CompuServe Thread

#CBM stock prices

2 messages in this thread
#8657From: PETER COSTELLOFeb 17, 1986 10:28 PM
Hi Tom! I think it depends on the general level of support. C-64s have always been cheaper for schools to buy but most schools have gone with Apple (ugh) for software and support and hardware reliability. Somehow I don't see JT Ewing managing to provide a stable source of support to anyone, let alone institutions as quality-focused as schools. But I could be wrong. When he was with CBM he beat the hell out of the old Atari even though they had the better machine. (He dropped his prices first and fastest. Do you remember that CBM?) * Reply: 8718
#8718From: Dave Haynie/C128 LandFeb 18, 1986 11:54 AM
You'll also recall that JT put CBM's main Engineering emphasis on the C16 and PLUS/4 systems, totally abandoning any ideas of upward compatibility. It wasn't until he left that we were able to do the C128, a machine which I feel should have been produced by CBM a year or two earlier, while the C64 was still at its height in sales. These days your software outlay, especially in business, is going to overcome your hardware outlay given time. The most reasonable thing a machine can do to your investment is to give you compatible upgrade paths for your software. Despite my dislike for PC|Clones, etc., this is something that IBM to a lesser degree and the 3 party folks to a greater degree have done, which is why these outdated machines are so strong today in the Business world. Imagine if the PC/XT only ran 5% of the software written for a PC.