steelie@pro-charlotte.cts.com (Jim Howard) (03/05/88)
I think the government should break up the monopoly that Apple
has over 99.9 percent of the schools in the US. :^)
Recently our school was to purchase some computers for school
applications (which are never more than word processing and pascal
compiling) and I tried to convince them to get Amigas. The
were set on getting *REAL* IBM's. I tried to convince them what
a waste that would be considering you can get an Amiga and the
IBM emulator for a lot less, and since they are used to the
blazing speed (roughly 1 Mhz) of the //e I really don't think they
would notice the difference. "The Amiga could open up new
possibilities in desktop publishing and graphic presentations"
I told them in vain. "Why do we need graphics?" they replied.
I guess the old saying "You don't know what you're missing until
you've had it before" is true. And as the previous person mentioned,
forget about telling them how incredibly SLOW pascal is, not to
mention how disgustingly "structured" it is taught to be. They
became quite angry when I set up a contest between to Apple //e's ,,
entered a short for-next loop on one apple in BASIC, then entered
the equivilant expression on the Apple and compiled it with PASCAL.
Needless to say, the interpreted basic won. They were getting
steamed at around this point, so I decided it best not to bring
the Amiga in and compare C to pascal in readability of structure
and speed. Maybe Commodore could be persuaded to try to compete
at the school and college level? If this monopoly keeps up
we may end up with Apple //e's in the year 2000 with no technological
increase. :^)
"The crash of the whole solar and stellar systems could only kill you once."
UUCP: ....!crash!pro-charlotte!steelie INET: steelie@pro-charlotte.cts.com
INET: crash!pro-charlotte!steelie@nosc.milDMasterson@cup.portal.com (03/07/88)
In message <2631@crash.cts.com>, steelie@pro-charlotte.cts.com writes: > Recently our school was to purchase some computers for school >applications (which are never more than word processing and pascal >compiling) and I tried to convince them to get Amigas. The >were set on getting *REAL* IBM's. I tried to convince them what >a waste that would be considering you can get an Amiga and the >IBM emulator for a lot less, and since they are used to the >blazing speed (roughly 1 Mhz) of the //e I really don't think they >would notice the difference. "The Amiga could open up new >possibilities in desktop publishing and graphic presentations" >I told them in vain. "Why do we need graphics?" they replied. > Or music? Or multitasking? Or 3-D animations? Or... I'd suggest you run right down to your local Amiga dealer and borrow the A500 video presentation that Commodore puts out. If the school can look at that and not get excited about the prospects for the Amiga in many areas of school disciplines (not just computer programming), then its time to find a new school. It was really a good video... >"The crash of the whole solar and stellar systems could only kill you once." > >UUCP: ....!crash!pro-charlotte!steelie INET: steelie@pro-charlotte.cts.com > INET: crash!pro-charlotte!steelie@nosc.mil David Masterson DMasterson@cup.portal.com
jxc@rayssdb.ray.com (Jeffrey J. Clesius) (03/09/88)
In article <2631@crash.cts.com> steelie@pro-charlotte.cts.com (Jim Howard) writes: > >"Why do we need graphics?" Probably the best reply is, "Do I have to draw you a picture?". Don't use this on VP's, though! As a rule, they don't have much of a sense of humor. (a generalization derived from observed behavior) ______________________________________________________________ | Jeffrey Jay Clesius, Raytheon Submarine Signal Division | | 1847 West Main Road, Mail Stop 188 | | Portsmouth, RI 02871-1087 (401) 847-8000 (X4015) | | { allegra | gatech | mirror | raybed2 } -----\ | | { linus | ihnp4 | uiucdcs } --------------->!rayssd!jxc | |______________________________________________________________| "This mind left intentionally blank."
terry@wsccs.UUCP (terry) (03/12/88)
In article <3705@cup.portal.com>, DMasterson@cup.portal.com writes: > I'd suggest you run right down to your local Amiga dealer and borrow the A500 > video presentation that Commodore puts out. If the school can look at that > and not get excited about the prospects for the Amiga in many areas of school > disciplines (not just computer programming), then its time to find a new > school. It was really a good video... Peachy. What a professional production (how does one do a smiley with it's tongue sticking out, anyway?) If you want the school to the idea that the should buy a computer manufactuered by the people who put out that video, the best way would be to hide it from them. The first time I saw it was in a local Amiga dealer's storefront (I had already had an Amiga 1000 for quite a long period of time beforehand). I was embarrased for my machine. There were people who didn't have an Amiga snickering at it. The way to do it is do get some of the FF disks, such as the Ray tracer, the image processor, the demos, the educational programs, and the fact that the best C for any machine it is available for (Aztec by MANX) is _developed_ on an Amiga (I don't know what educational level you are trying to hit). If they still have doubts, then have an Amiga brought up and demo Lotus running under transformer. Like dipping a vestal virgin in sewage, I know... If it's public domain, there is at least .4 GIG of it for the Amiga (I have .2 GIG myself) and it's available for well under the IBM asking price of $10 a disk average (that's also 3000 normal density IBM disks :^)), usually for just mailing costs, if you don't have a local user's group for it. Or you could always side-by-side Word Perfect.... ;-) Don't, however, show them the video. ----- terry@wsccs
lbrown@apctrc.UUCP (Lawrence H. Brown) (03/16/88)
In article <309@wsccs.UUCP}} terry@wsccs.UUCP (terry) writes: }}In article <3705@cup.portal.com>, DMasterson@cup.portal.com writes: }}> I'd suggest you run right down to your local Amiga dealer and borrow the A500 }}> video presentation that Commodore puts out. If the school can look at that }}> and not get excited about the prospects for the Amiga in many areas of school }}> disciplines (not just computer programming), then its time to find a new }}> school. It was really a good video... }} }} If you want the school to the idea that the should buy a computer }}manufactuered by the people who put out that video, the best way would be }}to hide it from them. The first time I saw it was in a local Amiga dealer's }}storefront (I had already had an Amiga 1000 for quite a long period of time }}beforehand). I was embarrased for my machine. There were people who didn't }}have an Amiga snickering at it. }} }} terry@wsccs Hmmmm. You don't like the video (sounds of asbestos suit being donned...)? Why? I personally enjoyed the heck out of it! It was fun playing name that program (trying to guess what was done with which display) and I liked the music. The only thing that I had a hard time swallowing was the "rock-n-roll" segment where they were showing the two guys jamming on keyboard and amiga. Looked like they were having seizures. Good grief!! While the start was a little weak (primal mists, "..with powers beyond mortal computers..." voiceover.) Also glad they didn't start right out with games, in fact left them for last. Wish they'd run the Amiga Computer Ads on STTNG. Idle thought... did the artists who had their art work used in the ads (checker-- raytracing, endless loop--Mr. Hastings, etc..) get any credit for them, other than the pleasant satisfaction that comes from seeing your work in a major promotional ad? -- Lawrence H. Brown USENET: ...!uunet!apctrc!cdf!zlhb0a or zlhb0a@cdf.apctrc.uucp (?) Phone: (918-660-4389) 24 hrs, voice. USmail: 7325 E. 50th, Tulsa, OK 74145 Disclaimer: I paid 25 cents to see the light. Call it cheap entertainment.