EWING@TRINCC.BITNET.UUCP (02/26/87)
As a student consultant in college for Apple Co., I feel that some of Colin Jenkins comments on the worth of the IIgs upgrade are incorrect. 1) Yes the upgrade does not include a new keyboard, mouse (a mistake in my own personal opinion), keypad or 3.5 inch disk drive. But the as for the main piece of hardware (the 3.5" drive), this is not included with the purchase of the CPU and would set you back the extra funds anyway. And since the CPU goes for $999 retail, the price difference decreases dramatically. 2) Its true that you might as well chuck your old auxillary RAM cards down the toilet (keep the RAM chips of course). But this was done so that most IIgs owners wouldn't be saddled with old hardware that the 65816 couldn't address directly. Not to mention of the various proprietary ways to address the RAM card that Applied Engineering, Checkmate Tech, Legend Systems, and God knows who else have developed over the years. So it was best for everyone to wipe the slate clean a start anew. Also, some kinds of cards just weren't meant to run in this baby at all. Accelerators, phamtom slot multifunction cards, cracking cards and others which capatilized on weird or unusual aspects of the Apple bus just weren't meant to work on the new machine. There is only SO MUCH compatability that any system can endure in a major upgrade (as Amiga owners are finding out now), and such is life. We should be thankful for the cards that we can retain. 3) One extra reason to keep my //e cabinet around is the miniscule size of the Frogdesigned IIgs case. Its too small for my CP/M card, and I suspect that there will be no place to put my AppleCat 212 board that now resides happily on my //e power supply. 4) I take great offense to the statement "They [Apple] are ripping us off incredibly". Apple is certainly not in the bargain-basement computer business and shall probably always try to steer clear of this, but by the same token, cannot offord to price gouge the very customers who built the company. There is a reason for everything in Apple's strategy. Take for example, the recall of the //e motherboards once the IIGS board is installed. This is done purely for the reason that we don't want the //e ROMS to magically start showing up in clones, sold by some unscruplelous dealer. Some of the reasoning behind all of what Apple does may be hazy for some of us, but it does make sense in the long run, really. I personally, can't wait for my IIgs upgrade kit to arrive. Richard Ewing Apple Student Consultant Trinity College BITNET: EWING@TRINCC ARPA: EWING@TRINCC.BITNET