jm7e+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU ("Jeremy G. Mereness") (04/10/88)
The Nutty idea doesn't sound so Nutty to me, although it does sound a little drastic But as Apple and its machines become more and more institutionalized, and users become more and more dependent upon a few very large and bureucratic developers, the needs of the user will become more and more shortchanged. If Apple, for example, refuses to come out with a faster, more efficient Prodos 16, then the entire Apple Community will suffer unless some concerned and talented users get together to hammer out a better OS. The problem after this, however, is getting it to the public at large, because having one's own great, powerful, and friendly OS is not very helpful if no one else uses it, esp. devolopers. This is where nets like Apple2-l, Arpa, Usenet, and the fabled comp.sys.binaries can help out by distributing the OS around the Apple // community at large. As Apple has promised to deliver a better Prodos 16, I'll use another example. A speedier Apple is something all of us would like. If it existed, not only would older programs run faster, but newer ideas that would be unbearably slow at present would suddenly become feasable. Enter the elusive "Zip Chip." If this thing ever comes out, a market for programs that make use of that 300% speed upgrade would suddenly appear. If talented people on the nets started writing software for it that was good enough to make a dent in the market, to the point that Joe User would "simply HAVE to have a Zip Chip because these programs are so Great!", Apple would have to begin considering speeding up the machine on their own as buying the machine w/o a 3rd-party Zip Chip will become analogous to buying one w/o a 64K-80column card. What I am saying is, Apple, Big Blue, and all those big companies do not believe that usersgroups or networks of users can really make a difference in the overall picture. If Apple puts out a slow, cumbersome version of Prodos 16, people willgrumble, but they'll accept it as standard anyway and adapt. Consider the Macintosh. Apple decided that all Mac users must use a Finder program. and What about all those poor people dealing with the quirks of PC-DOS and the "123-Inteface?" Gunga Din. This does NOT have to be the case. User/Programmers (who seem more concerned with the fate of the // anyway) can and should make a difference. Especially now as Apple is packaging fewer and fewer things with the machines. Besides; their Our machines. It should not necessarily be up to the Manufacturer to command how we are to user them. Capt. Albatross jm7e+@andrew.cmu.edu ============ disclaimer: These opinions are mine and will remain so until more intelligent or insightful or informed people are kind enough to show me the error of my ways. Remember: A mind is a terrible thing to baste.