CHEESEBALL@ALBION.BITNET (02/23/89)
Lord knows that fools come in many shapes and forms, and that
there are many around this land of ours, but I never thought I'd see the
day where I WOULD SAY THIS: Apple made a sucker out of me! I've had my
GS for 2 years and 2 months and I've yet to get much out of it! As a business
machine, basically the best you can do is AppleWorks 2.0 (unless you have
the patience of 10 dead men) and as a game machine, the thing is a poor
man's Amiga. All I use my machine for is word-processing, game playingm
and a little bit of play on a spread sheet. I know everyone and their
grandmother has moaned about how slow this thing is, but let's get real!
The reason they say it is because it is! GOD IS THIS THING SLOW! I've
never seen a machine as slow in performing the things IT IS DESIGNED TO DO!
I can't believe that WE, the Apple II pioneers (I got one in 1979) get
the shaft for the MAC elite. My dad owns a MAC, and he doesn't know squat.
Obviously I know less. I trusted Apple to deliver me a machine that could
compete with the ST and the AMIGA and I figured that I was paying the $2000
smackers for a machine with power. My dad is in a golden situation. He
gets all the attention of apple. We have to wait about six eons just for
an operating system that is still too slow and quite confusing to learn.
When I first got the machine, I read Trip Hawkins' summary of the GS' abilities:
"GS stands for 'graphics that are static'." Well, he was right. I don't thi
nk
I would have written this letter though if it wasn't for one little thing
that happened over Christmas. I came back from my vacation to discover that
my battery had died. My "10-YEAR" battery was dead at the ripe old age
of slightly over two years. Now my machine has an old disk II with a
controller card in slot six, my machine also has a modem in slot two. Everytime
I power up, I have to set these two things right, and then hot boot. When
I run AppleWorks, I have to manually set the date. I can't just hit return
because according to my "Woz" the date is 1/22/13 and the date must be
after 1984. I have little software after two years, and Trip Hawkins' lovely
company (Electronic Arts) has been saying for these last two years that they
will release a program called EARL WEAVER BASEBALL and then denying that they
will release it. C'mon people stop with the lies. Last year at this time,
I got a call from their head of Customer Service swearing that it would be
out in the spring of '88 for the GS. Well it isn't. I'm guessing that
there's two reasons for it. 1) the program was slower than a dead
turtle in molasses during a Nebraskan december because of the 2.8MhZ
clockspeed of a certain overpriced, platinum-colored dinosaur that shall
remain nameless to protect those who are guilty (of charging too much
for aforementioned dinosaur). 2) No one buys GS software. Is that a pair
of good enough reasons? Well, I'm NOT GOING TO suggest how to improve
the GS. It's bloody simple: add a coupla graphics modes, and beef
up the speed tremendously (basically treble the clock speed). Whoops,
I guess I'm a liar and a hypocrite. Well, I've been silent for too long
and I'm getting madder as time passes. If nothing happens by the end
of the summer, you're going to see one GS owner and a once-loyal Appler
(who dare I say it: single-handedly sold about 7 GSes) convert to
the AMIGA. I'm sick of hearing the Apple employees say, "We hear you."
How long do we have to hold our collective breath before you DO SOMETHING.
This is not a flame on you guys, but on your bosses who think the MAC
is the almighty or something. Well, I've said enough and it probably
won't make a tinker's cuss of a difference. I guess you could say
that I'm "sick and tired of being sick and tired." Well, I think I'll
go home and cry on my KEYBOARD...
Dave Srinivasan
CHEESEBALL@ALBIONRXBROWN@UALR.BITNET ("MR.FANTASTIC") (02/23/89)
>I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Don't fret Dave, if they don't listen to us we will all be using Amigas
after awhile. They better come through with a GS+, or I will get a transwarp
and wait until I get mine paid off, then go buy a real machine. By the way
a friend of mine had his battery go out on him, he just got it replaced. On
your software trouble you need to get with a users group, and don't wait for
EOA. Get some stuff from Icom, like Shadowgate. Its great.
Well hopefully we will be able to compete with the others soon. Just hold on
tight and don't cry on your keyboard it might rust or break, or it could start
growing limbs. Its an Apple, it should be able to grow, its got seeds in it
right?
Robert Brown
RXBROWN@UALR
APPLELINK: ROBPHD
HANDLE --> DR.WHO? "THE DOCTOR IS ON-LINE"dseah@wpi.wpi.edu (David I Seah) (02/28/89)
>>Date: Wed, 22 Feb 89 16:22:00 EST >>From: CHEESEBALL%ALBION.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU >>Subject: Fool In the Rain >Do you subscribe to GEnie or AppleLink--Personal Edition? If not, >consider giving them a try. You may be missing out on a lot of >public domain or Shareware stuff. People complain about a lot of >things on the commercial services, but one thing I've never seen >anybody say there is that they haven't gotten much out of their GS. I'm on AppleLink PE, and there are generally a lot of pissed off GS owners on the service. They aren't quiet either. In the A2 Development forum, there is a large folder devoted to "Death of the Apple II". In Across the Boards, there is a "Let's Get John Sculley" folder. In the Grafitti board, there were some unhappy postings as well. Perhaps I'm finding them because I am pretty pissed off too. These folders tend to be among the largest in terms of the number of messages AND posters. I have been looking through the "death" folders on AppleLink, and there were several posts about people dumping their GSs. In the classifieds of newspapers, people are selling their GSs. In phone calls to my friends, they confirm that they know people (or are themselves) selling their GSs. It seems to be a nationwide trend (but don't quote me on that). >>As a business machine, basically the best you can do is AppleWorks >>2.0 (unless you have the patience of 10 dead men) > >I use AppleWorks quite a bit. Is that bad? It goes 2.5 times >faster than on a IIe, and all the GS memory is available for big >files. Plus I have desk accessories always available, and a >detached keyboard & mouse control. I think Dave Srinivasan was referring to AppleWorks GS. I have played with it but briefly, and was impressed with (1) its load time (2) its sluggishness. If programs such as MultiScribe GS are called "unfit for documents longer than a couple of pages" by Apple magazines (that usually gush all over the place), then AWGS might share the same characteristics. >>and as a game machine, the thing is a poor man's Amiga. > >I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to the Amiga. Are you >calling it a game machine? I'm not noted for spending extreme >amounts of time playing games, but I've bought Zany Golf, Shanghai, >and Tetris, and I'm reasonably happy with them. Have you tried >those? I don't know what kind of games you want. There's a slick >public domain Yahtzee and a Shareware Solitaire that I use, too. Poor man's Amiga? The Amiga is the poor man's Apple IIGS Plus! Pay attention to the Amiga! It's catching up! They may not have the support, but they have the hardware! I got burned by them in a local computer show! I had Zany Golf. Shanghai is availiable for the Amiga (and it looks better, too). (take a deep, relaxing breath) From the programmer's viewpoint, the GS may be a great machine. But from those of us who are into animation, presentation, and Total Experience kind of applications (ie: games and graphics), the GS is really third rate. "Graphics that are Static" fits the ticket. Even in great Apple IIGS games like Zany Golf, you can SEE the screen update! Big deal, some may say, but I notice it. Things like this mar the effectiveness of the presentation. If you do any art on the GS, you know that things like ONE pixel out of place can screw up a drawing. Attention to detail is very important. The graphics on Zany Golf are superb (unmatched, methinks), but a hardware "detail" that makes screen writes slow to 1MHz and provides for screen flapping is really too much to put up with now. >>performing the things IT IS DESIGNED TO DO! > >Not all the software is slow, but too much of it is. One thing you >can do is order a TransWarp GS (see below). Another is to wait for >more improvements in software speed (both system software and >application software), which I'm confident will be forthcoming. One shouldn't have to buy an accelerator board to crutch up the performance of the _basic_ machine. I sooth my nerves by thinking of the GS as a 128K Mac in capability. If you want to keep the Apple II as a computationally oriented machine, then accelerators are OK by me. But the GS stands for Graphics that are St...Graphics and Sound! An accelerator doesn't fix the crummy video updating or the noise/low sample rate of the sound glu. If we want number crunching, let us designate the Apple IIGS as the Apple IIC Plus, C for Crunching and Computation! And it looks like it happened, too! [Stuff Deleted] >--David A. Lyons bitnet: awcttypa@uiamvs > DAL Systems CompuServe: 72177,3233 > P.O. Box 287 GEnie mail: D.LYONS2 > North Liberty, IA 52317 AppleLinkPE: Dave Lyons Call me a nit-picker. I am still waiting for that GS Plus. Commodore (the company) sucks. Apple Rocks! Rah rah rah. | <<<<<(((((( DAVE SEAH ))))))>>>>> | Internet: dseah@wpi.wpi.edu | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Bitnet: dseah@wpi.bitnet | Computer Engineering Class of '90 | ALink PE: Omnitreant
gerardo@wpi.wpi.edu (Gerardo Leute) (02/28/89)
In article <8902231032.aa07284@SMOKE.BRL.MIL> RXBROWN@UALR.BITNET ("MR.FANTASTIC") writes: > >Well hopefully we will be able to compete with the others soon. Just hold on >tight and don't cry on your keyboard it might rust or break, or it could start >growing limbs. Its an Apple, it should be able to grow, its got seeds in it >right? > Don't start crying on it, or a pin or something on it could get bent and break, and Apple will have to sell you a new one for about $100... -- Gerardo Leute "Home is where the heart lies, gerardo@wpi.bitnet but when the heart lies, where is home?" "Images of sorrow, pictures of delight, things that go to make up a life."
RXBROWN@UALR.BITNET ("MR.FANTASTIC") (03/02/89)
To Mr. Gererdo Leute: Speaking of keyboards, they (meaning Apple) should make us a bigger keyboard. I like the IBM style keyboard, now before you jump my case let me tell you why. Its bigger, and I can put it in my lap and sit back while I type. I know the GS is mouse driven, but I still have to use the keyboard for AppleWorks and other things. Sometimes I like to sit back and relax while I do it. Robert Brown A.K.A "Mr.Fantastic" BitNet: RXBROWN@UALR AppleLink: ROBPHD "Who me? I was in my jet over Rio."
rkh@mtune.ATT.COM (Robert Halloran) (03/03/89)
In article <8903021403.aa02402@SMOKE.BRL.MIL> RXBROWN@UALR.BITNET ("MR.FANTASTIC") writes: >To Mr. Gererdo Leute: > Speaking of keyboards, they (meaning Apple) should make us a bigger keyboard. >I like the IBM style keyboard, now before you jump my case let me tell you why. >Its bigger, and I can put it in my lap and sit back while I type. I know the GS >is mouse driven, but I still have to use the keyboard for AppleWorks and other >things. Sometimes I like to sit back and relax while I do it. In theory, the larger-layout keyboards offered for the Macs should plug-n-play with the GS as well, since they're all ADB devices. By the same token, your GS keyboard should work on an SE or Mac II. Bob Halloran ========================================================================= UUCP: att!mtune!rkh Internet: rkh@mtune.ATT.COM USPS: 17 Lakeland Dr, Port Monmouth NJ 07758 DDD: 201-495-6621 eve ET Disclaimer: If you think AT&T would have ME as a spokesman, you're crazed. Quote: "May: In Baton Rouge, the Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, announcing that he has been forgiven by the Lord, returns to his pulpit, where he receives a warm reception from 300 billion locusts." - Dave Barry's 1988 Year-In-Review
keith@Apple.COM (Keith Rollin) (03/05/89)
In article <7940@mtune.ATT.COM> rkh@mtune.UUCP (Robert Halloran) writes: >In article <8903021403.aa02402@SMOKE.BRL.MIL> RXBROWN@UALR.BITNET ("MR.FANTASTIC") writes: >>To Mr. Gererdo Leute: >> Speaking of keyboards, they (meaning Apple) should make us a bigger keyboard. >>I like the IBM style keyboard, now before you jump my case let me tell you why. >>Its bigger, and I can put it in my lap and sit back while I type. I know the GS >>is mouse driven, but I still have to use the keyboard for AppleWorks and other >>things. Sometimes I like to sit back and relax while I do it. > >In theory, the larger-layout keyboards offered for the Macs should plug-n-play >with the GS as well, since they're all ADB devices. By the same token, your >GS keyboard should work on an SE or Mac II. > You'll be happy to know that this works in practice, too. Many people here are using the GS keyboards on their Macs. Also, a lot of people use the "Apple Standard" and "Apple Extended" keyboards on their GS's. There is nothing at all wrong with doing this. All 3 keyboards are ADB keyboards and will work with any computer that will allow an ADB keyboard to be attached to it. As such, the 2 larger keyboards should not be considered "the larger layout keyboards offered for the Macs." They are offered equally for the IIgs as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Keith Rollin --- Apple Computer, Inc. --- Developer Technical Support INTERNET: keith@apple.com UUCP: {decwrl, hoptoad, nsc, sun, amdahl}!apple!keith "Argue for your Apple, and sure enough, it's yours" - Keith Rollin, Contusions