>56K modems are a waste of money<
Alomex;
With ADSL service (offering a 100x increase over 56K) already available in some parts of the country, it makes little sense to spend up for a 56K modem if you're getting a 33.6 for free. In any case, what's critical is the built in high speed 100BT ethernet.
In late '96, I sold 25 Mac IIsi to a parochial school in the South Bronx. Earlier this year, the computer teacher called me asked me to get her as much inventory as I could for a $2,000 donation. I asked her what her needs were now and she said PowerPC, CD rom, 14" monitor and, critically, *ethernet*.
She said everything had to be networkable or she didn't want it. And she didn't need any modems.
At worst Jobs/Apple is ahead of the curve on these issues. He's right that floppies and even 56K modems are, or soon will be, superceded. He also knows that the primary purchaser of iMacs will be schools who will expect a *long* life out of these things.
He's gambling, and I think correctly, that education buyers are willing to save money on technologies they wont need, in order to get cutting edge specs that will last years longer than *anything* else in the price range or higher.
Schools will need/install a high speed internet service for real time video hook ups and gang the iMacs together. They wont even use the damn 33.6/56K modem.
Individuals who don't already have a 56k modem (by the time this ships) are better off spending for ADSL or Cable Modem service.
500 mhz Pentium II (equivalent), great 15" monitor, ATI Rage Pro graphics, SRS sound, 100BT, USB compatibility, top quality keyboard and mouse, styling the kids will *adore* for $1300.
C'mon, stop accentuating the negative.
soup |
