I may be reading Eric's post wrong, but it appears to me that he is not
saying what Drew is indicating at all. I reread the post again beore
writing just to make sure that I didn't miss anything. What Eric Appears
to be saying is not that Newer "Takes their marching orders from Apple"
What he was saying, correct me if I'm wrong, is that when they went to
Motorola or IBM to buy more 2400 series chips and said "we'd like to buy
"y" number of chips", Motorola said "Sorry, but we need to sell x number
of chips to make this run profitable for us, and we will not do less (at
least not at a cost that would be reasonable)" When Apple siad "Hey, we
need "y" amount of chips too, and if you take Newers y and Apple's y, you
get a number greater than x, so the new production run of chips made
sense. When It was newer alone buying y number of chips, Motorola said
"Sorry, but no can do"
As far as Drew's point about people not being able to afford new
computers every few years, look at the chip prices for the chips that are
still available for sale. MCE sells the 400 mhz upgrade chip for the 2400
for $1399, plus $99 for install. To upgrade the chip alone, it's gonna
run you $1498. A new Ibook is only $1500 at CompAmerica. Sure, Newer
probably could have bought more chips at a higher price, but would you
have paid $1399 for a new chip. Or what if they could still get the 240
mhz chips, but had to sell them for $900. Who would buy one at that
price, when a new ibook is so affordable.
Aftermarket is aftermarket, but come on, how many people are still
running their 5xx series notebooks, and how much would they be willing to
pay to upgrade them, when you can get a used PB 1400 for $600. The 2400,
while a great machine, and I will keep mine for a long time, hopefully
until Apple comes out with a new subnotebook (if they do) but I can't
expect newer to keep making products for it that noone will buy. Like the
Newer Docks. I'm pretty sure that by this point, not too many people are
clamoring for them, so it makes sense to move on to other more profitable
products, like the new g3's.
>> Eric Dahlinger
>> Communications Director
>> Newer Technology, Inc. wrote:
>
>> When more than a few of the required chips to build 500 series upgrades have
>> been discontinued, it's hard to point the finger at Newer Technology. Other
>> companies supplied Apple and Newer with these chips. When Apple told them
>> they no longer wanted any more of these chips, they simply stopped making
>> them. Since Newer's order wasn't enough volume to convince them otherwise,
>> the supply of new parts evaporated.
>
>You will excuse me for being a little testy on this subject, but I was
>under the
>impression that Newer [and other such suppliers] were �After Market�
>providers?
>Why would you be concerned with what Apple wanted, when you sell aftermarket
>upgrades directly to the consumer?
>
>You have partially answered my concerns and suspicions, stating that you are
>taking, or took, your marching orders from Apple on these issues. Apple isn�t
>going to make any money on the sales of upgrade parts to keep older
>PowerBooks
>competitive with the newer, faster models they sell. If they help make
>late model
>PowerBooks obsolete faster by drying up the supply of upgrade CPUs, then
>perhaps
>they will sell more G4s and iBooks ? What a concept! There are a LOT of
>people out
>here who cannot afford to buy -or in my case *unwilling* to buy a new
>machine, if
>I can keep my trusty old 500 or 2400 clipping along at the faster speeds a
>CPU
>upgrade can afford -at a fraction of the cost of a new machine.
>
>Call me a conspiracy theorist, but -it looks and smells like collusion to
>make the
>consumer anti-up more bucks to me. Of course, I am conflicted -owning a
>lot of
>Apple shares. I want to see the company do well, but not at the expense of
>college
>kids and other lower end users - or PB2400 affecinados, like me.
>
>> --
>
>Drew
>
>----------
>Duo/2400 List, The friendliest place on the Net!
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>
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>
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>
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>After-market parts for Macs. ][ 888-356-1104 ][
>
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>
Mark
----------
Duo/2400 List, The friendliest place on the Net!
A listserv for users and fans of Mac subportables.
FAQ at <http://www.themacintoshguy.com/lists/DuoListFAQ.shtml>
Be sure to visit Mac2400! <http://www.sineware.com/mac2400>
X-Router | Share your DSL or cable modem between multiple computers!
Dr. Bott | <http://www.drbott.com/prod/MIH120.html>
PowerBook Guy is | Click here!
Everything PowerBook! | http://www.powerbookguy.com
Midwest Mac Parts ][ <http://www.midwestmac.com>
After-market parts for Macs. ][ 888-356-1104 ][
MacResQ Reader Specials: 2.5GB Seagate SCSI: $119, 4GB IBM SCSI: $199,
Norton Util. 4.0: $29, Mac Parts, Systems & Repairs <http://www.macresq.com>
