Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!menudo.uh.edu!sugar!peter
From: peter@sugar.hackercorp.com (Peter da Silva)
Subject: Re: An interesting idea...
Message-ID: <1991May8.174950.778@sugar.hackercorp.com>
Organization: Sugar Land Unix -- Houston, TX
References: <_g5Gy0x*1@cs.psu.edu> <1991May6.110530.7978@sugar.hackercorp.com> <=0bGppm&1@cs.psu.edu>
Date: Wed, 8 May 1991 17:49:50 GMT

In article <=0bGppm&1@cs.psu.edu> melling@cs.psu.edu (Michael D Mellinger) writes:
> In article <1991May6.110530.7978@sugar.hackercorp.com> peter@sugar.hackercorp.com (Peter da Silva) writes:
>    > The prices did seem a bit high, but they looked like standard business
>    > prices.  $995 for FrameMaker(it's the same on the Mac, Sun and NeXT?).
>    > Packages like WP, Illustrator, Wingz, Improv,etc go from $395 to $695.

>    Yes, but that's *all* that's offered. Where are the $20-$50 programs?

> Ok, Peter.  What were you doing 6 years ago when I was telling people
> to buy the Amiga,

I was telling people to buy the Amiga. In fact I sold at least 10 people on
them. But the Amiga in 1985 had this big difference from the NeXT in 1989:
it cost much, much, less than the nearest machine of equivalent capabilities.
Not just (let's be charitable) half the price, but an order of magnitude
less. This was damn near a 3M machine for PC prices, back when workstations
were all over $10K. And it had capabilities NO other PC had, and damn few
have even 6 years later.

The NeXT is priced a little under the low end of workstations, and is way
overpriced as a PC. And it doesn't have any unique new capability that gives
it a niche.

> it was the hottest thing since sliced bread(probably
> a DOS weenie).  There weren't any $50 programs available then, just
> the EA stuff that used to GURU meditate, and the Bouncing Ball demo.
> When a new computer is released it has to start somewhere.

Yes, but there *are* plenty of NeXT programs. And the cheapest one I can
find is a $95 appointment calendar. The sort of thing you'd find on a
"best of fish disks". Hold on, here's a couple of $20 educational programs.

And the high end are over $2000!

I think this pretty much indicates the pricing we're going to see in the
future. Typical workstation prices.

> Which Macs or PCs are you going to get for $2000?

How about a 386SX with a decent sized hard disk and a couple of Meg of
RAM. As far as business folks are concerned, that *is* equivalent to the
NeXT.

> The people who are
> interested in the more expensive Macs and PC's will love the NeXT.

None of the ones around here do. The NeXT attracts all the computer nerds.
Hell, I'd love one myself. Feeling generous? :->

But business suits? No way.

> and establishing themselves with big
> business first will help entice software developers.

Right. So how do they plan on doing that? I haven't seen a killer application
that business will pay an extra $3000 a seat for.

>    The Amiga has a lot of end-user markets that don't compete with the two big
>    boys. What does the NeXT have?

> They compete with the big boys.

Right. Where?
-- 
Peter da Silva.   `-_-'
<peter@sugar.hackercorp.com>.
