secrist@msdsws.DEC.COM ("Richard C. Secrist") (02/11/89)
Flame on. What is all this ][-death stuff ? As long as there is a market they will still be alive. Spilicing hairs on //gs options is kind of moot since it's part of a bigger picture. The question is whether or not the //gs is getting market share compared to everything else. As for lower ][s they appeal to a large installed base and a highly elastic market. These people are looking for the digital equivalent of the Ford Escort for their kids or personal use. They don't speak bits and bytes and what kind of processor it has doesn't mean a flip to them. The ][+ isn't obsolete if it runs what they want (educational software, word processors, etc.) and gives them what they want. No computer is obsolete until it just costs too much to fix or your requirements change. This country's national defense rested in part with the SAGE air defense system, a ~30 year old IBM custom system, until I guess the early 80s. Technologically it may have looked archaic with all it's tubes, but it performed it's functions well, and wasn't going to be replaced by networked 386-based PCs running dBase IV. Function fits form, and price/performance. This is why the Commodore-64Cs, //e's, and //c's are still in production. Most importantly in the consumer electronics field though is marketing. The TI-99-4/A was a true 16-bit, powerful box, but it was a marketing disaster. The IBM-PC Jr. is another story. Whether Apple succeeds of changes anything is based on the market demand, and whoever is big enough to give the naive John Q. Public a warm, fuzzy feeling, and who sells the Ford Escort class computer is going to win. Flame off. rcs