Hello, > (I have bought, owned, and used: Mac 128k, 512k, Mac Plus, Mac SE, Mac > II, Mac IIx and a whole bunch AFTER that and worked for 3 years selling Macs > at 2 different Connecting Point Computer Centers - it was routine in Century > City to sell a party a Mac SE, Apple Laserwriter, software programs etc. > and nail them for $5,000: incredible, eh?)
Actually, that might have been a very good deal, depending. As far as I can tell (I'm using Wikipedia numbers here; make of them what you will), the SE (at least initially) went for just shy of three grand (US$2900) for the dual floppy version and just shy of four (US$3900) for the internal HD version when it was originally released. Meanwhile, the LaserWriter Mark I went for $6,995. I can't say what went on in the way of later price drops and/or dealer/bulk purchase/educational discounts (anyone?), but even if the street prices for the SE and LaserWriter were half of $3k and $7k, respectively, the customers that bought them both for $5k, total, would still seem to have gotten a pretty good deal. (If, on the other hand, the customers in question were getting an -Image-Writer + SE + various applications for $5k, then, yes, they may have gotten the short end of the stick after all.) It's just that LaserWriters were hugely expensive pieces of hardware for the time. What made them cost-effective (IIRC) was a combination of the then-new technology of desktop publishing and the fact that they could be networked for use by multiple users. Not to mention their much faster output speed compared to the dot matrix printers of the time. I agree that $5k for a computer and a laser printer of some sort might seem rather high *now* (that is, in the 21st century) when computers are relatively cheap and ubiquitous. However, back when computers still weren't quite the household items they are today, they went for a pretty penny. In a world that's had Windows for nearly a quarter of a century (think Windows 3.0), it's easy to forget that, at one time, Apple had a product that was truly unique and they charged like it was, too, with their purported habit of maintaining gold-plated profit margins in the mid-to-late 1980's (at least). I might be alone in this, but part of the allure of vintage hardware for me is the fact that it is now possible to buy computers (and printers) that one could never have afforded when they were new. Not to mention the fact that some of the peripherals in use decades ago (e.g. keyboards) can still be used with present-day computers if you're willing to spring for the necessary adapters. Best, James Fraser -- -- ----- You received this message because you are a member of the Vintage Macs group. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To leave this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vintage-macs Support for older Macs: http://lowendmac.com/services/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Vintage Macs" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
