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- Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.misc
- Path: sparky!uunet!ukma!netsys!decwrl!adobe!usenet
- From: byer@adobe.com (Scott Byer)
- Subject: Re: Business Week article (NeXT to dump hardware)
- Message-ID: <1993Jan28.220312.10967@adobe.com>
- Sender: usenet@adobe.com (USENET NEWS)
- Reply-To: byer@adobe.com (Scott Byer)
- Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated
- References: <C1Ky0o.CH4@utstat.toronto.edu>
- Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 22:03:12 GMT
- Lines: 72
-
- Philip McDunnough writes
-
- > Didn't Apple own part of Adobe back then. In any case it's not as
- > though there was an alternative to Postscript printers.
-
- Yes, there were alternatives. Quite a few, in fact.
-
- > In the true tradition of Apple and others, Adobe overcharged for
- > owning a Postscript printer. Were it not for True Type and PCL they
- > would still be.
-
- PostScript would never have been succesful if Adobe had charged
- too much. NeXT will not be successful with NeXTSTEP if they charge
- too much. To continue to perpetuate such "overcharging" myths is
- really quite silly. Companies that gouge on software prices just
- do not survive in the real world. It's far too easy to reverse
- engineer things, and the only barrier companies have against being
- cloned out of business is economic viability of doing so.
-
- (And this confusion between TrueType and TrueImage is growing a
- rather high giggle factor for me. The only thing TrueType affected
- was the "when" of the black book, not the "if". TrueImage? You
- really have to look for one to find 'em nowadays.)
-
- > It's essential that NeXT continue to make hardware. I also find it
- > somewhat disappointing that Adobe has given minimal support to the
- > one platform that went out on a limb with a complete Postscript
- > based imaging model, but then what else could one expect from Adobe?
- > Even Windows is getting more attention.
-
- Yes, I'm angry that PhotoShop isn't available on my NeXT machine,
- too. That doesn't mean that NeXT is getting minimal support from
- Adobe as a company. Shoot, it's got the best version of Display
- PostScript inside - full Level 2, with the capability of pretending
- like it's almost any kind of printer. I must admit that it's rather
- easy to be ignorant of the level of support that NeXT really gets
- from Adobe, but still...
-
- But even I must admit that the NeXT software market looks rather
- slim right now, even when considering what a pain it is to program
- Windows.
-
- > Just an opinion, but I really wonder whether Adobe is in any moral
- > position to comment on these matters. It is a publically owned
- > company that goes where the market is.
-
- :-)
-
- Are you implying that NeXT should continue making hardware even if
- it loses money doing so? Even if it means the company dissapears
- and takes NeXTSTEP with it? Is it "immoral" to stop losing money?
-
- Amusing.
-
- Really, isn't it better to have NeXTSTEP on every concievable
- platform? If NeXT had to give up making hardware to get HP to
- license NeXTSTEP, shouldn't they do it? I hope that's not a
- requirement, I hope that NeXT will go ahead and put some interesting
- ideas like processor slots into hardware - but they may just not
- be able to have it both ways.
-
- I'm very fond of my NeXT keyboard (even with the pipe key in the
- wrong place) and crisp NeXT monitor, but I far rather see the very
- best part of the system - NeXTSTEP - survive, than have NeXT as a
- company dissapear, taking it's technology with it.
-
- --
- Scott Byer NeXTMail: byer@mv.us.adobe.com
- Adobe Systems Incorporated These are *my* opinions, and
- 1585 Charleston Road, P.O. Box 7900 do not necessarily reflect
- Mountain View, CA 94039-7900 the opinions of my employer.
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-