len@qumix.UUCP (Leonard Labar) (02/22/85)
Since some of you requested feedback I am posting my interpretation of the responses to my earlier message. First of all, about 30 or so self-appointed watchdogs barked rather loudly at my posting directly to fa.info-mac. Hence the answer to that question "why two mac nets?" became obvious. Fa means "from arpanet". This net was created out of a need to express what was not getting through on fa.info-mac. That net is supposedly moderated now, predictions are that this one would be also. Secondly, it seems the current standardization on formats is binhex version 4. Tohex and fromhex are obsolete by default. There is other stuff floating around but it doesn't seem popular yet. Thirdly, the Mac is not obsolete YET. The latest article I read shows both the Atari and Commodore pc's using 68000's. The rationale for keeping a Mac currently is that they will be 6-12 months away from getting any decent software on the market (These opinions don't neccessarily reflect those of my employer or myself during saner moments). HOWEVER, assuming one should take a gamble and decide to keep one's Mac: 1. I would recommend doing the Jan. '85 Dr. Dobbs upgrade to 512k for $200. 2. Getting the internal hard disk upgrade known as turbo-mac. 3. If the price ever drops, buying a copy of "Jazz". THAT should prolong its' life for another year if you can stand to be without color. I've heard those x-rays aren't too good on the eyes anyway. When someone comes out with a 32032 based machine with decent software to run on it you can kiss all these products goodbye. If I were IBM I would be thinking of it.