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From: crane@fortune.UUCP (John Crane)
Newsgroups: net.micro
Subject: MacIntosh and the Emporor's clothes
Message-ID: <2415@fortune.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 2-Feb-84 15:52:25 EST
Article-I.D.: fortune.2415
Posted: Thu Feb  2 15:52:25 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 8-Feb-84 01:38:07 EST
Organization: Fortune Systems, Redwood City, CA
Lines: 41

You probably won't hear this from anybody else, so I think it's time
somebody played the devil's advocate with respect to the MacIntosh.

Before I do, I will say some good things about the Mac so you won't think I
am totally negative.  First it will probably save Apple from getting eaten
alive by IBM.  Second, Apple's stock should go back up.  Third it does use
a lot of novel ideas and makes them affordable.  Fourth, they'll probably
sell a lot of machines.

But not to me.

If I was in the market for a personal computer today and wanted only the
current functionality available on the MacIntosh, I would sooner buy a
Kaypro or a Chameleon and take the money I saved and buy a printer.

I find Apple's marketing approach (though superbly timed and coordinated)
to be insulting to my intelligence. "You don't have to memorize all those
commands".  So WHAT'S WRONG with memorizing stuff?  Is it really that
difficult to learn new things?

Apple is taking the typical American marketing approach: create a need
where it didn't exist before, then come up with a bunch of features to meet
it.  Tell everybody how stupid they are and how difficult it is to use
computers.  Make everything look really dark.  Then, voila! spring the
answer  -- the mouse!!

Really, you need a mouse with a word processor or spreadsheet like you need
automatic transmission.  It's a nice feature to have but you can learn to
get along without it.  My question is.  Is the extra functionality worth
the extra price?  I'm afraid that this message won't get home to consumers
amidst all the glamour and hoopla.

Now for the finale.  Last year the buzzword was integration.  You couldn't
possibly function in the office and keep your boss happy without integrated
software.  Where's the integration with the MacIntosh?  Can we forget about
integrated software now?

The only Mac I get is going to have sesame seeds on top of it.

John Crane