rkh@mtune.ATT.COM (Robert Halloran) (01/16/89)
For those concerned about the Apple ][ (self included), this article from MacWeek is just another source of worry. Reprinted without permission: FUTURE MAC TO BREAK $1K BARRIER A less-than-$1000 Macintosh targeted at the education and home markets should be available by early 1990, according to sources close to Apple. Apple declined to comment on plans for such a product, but sources said the machine will replace the Mac Plus in the compact line, which also includes the Mac SE and the SE/30. Apple CEO John Sculley acknowledged in an interview with MacWEEK that the company has "a low-end design center under development so that we can reach an even broader market with the Mac". A low-cost Mac also may signal the phasing-out of the Apple II line, which so far has dominated the K-12 education market. In fiscal year 1988 Macs accounted for 12 percent of Apple's sales to the K-12 market, according to Sue Talley, manager of K-12 solutions at Apple. That figure is expected to jump to 23 percent this year. "I would hope the Mac displaces the Apple ][ at a rapid rate; it is a dead-end architecture, while the Mac is a mature system," said Ken King, president of Educom, a university computing consortium based in Washington, D.C. The declining cost curve of components, the use of ASICs to lower the parts count and manufacturing costs for the logic board, and additional savings from having a single design center for the compact line were cited by sources as factors that will bring the pricing below $1,000 without compromising Apple's standard profit margins. (further text omitted) WHO do we have to shoot at Apple to keep the Mac contingent from swamping the ][?!?! The production of the GS, the introduction of programs like AWGS, etc., make the Apple ][ family quite viable. Just another GS owner concerned about his investment..... Bob Halloran ========================================================================= UUCP: att!mtune!rkh Internet: rkh@mtune.ATT.COM USPS: 17 Lakeland Dr, Port Monmouth NJ 07758 DDD: 201-495-6621 eve ET Disclaimer: If you think AT&T would have ME as a spokesman, you're crazed. Quote: "May: In Baton Rouge, the Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, announcing that he has been forgiven by the Lord, returns to his pulpit, where he receives a warm reception from 300 billion locusts." - Dave Barry's 1988 Year-In-Review