🚀 go-pugleaf

Organization : Calfornia Institute of Technology
Keywords: 
From: woody@tybalt.caltech.edu (William Edward Woody)
Path: tybalt.caltech.edu!woody

In article <8980@sun.uucp> chuq@sun.uucp (Chuq Von Rospach; Lord of the OtherRealms) writes:
>> Its a hard call to make, but if the Mac had been open in the beginning, would
>> it have retained its essence? 
>
>Even more important:  If the original Mac had been open, would anyone have
>bought it?  remember that an open bus adds a LOT of complexity to a system,
>since you can't put everything on a single board anymore -- you have added
>costs for a larger power supply, a backplane, for FCC RF interference 
>reductions, for all sorts of things.
>
>If the Mac had come out at $5,000 each, with 128K in it and no software,
>would YOU have bought it? Would all of the other people who did buy the Mac
>buy it at double the cost?
>
>If the Lisa is any indication, the answer it obvious...


If the Apple II, IIe, etc., is any indication, the answer is not so
obvious.  If you are willing to change the size and shape of the Mac,
and do the hardware addressing _right_, you would have had a B/W Amega
with a good operating system.

But I like my cute little Macintosh.  I hope the new Macintosh 2 (comming
Real Soon Now...) doesn't become as large and klunky as an IBM AT...

- William Woody                          Mac! > ][n && /|\ 
  woody@romeo.caltech.edu