User`s guide

plug-in upgrade, this is rumored to be a bridge board to partial Mac
compatibility. That is, for a few hundred dollars, you may soon be able to turn
your IIgs into a Mac Jr.! (Gosh, wasn't it just
a few months ago that IBM carried off a Fortune Worst Marketing Blunder of the
Decade Award for its PC Jr.?)
We have, long ago, passed the point where it makes any sense to talk about
maintaining II series dominance in software markets. And, since schools must
select computers with an eye to what students will use at home, Apple's much-
touted education base is about to 'turn blue' as well. The question now is: how
much of the current base of users and creative talent can be held while someone
(Applied Engineering, Comlog, Laser, ?) puts together a significant, reasonably
priced upgrade?
QUALITY CONTROL and SERVICE: Our II+ ran flawlessly for nearly six years before
requiring a new power supply and keyboard IC replacement. A veteran of countless
experimental mods, it continues to perform well. Our IIgs, on the other hand, is
presently on its third motherboard! (Actually, it may be the fourth; it's hard
to be sure. I do recall that one of the replacement boards didn't do anything,
except short out the power supply.)
The main problem is an apparently endless supply of sub-spec proprietary
IC's (e.g. video and ADB controllers). So, why three (3) motherboards!? Well,
Apple does not allow its local sales/service reps to replace soldered-on IC's.
Should your ADB controller bomb (or, more likely, you finally discover that it
has been sporadically malfunctioning all along), "repair" consists of swapping
out the motherboard. If your warranty has expired, the cost is $270 plus your
old board!
As to old complaints-- a II series marketing strategy designed to create a
toy image, high prices, slowness in releasing documentation, Mac exploitation of
II events, etc., etc.-- elaboration is hardly necessary. The record is one of
studied insult, rapacious greed, sloppiness, and dismal neglect.
Let Them Eat Cake
Does Big Green management truly wish to be rid of the II? I doubt it. As
security against future Mac troubles, the II series has proved to be priceless
insurance. (Remember, it was the IIgs and solemn oaths to 'be true to our Two'
that turned things around in '86.) The Apple Lords appear, instead, to have
opted for the no-development-cost, string-the-user-along strategy perfected by
Commodore in dealing with its 64/128 line. Unfortunately, the IIgs is priced
against '386-class competition, not cartrid
ge arcade machines.
In the long run, the biggest problem with this 'Mac in red, II gets fed;
Mac in black, II gets sack' philosophy may be that it makes for remarkably poor
PR. Scan through the message bases of a few local Apple BB's and what you find
is the kind of mistrust and ill will that used to be reserved for 'The Phone
Company'.
There is, for some reason, a widespread perception that Apple is perfectly
willing to sit on its hands while hefty user computing investments turn to mush.
Now, what do suppose is going to happen when many of these thousands of II