix!reed!kamath CSNET: reed!kamath@Tektronix.CSNET BITNET: reed!kamath@Berkeley.BITNET ARPA: tektronix!reed!kamath@Berkeley reed!kamath@hplabs DECNET: RHEA::DECWRL::"decvax!tektronix!reed!kamath" US Snail: Box 395 Reed College, Portland, OR 97202 (503) 239-7458 These are not the fastest or best paths, just the easiest to use. I hope they work. (Most notably the US Snail Service :-)
fred@cbmvax.cbm.UUCP (Fred Bowen) (10/30/86)
> Plus, would any company shelve a product less then two months from > announcement for poor sales of a complementary machine? > > Grobbins, making good use of the hour Congress has given us. Yes. -- Fred Bowen uucp: {ihnp4|seismo|caip}!cbmvax!fred arpa: cbmvax!fred@seismo.css.GOV tele: 215 431-9100 Commodore Electronics, Ltd., 1200 Wilson Drive, West Chester, PA, 19380