Checksum: 40822
Path: utzoo!utgpu!craig
From: craig@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (Craig Hubley)
Date: Fri, 21-Apr-89 15:17:59 EDT
Message-ID: <1989Apr21.151759.16805@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca>
Organization: University of Toronto Computing Services
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: Jobs' marketing scam
References: <3098@uvacs.cs.Virginia.EDU>
Reply-To: craig@gpu.utcs.UUCP (Craig Hubley)

In article <3098@uvacs.cs.Virginia.EDU> rwl@uvacs.cs.Virginia.EDU (Ray Lubinsky) writes:
>A previous poster (from apple.com, I believe) pointed out that Jobs had agreed
>not to compete in the business market for a set time after leaving Apple.
>
>I put these ideas together with the fact that Jobs could never hope to squeeze
>a major profit out of the academic market in these times especially not in the
>liberal arts (for which these machines would be ideal), and I realized that
>he never intended to!  He just wanted to make everyone who wasn't "allowed"
>to get a NeXT real hungry for one and then -- presto -- he changes his mind and
>now everyone can get one.

Sounds like New Coke to me.  But there were plenty of reasons to do it anyway:

>It would have been more subtle if he'd put up more of a struggle to hold to the
>academic market and waited a little longer.  It might not have even felt like 
>we've been manipulated by slick hype instead of rational evaluation.

Four reasons I can see to do it now rather than later:

	1. practical universities often buy what's in the real world,
		for reasons of software and hardware availability,
		cost (general-market hardware is cheaper, usually),
		and need to familiarize their students with it...
		can you imagine learning all about computers on a NeXT
		and then going to work and getting a FeCe on your desk ?
		Many universities are cautious and waiting for acceptance
		by markets other than themselves... after all, universities
		are full of cautious folk. 1/2 :-)

	2. research universities often wait to be *given* stuff...
		NeXT can't do this unless it has a big business sales base,
		and that means the number of NeXTs will be limited in the
		major research universities that write all the software...
		how much of your budget are you going to spend on NeXT when
		Digital piles so many machines into your labs that you can't
		find space for them all, and you don't have enough money
		to pay research assistants ?  When I was at Waterloo, such
		was the situation.

	3. the business market is soft for the first time in years
		In fact, the university market is pretty tough, as you say.
		I would think the business market is softer, since there is
		now no clear successor to the IBM PC, the Mac SE/30 and IIx 
		don't offer any new functionality at all, but at a fatter price.
		Because of POSIX and X/Open, many business folk are being
		baptized in Unix waters... the fact that both AT&T and OSF
		agreed that SysV.3 was the groundwork for their enhancements
		made a lot of people realize that the Unix wars will not have
		as many civilian casualties as the FeCe Bus Wars, or Mac-like
		interface lawsuit wars.

	4. Jobs gets a clear shot at Sculley, just when Sculley is hurting most

>At least I'm reassured that he's not as naive as I had thought he was.

Naive ?  Building the market for personal computers, recognizing the potential
of the Xerox Star, creating the Macintosh and nurturing it... not the actions
of a naive man.  He's always had powerful friends, too, with good advice handy.
I think this was yet another well-considered move.

Craig Hubley

Disclaimer:  No, I don't work for *, I just like some of their stuff
		* = random computer company

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