dseah@wpi.wpi.edu (David I Seah) (02/09/89)
I sure hope that Apple IIGS Plus rolls out real soon... We recently put on MEGAFEST, a student-sponsored computer show featuring a whole bunch of different computers. We had two Apple IIGSs, a slew of Amigas, a Mac II, a Mac SE, an accelerated Mac Plus, and a number of high powered IBM PC compatibles. Before the 'fest, we were feeling pretty happy about the GS. I bought or downloaded some of the finest software the GS has to offer: Zany Golf from Electronic Arts DiversiTune 1.0 from DSR + downloaded tunes from AppleLink PE DeluxePaint II from Electronic Arts Cinemaware Slideshow downloaded from AppleLink WordPerfect 2.0 (loaned by a friend) 3200 Color Demo I thought this was a pretty good lineup. These are programs that do very well in pushing our hardware to the red line. While they may not be the most sophisticated, they are the most visually/audibly impressive stuff I know of. So on the day of the 'Fest, we got blown away by Amiga in both Graphics AND Sound. Everybody knows that the Amiga has superior graphics hardware. I hadn't realized HOW superior until I saw the recent batch of demos and software they had. I didn't even run the 3200 Color Demo because (1) The images were lifted from the Amiga in the first place and (2) Compared to the real thing...ugh. SPEED! COLORS! And they don't have to program around the single, slow, unbuffered SHR screen. I hadn't expected to be impressed by their sound. It may have been the nice stereo they had. But, their digitized sounds were noiseless (mostly). Their songs were more contemporary than ours. Their songs were NOT as complex (4 voice), and their better music software seemed to tie up their processor, but it was nearly comparable with the GS. This appears to be mostly a software issue. More songs can be written, new instruments can be created. But the GS is still too underpowered do music and animation at the same time! You can't refresh a SHR screen without tearing when your music routines are generating interrupts. Look at Skate or Die GS. It has really crummy game play because of this. Certainly, the Amiga has been availiable for perhaps two years longer than the GS. One could argue, "Just wait! Software will come our way in a month! Powerful, sophisticated event driven programs utilizing the GS's unique graphics and sound capabilities in an integrated, Mac-like environment!". We got AppleWorks GS, which runs sooooo slowly, I thought it was running backwards. It's not the software's fault, it's SPEED. In the Industry Forum on AppleLink, the product support boards are littered with topics like, "F-18 for the GS?", "Earl Weaver for the GS?", "Gunship for the GS?", "3-D Helicopter Simulator for the GS?". The response is usually, "We evaluated the machine, and concluded that it was too underpowered to write a sophisticated application such as this." Where is Firepower? Where is Deluxe Music Construction Set? Where is Hunt for Red October? Is there anybody out there who would actually use Multiscribe GS to write a paper longer than three pages? Grumbling of this kind does no good at all, of course. The New GS will (read, "had better") run at a COMPETITIVE speed versus other computers on the market. When the current GS was on the drawing board, how could Apple have ignored the capabilities of the Amiga and Atari ST? At times I wonder if Apple has forgone real innovation in favor of marketing tricks. I realize that the market seems to have moved away from "breakthrough" to a more development/evolution oriented structure, but man, I still can't wonder why the GS couldn't have roasted the competition right off. I would like to see Apple introduce the GS with REAL speed and more hardware dedicated to sound and graphics. Since Apple would like us to use the tools to access these features anyway, they could build these in transparently. With respect to markets, one COULD say that the GS has no competition - in Apple's reckoning. In education, it still is Apple II all the way, though IBM compatibles are beginning to get into high school. Amiga and Atari can't touch us there. For other areas, like "desktop video", "multimedia", music, and business, Apple would like to promote the Mac...not the Apple II. So I guess I'm in a hole in terms of Apple loyalty. I expected Apple to deliver Power to the Masses! Wasn't that mentioned somewhere in "Odyssey"? Nowadays, Apple wants to give you an Apple Credit Line so you can afford their "prestige prices". | ............DAVE SEAH............ | Internet: dseah@wpi.wpi.edu | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Bitnet: dseah@wpi.bitnet | Computer Engineering Class of '90 | ALink PE: Omnitreant