🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <dalst6+-2709951700030001@ehdup-g-10.rmt.net.pitt.edu>,
Luis A. Diaz <dalst6+@pitt.edu> wrote:
>In article <44c8h7$i71@cheltenham.cs.arizona.edu>, kline@CS.Arizona.EDU
>(Nick Kline) wrote:
>
>>In article <DEttoL.GL7@rp.csiro.au>,  <pevans@galah> wrote:
>>>Is Intel in trouble?
>>>
>>>
>>>Anyway, the point is that suppose a major PC manufacturer, say 
>>>Compaq or Toshiba or Dell, or whatever, decided that they'd better get 
>>>into the PowerPC game. The PowerPC market could grow enormously 
>>>and do serious damage to Intel. Existing PowerPC processors are 
>>
>>won't happen.  Apple is stupid.  Gateway wanted to start making
>>powerpc clones.  Apple decided no, because they didn't want someone
>>to start competing with them for parts.
>>
>>Sure, apple is apparently suffering from not having enough components
>>available, but with more buyers (ie gateway) it would only encourage
>>more people to make mac components.
>
>Think about this for more than about 3 seconds...  There are X number of
>components being made.  The demand RIGHT NOW, AT THIS INSTANT for these
>components is much much greater than X.  Therefore there is already a
>GREAT pressure on these companies to expand their manufacturing
>capabilites so that they can MAKE MORE $.  

	Well, no, that is not exactily the point.  Apple's shortage
in component is really create by the way they run their business.  They
would not allow anyone else to make their subsystems  without their consent
because they want to keep much of the technologies proprietary.  Even if Apple
wanted to allow clone makers to enter the game, they keep strict specifications
on how things are supposed to be designed and requires manufactures to pay
an substantial amount of royalties.  Now all this has been done  to 
keep Apple's hardwre division alive.  One example is the SCSI controller, 
on the surface it is an SCSI controller like all other, but Apple has 
purposely built in some annoying incompatibilities so that the only
way you could get the controllers and devices are from a handful of 
tiny manufactures. 

	Ideally, what people would really like to do is to buy SCSI
controller from an company like Adaptec so that you could hook your
PC SCSI-II disks or SUN-CD ROMS onto your Apple Macintosh.  But you
can't.  Adaptec for example has no motivation to build Apple-SCSI 
controller.  I mean lets face it, Adaptec has made billions by making 
PC SCSI controllers why would they want to tap into Apples 8% PC market
and pay another 3/4% to Apple?  Hence you have your shortage in 
Machintosh componenets.
 
>Now, in our minds eye, lets think about what would happen if gateway gets
>these components THAT ARE ALREADY IN SHORT, SHORT supply goes through the
>roof as all the Computer Shopper people see "Gateway 2K MacOS Barnburner"
>clone.  How does this help apple?  Does this mean that components all of a
>sudden appear out of the air?  are the component companies all of a sudden
>going to pull these ASICS and Chips and components out of their ass?  

	What Gateway would like to do is exactily what I mentioned above.
They will use PC components to make MAC clones to cut cost in effect
vilote Apples desire to control the specs and component manufactures
for Apple.  Also it may render CHRP meaningless.

>Obviously, when CHRP arrives, Gateway will be free to do whatever the hell
>they want in terms of bundling components (as long as they meet the specs)
>and in bundling OS's like MacOS.  Nobody is preventing them from entering
>the MacClone world, they just cant do it at a time when it would hurt
>apple far more than it would help.

	I don't know much  about CHRP, but it looks like another IBM
micro-channel debacle.  As long as Apple controls the specs the way they
have in the past, their 
market share will remain as is now.  Chung's law of electronics economics sez
that the best way to expand the market is to allow free competition.
This will allow a myriad of little eager companies to freely make 
components and be as innovative as they can.  The key I guess is how much 
will Apple want to control CHRP.  Would CHRP allow the type of free 
competition as seen in teh PC world?  Would it generate enough interest
and have enough potential to movitivate electronics manufacturers to get
into the act?  Would people who are not Mac advocates even care?
Now Apple in my view has not had a very good track record in encourageing
free competition, but I think they are at a pretty critical point 
right now if they want to take a bite out of the PC market.

- C.















 

>
>>
>>So, world, is apple interested in developing a clone market?
>>Answer: No!  They turned down gateway.
>
>They turned down the cloning deal AT THIS TIME.  They didnt tell gateway
>to go screw themselves, they told them, listen, we could only do this if
>this would help and not hurt us, at this point, it would hurt us.  Sounds
>like a business decision to me, and for a company with about $1Billion yes
>thats with a B, in backorders, it does not do any good to put any more
>shortages in the pipeline.
>
>So, world, is apple interested in developing a clone market?  Yes. Are
>they willing to do it at the expense of their own hardware dept. and their
>own business? No.  Therein lies the difference.  I think Gateway just
>wanted to get a jump on the competition because they are making hair thin
>margins in the PC world and were attracted by the more lucrative MacOS
>market.
>
>>
>>-nick kline
>
>**********************************
>Let's drop our notion of Microsoft as a technological leader.  No self-respecting software company would have the gall to ship such technologically deficient products as MS-Dos and Windows 3.1 in 1994. (ComputerWorld Oct 24, 1994)
>**********************************
>E - m a i l :   d a l s t 6 + @ p i t t . e d u 
>**********************************
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