Ferris_D._Jennings.osbunorth@XEROX.COM (01/13/88)
Well folks I have been spoiled by my computer here at work and basically look at both my Apple II+ and Apple IIgs as toys; useful toys, but toys none the less. In fact I would venture to say if I owned a Mac I would regard that as a toy also. I know, I know...FLAME FLAME FLAME. When you deal with the power of a corporate network and mainframe, believe me a 20 megabyte hard disk, a "whole" meg of memory and a bunch of floppies just don't really excite me. I regard the IIgs Finder as simply a desktop used to support and manage a hard disk. My next step is to load the system disk plus Finder into the EPROMs on my AST memory card and put my software on a hard disk, so as soon as I turn on the gs, the desktop is brought up and displays, via icons, whats on the hard disk. Thats roughly what I have going here at work; a 17" bitmapped display showing a desktop with, as of this writing, 58 icons representing files and tools I have on the hard disk. What if you don't want to go the hard disk route? Then for you the Finder and Desktop are a waste of time and memory space. I can't really see the advantage of booting to Finder, putting your copy of Flight Simulator into the 5 1/4 drive and clicking the little drive icon OPEN. I am not quite sure I understand the term "power user". If that means a programmer or someone, like yourself, who wants the computer to do only one complex function, then I have to agree with you that lower level access, without the niceties of a desktop and menu driven commands is the way to go. However I have one bite with that mindset (and this isn't really a flame). We here in Silicon Valley and in the universities and R&D sites across the country sometimes loose track of just what the end result of all this high technology is suppose to be. The end result is to create and sell systems and software so the "average person", whether that be an auto designer in Detroit or a secretary in Wells, Nevada can do their jobs more efficently, better and easier. When confronted with a flashing cursor, believe me the average Joe would rather click the mouse buttom to reveal the hidden menus and select one from there than dig out a users manual to find out just what to type next to the flashing cursor. For an example: With the pressing of two keys I can send my office computer into a slightly lower level computing enviroment. It still has muti tasking windows and a few mouse driven menus, but its basically "type in the blank". One utility in that enviroment is a file tool. With that file tool I can access just about any file, stored on any file server, in any of my corporations offices, anywhere in the world (as long as they are connected to the corporate internet). What I have to know is the name of the server, where it is located, what directory I want to look at and what file I want to retrieve. On the other hand in the mouse driven menu world I have a similiar file utility, except in this case when I click over the word NETWORK I am presented with another window that shows ALL the corporate internet domains world wide (the list contains over 300 corporate domains or sites nation wide not to mention a multitude of foreign domains). Ok say I then click over my own domain here in Sunnyvale, California. Again I am presented with another menu of all the 300 megabyte file servers in our Sunnyvale Research Site (approx 78 300MB drives). I select one server in particular with my mouse and highlight it. Again I am presented with another window: this time it gives me a list of all the directories on the file server I have selected. I choose one and click my mouse button on it. Again another window appears and shows me all the files that are stored in that directory. I highlight one file, press the <COPY > key on my keyboard; I'm asked to select a spot to put the copy, I find a clear space on my desk top and click my mouse again. The computer now makes a copy of that specific file and it appears as a file folder icon on my desktop. I click <Close All> and all the open file utility windows close. Leaving me with my original desktop plus a new folder. I can now open that file, look at it , edit it, maybe add an intersting font or two to accent a word or paragraph. Perhaps I have a piece of art work that was done using my draw utility and I want to incorporate that into the file; simple matter of a few mouse clicks and I can put a copy of my art into where ever I want in the file. Great! So I now store a copy of my new file out onto a server using the same technique I used to retireve it; a couple of mouse clicks and its done. I want to keep a copy on my desk top to refer to and with a couple of clicks on my old mouse I'll send a copy to a laser printer down the hall, just so I'll have a hardcopy of the file to show people what I have been busy. And while the computer is formatting and sending the file to the printer I click my MAIL icon and retrieve and read any new mail while I'm waiting. And all that only took a few minutes to find and retrieve a file, change fonts, add art, refile it and have a master like hardcopy done. I didn't have to type in a thing. I didn't have to make sure my syntax was correct, or the domain was correct, or the spacing between commands was correct. I just simply started bugging menus. If I didn't have the foggiest idea where to look for a file, I could bug each domain, each server, each directory and each file until I found what I wanted. Its so simple, even a paying customer could use it. And there are even HELP menus along the way, just in case the mouse driven menus don't explain enough. Now again a poor choice of words "novices and the occassional user". I really doubt if I would call a legal secertary or an accountant or someone else who relies heavily on a desk top enviroment a novice or occassional user. I assure you if someone were allowed to use a truely professional desktop system for a couple of months, they would be totally lost when it was taken away. I think you are really short changing the actual power and ability of a true desktop enviroment. It sounds corny I know, but I feel that I have access to the world via my desk top...and I do. So what all this boils down to is the Apple IIgs is a fine machine. It still has some bugs and also has a little maturing to do, but its basically a fine little computer. Apple Corporation is spreading its little wings and trying to create an introductory desktop/hard disk workstation enviroment. If you don't want that enviroment then don't use it; don't boot the Finder; don't play the desktop game; boot from floppy applications only. Its your choice. The machine has the flexibility to go both ways. Sorry to have clogged all your disk space with this reply. =Ferris= Not an employee of Apple Corporation.
halp@TCGOULD.TN.CORNELL.EDU ("Bruce P. Halpern") (01/13/88)
Despite having a number of mainframes available, including a National Science Foundation supported supercomputer, I (and most of my colleagues) prefer to use microcomputers whenever possible. Sure we use LAN, but total control by one individual over a machine (or set of machines) is important to us [perhaps even necessary :-) ]. When the power of the mainframes is required, they are certainly used. However, my Apples (][e & ][e, not even a ][gs or Mac) and IBMs (AT 339) considerably exceed the mainframes I once was forced to use (when micros were 4K or 8K RAM items). A very specialized coprorate environment,such as that described by Ferris, is great for a particular group of users. However, it may not suit those who want to (?need to?) go their own way. Perhaps those who do research are in that category. ****DISCLAMER: My comments, etc., are my own shakey opinions ******** | Bruce P. Halpern Psychology & Neurobiology & Behavior Cornell Ithaca | | ARPA: halp@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu | | BITNET: HALP@CRNLTHRY D57J@CORNELLA D57J@CRNLVAX5 | | PHONE: 607-255-6433 Uris Hall, Cornell U., Ithaca, NY 14853-7601 |