Conference napalm::commusic_v1

I read about it in .net as being the Apple IIGS, G for graphics, S for sound.
They say it's also stereo and that a complete rig (computer monitor, drive, 
etc.) was something around $2000.  Sorry, but I deleted the article.

Reprinted from VOGONS NEWS/AP without permission.

 New Apple IIGS - Offers new graphics and sound at $999
   Industry analysts said the platinum-colored Apple IIGS, along with new
 add-on equipment and an upgrade kit for the popular Apple IIe, should boost
 company sales considerably in the coming Christmas shopping season and put
 more pressure on competitors. The new computer, almost three times faster than
 its cousins in the Apple II family, will be compatible with about 90% of the
 existing Apple II software and will be suitable for both home and classroom
 use, the company said. Apple officials said the IIGS will start appearing on
 store shelves Sept. 27 with a limited Steve Wozniak autograph version, the
 "Woz." The company is planning to market a line of 40 new products to go with
 it before Christmas. The "GS" stands for graphics and sound. A chip inside
 will allow the IIGS to play up to 15 voices simultaneously for synthesizing
 both music and human speech. Although the basic computer lists for under
 $1,000, the top-of-the-line color monitor is an extra $499 and a 20-megabyte
 hard disk drive is $1,299. In addition to the five graphic modes now available
 on the IIe and IIc, the new computer offers two high-resolution modes that
 allow the use of a graphic interface and animation capabilities. The Apple
 IIGS will also feature a new color - platinum - that will be the new standard
 color of future Apple computers and peripherals. The Apple IIc is white; the
 IIe is beige. The standard IIGS will have 256 kilobytes of random-access
 memory, but can be expanded to include an internal memory of 1 megabyte. The
 company said the new machine will not make any existing model obsolete, but
 will serve customers throughout the market, especially those looking for
 advanced graphics and sound. "We took ideas that represent the best of Apple
 to create a computer ideally suited for the education and home markets," said
 Delbert W. Yocam, executive VP and CEO of Apple. Charles Wolf, an analyst for
 First Boston Corp., predicted the Apple IIGS will lead to a "burst" of sales
 in the coming Christmas shopping season and should also do well when school
 systems shop for classroom computers next spring. "I was expecting a price
 higher than that," said Wolf. "This machine, as I understand it, will offer
 features no other machine has." Wolf hailed the company's "smart move" to
 offer an upgrade kit for the IIe, noting that customers who buy it may end up
 buying some of the new peripherals. "One thing to keep in mind is that Apple
 makes an awful lot of money on peripherals," he said. Analysts also believe
 the new Apple will hurt competitors, including Commodore International Ltd.,
 which has had a hard time selling its technically advanced Amiga computer.
 "When I first saw (the IIGS), I said `There's an Amiga in Apple clothing,'"
 said Norm DeWitt, an analyst for the market-research firm Dataquest Inc. in
 San Jose. "This could be the final nail in the Amiga coffin."
   The company also announced Monday it is cutting the suggested retail prices
 of its Macintosh Plus model to $2,199 from $2,599 and on its Macintosh 512k to
 $1,699 from $1,999. The Apple IIe is priced at $829 and the IIc is $940. Apple
 plans to sell an upgrade kit that would give the Apple IIe the capabilities of
 the IIGS. The kit, with a suggested retail price of $499, will be available in
 the first quarter of 1987.
	{AP News Wires, 15-Sep-86, 16:01}

    So for more $ than you can get an Amiga for today, you get less
    functionality?  This is a deal?  This is "another nail in the coffin"?
    Why do people continually slag the Amiga?
    
    len.
    

    Re: .3
    
    Len - I'm not at all familiar with what the Amiga can do for me
    as a synthesist/composer. What can it do?
    
    Edd

    You sure this is apples to apples comparison? (pardon pun).
    You including hard disk cost with the Amiga?
    
    I think it's unfair that they are pushing the $999 price
    when it's gonna be much more for a real system. Or is
    that called 'clever marketing'?
    
    There is more software availible for Apple. (?)
    
    RR
    

    Rught now the Amiga can't do anything, as there's no software. 
    The promised Mimetics software remains "promised".  Nobody else
    that I'm aware of is working on Amiga composition software, but
    I have seen rumors that Roger Powell continues to work on his Texture
    software for the Amiga by himself, now that Cherry Lane has gone
    belly up.  I am seriously tempted to try to work a deal with Southworth
    (who's based in Harvard MA) to port Total Music to the Amiga, but
    I'd really rather see something like Personal Composer ported over.
    If I didn't know how much work was involved I'd seriously consider
    doing my own system, but I've written too much software to fall
    into that trap again - I figure at least two manyears of "spare
    time" effort to get to where I'd like to be.
    
    There are as yet no viable hard disks generally available for the
    Amiga, but it's my understanding that the $400 drive price for the
    ][GS disk is for a 3.5" 700K floppy, not a 20 (or 40) Meg hard disk.
    The Amiga comes with such a drive *built in* (and 880K at that),
    and a second drive costs about $250.  I may be wrong, but I believe
    the $1K ][GS price is for a diskless system box with 256K of RAM.
    No monitor, no disk, no 512K.  Realistically we are talking about $2K
    for a configuration equivalent to what you can get for about $1K
    nowadays on an Amiga, and the Amiga has better graphics support
    and a multitasking OS.
    
    Still, there's this software problem; but most (if not all) of the
    interesting Apple music software is for Macs, not for ][e/cs.
    

    len.
    

    
    Len, I was listening to WBRU (95.5 FM, Providence) yesterday, and
    several times throughout the day they mentioned a demo being put
    on next Sunday featuring new MIDI software for the Amiga. Every
    time the ad came on I was away from a pencil (ie. in the truck).
    I'll see if I can follow it up for you.
    
    Chris
    

    
    Demo over the air waves or what?
    
    Interested. Maybe you should write a separate 
    note if you get info...
    
    ron
    

    Len I saw an ad that mentioned Amiga software in the latest EM,
    I'll check it out...
    
    dave

    
    I just spent about 1/2 an hour chasing this down for you guys. 
    
    The demo was last night *^( at the Last Call Saloon in Providence,
    RI. The software being shown was SOUNDSCAPE by MIMETICS. It supposedly
    is a composition-oriented software package for the Amiga. A software
    store, Computopia, in Providence, sponsored the event and has the
    package on demo at their store. They also plan another live demo
    in the same area using live bands and this package. You can call
    Peter Stanley at Computopia for more information, 401-274-0330.
    
    I don't have any details about the package, you folks can ask him
    the questions since you're infinitely more knowledgeable than I
    on this subject (I don't play keyboards).
    
    Hope this helps
    
    Chris
    

    I already have the Mimetics sampler (it is, at best, lame; I owe
    a review of it to the conference); it's part of the Soundscape
    system.  One of the guys at Wurlitzer is a Mimetics beta test site,
    and they know I am waiting.  If this stuff were for sale, not just
    demo, I'd have a copy.  I already have all of Mimetics blurbs.
    
    len.