SEWALL@UCONNVM.BITNET (Murph Sewall) (02/27/90)
In response to laments that ambiguous "subject" lines have caused
readers to overlook this column in the clutter of other newsgroup
messages, I have switched to a more visible (if mundane) subject
identification that clearly identifies the column.
Perhaps as a consequence of the most recent shake-up in Apple's senior
management, there are an unusual number of Apple II rumors in this
month's column (even without the persistent MacWeek "Apple plans to
discontinue the Apple II one of these days" rumor). An alternate
explanation if that several inside sources have elected to furnish
me with some original tips about Apple II developments. Would that
similar input arrived about Amiga and Atari (for instance). Support
your local rumor mill :-) <Sewall%UConnVM.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu>
IBM's introduction of the new RISC System/6000 has diminished
(short-term not doubt) Big Blue rumors for the moment.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VAPORWARE
Murphy Sewall
From the March 1990 APPLE PULP
H.U.G.E. Apple Club (E. Hartford) News Letter
$15/year
P.O. Box 18027
East Hartford, CT 06118
Call the "Bit Bucket" (203) 569-8739
Permission granted to copy with the above citation
Quicker, Redesigned Apple IIgs.
The new Apple II CPU Promised by John Sculley for September
1989 (if Microsoft is frequently a year late delivering
promised new products, should Apple be any different?) has
finally shipped to beta test sites. Currently known only as
the ROM 04 machine, it's not a radical departure from the
current ROM 03 IIgs. Some features are subject to change.
The video resolution will be improved to 600 by 400 and the
one MHz video problem has been fixed by adding a new
graphics processor. Writes to the video screen are at full
CPU speed and the improvement is dramatic. The beta test
model is shipping with a 5.8 MHz chip (being pushed to 7
MHz), but an even faster version may be installed by the
time the product is announced. Apple is experimenting with
the slot architecture. There may be some sort of 16-bit
extension to the current 8-bit Apple II standard, or the
slot speed may simply be a separate control panel option.
Although the beta version doesn't have the SWIM chip to make
it possible to read IBM and Macintosh high density 3.5 inch
formats, it's not too late to add that feature. Most
existing IIgs programs which are copy protected fail to run
on the ROM 04 machines. Deprotected versions work. A
decision to market a new IIgs hasn't been finalized, but the
planning date is September 1990.
- found in my electronic mailbox (note: there are more
details here than I gave Cringely for the 29 January
InfoWorld column; I did want one of his coffee cups, but
I also saved some of the good stuff for my friends)
Even More New Apple II Products From Apple.
Operating System 6.0 for the IIgs featuring some new sound
tools and other toolsets should be released in the near
future. HyperCard IIgs (see columns from last month, last
December and last August) is likely to be delayed. The beta
test version is too slow and requires too much memory (would
you believe 2 Mbytes of RAM and 4 Mbytes of disk space?).
On the plus side, the new DMA SCSI card should be announced
this Spring (possibly along with OS 6.0). It will transfer
1 meg per second on a IIgs and 1/2 meg per second on a IIe
for an apparent speed increase 3 times greater than the
existing Apple SCSI card (the ROM 04 IIgs described above
may come with this SCSI capability built in). Along with
the new SCSI card, look for drivers for the Apple scanner,
the LaserWriter 2SC, the new Apple laser printer described
below, and a streaming tape backup system. The new card
will retail for $129.
- more goodies found in my electronic mailbox
<Sewall@UConnVM.BITNET>
Mac IIxi.
The enhancement to the Macintosh IIx expected this month
will be more than simply a CPU speed increase to 25 MHz.
Upgrading a IIx will require a motherboard swap, and don't
be surprised to find LaserWriter SIMMs ($700 per Mbyte;
available only from Apple) inside. - InfoWorld 12 February
An Order of Magnitude Faster.
Motorola's new 25 MHz 68040 CPU processes 20 million
instructions per second (MIPS) which is about one-third
faster than the originally anticipated 15 MIP performance.
A 25 MHz 68030 delivers about 6 MIPS. Even more impressive
market Indian-made i486 motherboards in the U.S. Osborne
says an i486 system with 4 Mbytes of RAM, a floppy drive and
a small hard drive will retail for $4,200.
- InfoWorld 5 February
New Apple Printers.
Even though Apple sold it's Adobe stock, the two companies
continue to cooperate. Apple will soon announce a new
low-end ($2,500) four page per minute LaserWriter
(Postscript printer) that actually produces pages at nearly
that speed. At the high end, a color LaserWriter is planned
for the end of the summer. Also, there is likely to be an
Apple version of the Adobe fax board that turns any Adobe
Postscript printer into a plain paper fax machine.
- InfoWorld 29 January
Atari's STacey is for Real.
After a couple of false starts, Atari's portable ST (known
as the STacey) is finally on the market (see last June and
October's columns).
- Seen on the Computer Chronicles 10 February
New Apple II Accelerator.
Applied Engineering will be replacing the current Transwarp
II accelerator with a new model (that will cost $20 more)
during the second quarter. Company spokespeople deny that
Zip Technologies' successful suit against the Rocket Chip
had any bearing on the redesign (uh huh).
- found in my electronic mailbox <Sewall@UConnVM.BITNET>
What will "Ivan" Think of Sticky Bear Bop?
A Canadian group will be marketing Apple II compatible
computers in the Soviet Union.
- An advanced peek into the May 1990 InCider from
Joe Abernathy <jabernathy@pro-houston.cts.com>
Latest on the "Golden Gate."
InfoWorld's Cringely still believes in the simultaneous Mac
and Apple IIgs computer code-named Golden Gate (see the
November 1988 column), but Apple insiders tell me that what
Cringely hears comes from engineering while the marketing
types have "concept tested" the product with K-12 educators
and found the whole idea seriously wanting. The problem is
the Golden Gate will cost nearly as much as a Mac SE and a
IIgs. At those prices, educators say they'd rather buy two
computers rather than only one.
- found in my electronic mailbox <Sewall@UConnVM.BITNET>
When Ingenuity Fails.
Third party developer Applied Ingenuity has had a falling
out among partners. The departure of the firm's technical
wizard has shelved the Apple II video tape backup card
(advertised last Fall), the 100 Mbyte Innerdrive, and
several other products.
- found in my electronic mailbox <Sewall@UConnVM.BITNET>
Pagemaker 4.0 for Windows 3.0.
Aldus has made it clear that it will follow up its
announcement of Pagemaker 4.0 for the Macintosh with an
MS-DOS product as soon as Microsoft releases Windows 3.0
(currently projected for April, but the date has slipped so
often already that any month after this one is credible).
Once Windows 3.0 is released, look for a Windows version of
Adobe Type Manager (bringing something resembling Display
Postscript to the MS-DOS world).
- PC Week 22 January and InfoWorld 12 February
dBase IV 1.1 Update.
Beta testers say to expect delivery of dBase IV version 1.1
(see last month's column) in the second quarter. Apparently
there are problems with the program's installation procedure
as well as some remaining unresolved bugs. Meanwhile,
Ashton-Tate has shipped the dBase compiler to beta testers.
Insiders expect a long test period.
- PC Week and InfoWorld 5 February
/s Murph <Sewall%UConnVM.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.Edu> [Internet]
or ...{psuvax1 or mcvax}!uconnvm.bitnet!sewall [UUCP]
+ Standard disclaimer applies ("The opinions expressed are my own" etc.)
/s Murph <Sewall%UConnVM.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.Edu> [Internet]
or ...{psuvax1 or mcvax}!uconnvm.bitnet!sewall [UUCP]
+ Standard disclaimer applies ("The opinions expressed are my own" etc.)Doug_B_Erdely@cup.portal.com (02/28/90)
Is there SOME reason why this Apple drivel was posted to CSA?? Someone should mail these pinheads who cross-post JUNK into groups where they do not belong. - Doug - Doug_B_Erdely@Cup.Portal.Com
jma@beach.cis.ufl.edu (John 'Vlad' Adams) (03/01/90)
Lighten up, Doug. Murph either made a mistake or his news program mis-directed a posting (which does happen occasionally.) I'm sure Murph didn't mean to post in csa instead of comp.sys.apple. And calling him a pinhead is certainly a sign of maturity in the attempt to keep down the tendencies of computer wars which are unfortunately rampant in the comp.sys groups. -- John M. Adams --*-- Professional Student on the six-year plan! /// Internet: jma@beach.cis.ufl.edu -or- vladimir@maple.circa.ufl.edu /// "Houston, we have a negative on that orbit trajectory." Calvin & Hobbs \\X//
sjm@sun.acs.udel.edu (Steve Morris) (03/01/90)
I don't think that it was a mistake, if you note, at the beginning he was asking for amiga roomers, so that he could post them also. Since the only computer groups i read are comp.sys.amiga i don't mind seeing an occasional posting that contains info about apple. It is good to be aware of what the others are up to. Steven Morris sjm@sun.acs.udel.edu
barrett@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Dan Barrett) (03/01/90)
In article <27381@cup.portal.com> Doug_B_Erdely@cup.portal.com writes: >Is there SOME reason why this Apple drivel was posted to CSA?? >Someone should mail these pinheads who cross-post JUNK into groups where >they do not belong. I was not the poster, but I think I know why it was posted. Murph's VAPORWARE column has been posted for years to the Bitnet mailing list I-AMIGA. It often contains a lot of interesting rumors and tidbits about the computer industry in general, and I find it very enjoyable. For example, it often discusses new SCSI peripherals on their way to market (applicable to Amiga), product announcements (by Commodore sometimes), and the love/hate relationships between various computer companies. Somebody evidentally thought it should be posted to comp.sys.amiga too, since many folks I-AMIGA really like it. The latest edition had a heavy "Apple" content, but that is not always the case. So please lighten up. I don't believe there were any "pinheads" involved. (And some of us "Zippy" fans don't like your misuse of the term.) :-) :-) Dan //////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ | Dan Barrett, Department of Computer Science Johns Hopkins University | | INTERNET: barrett@cs.jhu.edu | | | COMPUSERVE: >internet:barrett@cs.jhu.edu | UUCP: barrett@jhunix.UUCP | \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/////////////////////////////////////
C503719@umcvmb.missouri.edu (Baird McIntosh) (03/08/90)
In article <27381@cup.portal.com>, Doug_B_Erderly@cup.portal.com (Doug) writes: >Is there SOME reason why this Apple drivel was posted to CSA?? >Someone should mail these pinheads who cross-post JUNK into groups where >they do not belong. It is Apple, IBM, and non-Amiga computers drivel, actually. I think that it is slightly interesting, and since it gets posted everything few monthes it is not a real net-clogger. I much prefer it over some of the other junk that gets posted. My opinion: continue the VAPORWARE column. 1.RAM DISK:> type baird.sig Baird McIntosh (2nd yr CS/Math major, University of Missouri-Columbia) c503719@umcvmb.missouri.edu <-or-> c503719@umcvmb.bitnet "Every multitasking system needs a talking clock..." -- Andy Finkel