rms@gorf.UUCP (Roger M. Shimada) (03/23/90)
In article <35090@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> mitchell@janus.Berkeley.EDU (Evan Mitchell) writes: >I asked this guy to e-mail me his paper on what he describes over in >comp.sys.apple as his "Amiga 500 killer." It looks interesting, but would >you buy one? I think he really wants an Amiga, but doesn't want to admit >it! :-). Anyway, I was just curious because he kept hyping this up as >an amiga killer... >[ Apple // pipe dream deleted] Funny you should mention this. I agree, the fellow seems to want an Amiga. But it would have to run his existing Apple // software. I've been thinking recently of posting an idea to the net just to see how the response would be. Here goes.... If anyone wants to break into the educational computing K-12 market, their machine has to have Apple //e compatibility. That's it. No excuses. (I would give a dissertation on why, but let it rest at that the Apple // dominates that market.) So, the idea is: could someone build an //e compatible SOTS box for the 500 with ethernet as an option? It would be ideal if it could work like the Bridgecards do. (I.e., works in parallel with the Amiga, not have to take over the machine.) Why ethernet? Well, most Apple //s in schools these days are found in labs. (Besides, the better Amiga applications are bound to be big! :-) I'm talking long term potential here. But time might be running out; Apple recently started shipping their DMA SCSI cards for the Apple //. (This is hardly a radical idea to those who are Amiga literate, but this move does indicate some interest from Apple about taking the Apple // more seriously.) The Apple //gs is hardly an impressive machine, and if Commodore would give an Apple // SOTS box some thought, they would actually have a chance of getting the K-12 market. Then there are always rumors of the low-cost Mac, but if it won't run Apple // software, educators won't buy many of them. This is a project with a high initial cost but I think it would have a good chance of doing well. My idea stems from an article which I believe was in the February issue of Electronic Learning. They had a sidebar which described the computer educators would like to have. Highlights were: Cost: $900 - $1400 (I assume a base system price) Apple // software compatibilty Color graphics Ability to run some type of Hypercard-type software etc., Which to me sounded like an Amiga 500 with an Apple // emulation box. All comments are welcome. -- Roger M. Shimada {amdahl|hpda}!bungia!gorf!rms rms@gorf.mn.org
nfs1675@dsacg3.dsac.dla.mil ( Michael S Figg) (03/26/90)
In article <112@gorf.UUCP>, rms@gorf.UUCP (Roger M. Shimada) writes: > > If anyone wants to break into the educational computing K-12 market, > their machine has to have Apple //e compatibility. That's it. No > excuses. (I would give a dissertation on why, but let it rest at > that the Apple // dominates that market.) > This definitly does NOT seem to be the case! Here in Columbus, somebody gave away two A500's to schools. I don't know if it was CBM or a local dealer. A teacher from one of the two schools, who was responsible for his schools' Amiga, talked briefly to our users group. He stated that although the school has only the one Amiga and at least 12 Apples, the students and teachers are both going crazy over the Amiga. This is a grade school and even at the young age of the students, they are discovering the power and potential of the Amiga. I also talked to a couple of friends who are teachers in Washington State and they confirmed what has been said here and many other places repeatedly - that schools aren't picky, they take what they can get. And the reason they have so many Apples in the schools isn't because they are Apples, but because they are available! -- "Could we be the bellwether | Michael Figg DSAC-FSD of major societal shifts?" | DLA Systems Automation Center - Columbus,Oh mfigg@dsacg2.dsac.dla.mil CIS: 73777,360
rms@gorf.UUCP (Roger M. Shimada) (03/27/90)
In article <1974@dsacg3.dsac.dla.mil> nfs1675@dsacg3.dsac.dla.mil ( Michael S Figg) writes: >In article <112@gorf.UUCP>, rms@gorf.UUCP (Roger M. Shimada) writes: >> If anyone wants to break into the educational computing K-12 market, >> their machine has to have Apple //e compatibility. That's it. No >> excuses. (I would give a dissertation on why, but let it rest at >> that the Apple // dominates that market.) > >This definitly does NOT seem to be the case! Here in Columbus, somebody gave >away two A500's to schools. I don't know if it was CBM or a local dealer. A >teacher from one of the two schools, who was responsible for his schools' >Amiga, talked briefly to our users group. He stated that although the school >has only the one Amiga and at least 12 Apples, the students and teachers are >both going crazy over the Amiga. This is a grade school and even at the young >age of the students, they are discovering the power and potential of the Amiga. >I also talked to a couple of friends who are teachers in Washington State and >they confirmed what has been said here and many other places repeatedly - that >schools aren't picky, they take what they can get. And the reason they have so >many Apples in the schools isn't because they are Apples, but because they are >available! It is nice to see Amis creeping in here and there. But how about the long term? It's nice to see people initially going gaa-gaa over a really great machine, but the old Apple // probably has hundreds educational software packages for it. I feel this is important because I think most of the educators currently using computers (and thus the type of people who would recommend them) would have a really hard time giving up their favorite software packages. (Even if they could play Shadow of the Beast on a new a machine :-) The Apple // pretty much has K-12 locked up. It has for the better part of ten years now. That's fine, except the Apple // family has had minimal growth. What I didn't mention in my previous posting is that I believe that the Amiga is currently the ideal machine for K-12. Unfortunately, the only way I can see an Amiga replacing a Apple // and all its software is with Apple // software compatibility. (After all, IBM has even given up on K-12. (And they've even wised up; they're going for the more lucrative workstation market now.) One of the reasons for them giving up was the company that I had previously worked for. It alone produces over a ten educational software packages a year for the Apple //.) I'd like to see C-A push into a market that I think the would have a REAL chance in. And it would not be cheap, nor quick. And as much as I would like to see an Amiga 3000, I know that the new 486 boxes will ablow it out of the water in sales - if nothing else, just because of its software base. P.S. I hate being cynical, but check on the single Amiga in the school in one year. See what people are doing with it then. -- Roger M. Shimada {amdahl|hpda}!bungia!gorf!rms rms@gorf.mn.org