chuq@plaid.Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (01/17/88)
This was the year the Mac went Hyper. If I never see the word Hyper again, I'll be happy. A few months ago, in Boston, Apple announced Hypercard. This month, in San Francisco, the Mac Vendors went Hyper. There were three new HyperCard books at the show, with announcements for more. The only one worth looking at is Hayden's HyperTalk Programming by Dan Shafer, which lets Goodman act as reference and really hunkers down and teaches you to use the program. It looks hot, and I'll have more on it when I finish poring through my copy (as an aside, it was the ONLY thing I bought at MacExpo this year, more on this later). Two HyperCard add-on products: the disappointing HyperDA (it lets you read HyperCard stacks with all sorts of restrictions -- no writing, no xcmd support being the major ones. It works, but only for simple stacks. I'm waiting for the what HyperDA ought to be. To quote from the literature: "HyperDA understands a full subset of the HyperTalk language" -- now what does THAT mean?) and REPORTS!, which grafts on the output functions that HyperCard really needs. Initial details look real interesting. Commercial stacks are arriving. Hypersoft has The DTP advisor, an AI stack that helps you design a pretty newsletter. Hypernews is a new, monthly, Hypercard Magazine On A Disk, at $60.00 a year. HyperPress Publishign has HyperSpell, a spelling corrector/verifier that works inside HyperCard; ScriptExpert, a HyperTalk helper, and Icon Factory, a HyperCard based Icon designer (this one looks really neat -- I am planning on grabbing a copy when I see it at ComputerWare). Everyone is on the HyperCard bandwagon. HyperCard is arriving. I just wish folks would stop putting "hyper-" in front of everything. It's making me hyperventilate. Speaking of hyperventilating, trying to breathe was an interesting exercise at this years MacExpo. It's interesting to put things in perspective. Two years ago, MacExpo was at Brooks Hall, sharing it with the Apple II. Last year, it moved to Moscone Center, sharing it with a boat show. This year, the boat show is gone, more than doubling the size of the exhibits over last year. Friday, normally the slow day, was walking gridlock. Getting from one side of the hall to the other was a non-trivial problem, due to the size of the crowd. I'm frankly surprised the fire marshall didn't move in. It was, in no uncertain terms, a zoo. If you occasionally see something where I say "look interesting, I'm going to get more info" it's because I saw something I was interested in but could never get close enough to the booth to grab marketing material, much less talk to someone. Anyway, on to the show. First, since I've covered it in detail and because it really was the highlight of the show, is Ann Arbor Softworks and Fullwrite Professional. Anyone who was at the show and saw the effort and cost put out by AAS would immediately realize how silly all these buyout rumors are (the latest being Ashton-Tate). AAS has a lot of ego and reputation in FWP. Selling out now would be admitting failure or lack of nerve. One thing AAS has no lack of, however, is nerve. They're in this for the long run, and they probably will pull it off. Major Kudos to the AAS folks. They had a marvelous sense of humor about their vaporware status, down to the demo folks telling some rather sharp and nasty jokes about themselves. The demos are bloody amazing, by the way. They had open Macs in one part of their booth (they had the prime position of the show, and the second largest booth, after Apple's -- no shrinking violets, they). They handed out a two disk demo set of FWP to everyone who wanted one at the show, which says more than any marketing demo can. I took mine home, plugged it in, and went gaga. I'm a word processor junkie. This is a great fix. 'nuff said. The AAS folks, despite the vaporware, the jokes, the bad press on delays, are persevering and shipping a Gamma version of FWP to pre-paid customers (gamma is the time honored tradition of software companies when it is almost ready but can't wait anymore). According to folks at the booth, 6,000 copies were shipped, and I've got independent confirmation that it arrived at a couple of places. When they do finish the product, everyone with Gamma will be shipped the rest of the documentation and the final program, at AAS's cost. These folks firmly believe that despite the long delay to market and the hassles, they're going to walk in and waste Microsoft and Word. They may well be right. The demos are rather impressive, so is the demo program. 'nuff said. Speaking of Microsoft, they had a big, bland booth. Nothing interesting. Among other things they were demonstrating was Microsoft File 1.0, a wonderfully out of date program that had its last update in 1984. I found this amusing as hell, considering how old and moldy the program is. Microsoft should either update or dump the program, and considering it's been supplanted by products like Reflex Plus and FileMaker+, dumping is probably a lot cheaper and easier. The only folks who haven't abandoned Microsoft File by now are the silly, the stupid, or the folks who have very simple needs. Speaking of FileMaker+, if you are an owner of FM+ and bought the program while while it was being sold by Forethought, the new owners want to talk to you. When Forethought was bought by Microsoft for Power Point, the rights to FM+ reverted to Nashoba, the original designers. The customer list didn't. The Nashoba people would LOVE to have you re-register the program with them. There is a new release of FM+ available, version 2.1, which cleans up mac II and printing problems and fixes a few bugs. They'll send you a copy if you re-register. To do this, send the following information to Nashoba Systems FileMaker Registration 1157 Triton Drive, Suite A Foster City, CA 94404 Serial Number (from back of disk) Name Company Name Address City, ST, ZIP Day Phone Purchase Date (Approx) I would expect a new, improved release of FM+, probably for the next MacExpo. It's interesting, by the way, that Microsoft didn't pick up FM+ when they bought Forethought, even though it's a logical replacement for Microsoft File and one of the best regarded low end Databases. Rumors on the floor (NOT from the Nashoba booth, since they didn't want to talk about it) say the Microsoft tried, but their offer was amazingly low and insulting, so Nashoba turned them down. Grain of salt time, here. On to Apple stuff. First, Claris. Claris, the software company spun off by Apple, spread its wings with new versions of the standard Apple programs and a couple of new toys. The new toys are forms generators, which I won't cover. The important things are the updates of MacWrite, MacPaint, MacDraw and MacProject. Everything now runs on Mac II's and under Appleshare, and is compatible with Multifinder. To get a Claris upgrade packet, call 800-544-8554. These programs are no longer bundled with the Mac and no longer handed out free by dealers. But the upgrade prices are reasonable for the new functionality, and Claris is putting together a Tech Support organization to support them. I don't see how anyone can complain (although I expect it'll happen). MacWrite 5.0. Upgrade $25. Available now. o Spell checker, 100,000 word dictionary o create your own dictionaries o keyboard shortcuts o arrow keys o decimal tabs o undo MacPaint 2.0. Upgrade $25. Available now o tear off palettes o nine documents at once o auto scrolling o magic eraser (it'll erase what you painted, a layer at a time!) o startup screen support o adjustable grid o lots more (my fingers get tired. It's neat) MacProject II. Upgrade $145. Available now. o Hierarchical subproject consolidation o customizable calenders o 1500 resources/project o plotter support o task relationships MacDraw II. Upgrade $100. Available Spring o 3 to 10 times faster o mulitiple layers o zooming o libraries o up to 2000 dpi resolution o color o plotter support Those are just highlights. Looks like Claris is off to a good start. For apple proper, there are the three new LaserWriters. They're cute. About half the size (and weight!) of the current ones. The lower end printers are upgradable. The paper trays hold twice the paper, and there are more of them, including an envelope tray. The interesting new hardware to me was the MIDI port. Apple gets serious about music, and seems to be trying to legitimize a new market that the Mac has made inroads into. This announcement says a lot without affecting many third party vendors -- a nice touch. No scanner, it's due out later. Rumor mill has two new machines near the end of the year, one possibly a portable, the other possibly a 68030 machine. We'll see. Now, into miscelanea: Avery now has laser printer labels. These are different than copier labels in a couple of ways: o they're designed to be printed in laser printers without wasting labels along the top and bottom. o they're designed to be put in the paper tray and automatically fed without coming apart and gumming up the works. The technology is impressive. For folks who run mailing labels, this is a big step forward. The big battle, if there was one at MacExpo, was in graphic programs and retouching. Aldus came out with Freehand, which is going head to head with Adobe's Illustrator. From my initial glances, I think Freehand may be in the lead, but Adobe has a new release, Illustrator 88, that does color separations and some other stuff, so it's hard to tell. Letraset's Image Studio image touchup software is frankly amazing and impossible to explain. You have to see it in action to appreciate it. Let's put it this way. In five years, you'll be able to take a $1.00 bill, scan it into your scanner, you touchup software to put your face on it and turn it into a $300 bill, then print it out on your color laser printer, and it will be damned hard to tell it's counterfeit. Image Studio is the first serious entry in the graphic touch up world, and will probably come to be seen as being as revolutionary as PageMaker, or Lotus 1-2-3, or VisiCalc were. It's gonna be fun to watch.... DTP programs in excess. I got stuff on PageMaker 3.0, RSG 4.0, Scoop, Xpress, and Interleaf. RSG is still on top, in my eyes, although PageMaker is better for shorter, more graphic pieces. The others, in general, keep both products on their toes waiting for someone to slip. Except for InterLeaf. I don't like Interleaf on the Sun (I like Frame), and I don't like Interleaf on the Mac even more, because they completely ignored the Mac user interface in favor of the Interleaf user interface. And they're significantly more expensive than any other product, with less functionality. Expect this product to bomb royally, except in shops that have already committed to interleaf on other machines. Other things. aesthetics will paint your mac any color in the Panetone system, or special marble, granite, or wood grain colors. It'll also color all your accessories, hard disk, and laser writer to match. Colors are about $300, up to marble and wood at $900. Expensive, but you should see the results. Truly awesome, and pure ego. Finally, SuperPaint 2.0, to be available 2nd quarter fro $199 new, $50 upgrade. new features include: o autotraciing of a bitmap into a draw layer o bezier curves o multigon tool o new air brush o free rotation of objects and text in the draw layer o multiple draw layers o graphics libraries o page size dependent on memory o TIFF support o laserbits is now one big page. um, wow. This year, I bought home over 4 inches of paper, a new record, and I didn't come close to seeing everything, primarily grabbing stuff I was at least marginally interested in. These are the highlights. If you weren't there, while there weren't any major product annoucements or surprises, it really was an event, and proves (1) the Mac is here, and (2) that the next year is going to be fascinating. One thing I have to wonder, though. MacExpo has definitely outgrown Moscone. There were too many people and not enough vendor room. I wonder what they're going to do next -- Las Vegas? chuq
olson@endor.harvard.edu (Eric K. Olson) (01/18/88)
In a recent article Chuq Von Rospach writes: >This was the year the Mac went Hyper. If I never see the word Hyper again, >I'll be happy. A few months ago, in Boston, Apple announced Hypercard. This >month, in San Francisco, the Mac Vendors went Hyper. > Somebody, either on this newsgroup or somewhere else in the Mac Media predicted that this year "Hyper" will replace "Turbo" as the prefix of choice. Who was that? Stand up and take a bow. -Eric (defun maybe (x) (maybe (not x))) Eric K. Olson olson@endor.harvard.edu harvard!endor!olson D0760 (Name) (ArpaNet) (UseNet) (AppleLink)
bayes@hpfcdc.HP.COM (Scott Bayes) (01/19/88)
>In a recent article Chuq Von Rospach writes: >>This was the year the Mac went Hyper. If I never see the word Hyper again, >>I'll be happy. A few months ago, in Boston, Apple announced Hypercard. This >>month, in San Francisco, the Mac Vendors went Hyper. >> > >Somebody, either on this newsgroup or somewhere else in the Mac Media >predicted that this year "Hyper" will replace "Turbo" as the prefix >of choice. > >Who was that? > >Stand up and take a bow. (-: ___/_ / / \ / / \ / \ / \ / \ ^^^^^^^ bowing face :-) > > > >-Eric > (defun maybe (x) (maybe (not x))) >Eric K. Olson olson@endor.harvard.edu harvard!endor!olson D0760 > (Name) (ArpaNet) (UseNet) (AppleLink) Scott Bayes bayes@hpfclw
paul@dana.UUCP (Paul Ausick) (01/19/88)
> > ...lots of interesting stuff... > DTP programs in excess. I got stuff on PageMaker 3.0, RSG 4.0, Scoop, > Xpress, and Interleaf. RSG is still on top, in my eyes, although PageMaker > is better for shorter, more graphic pieces... I really thought the new Xpress was superior in every way to all other products (I currently use PageMaker2.0). I'll probably buy a copy when it gets on the shelf. One thing Chuq didn't mention, but that just knocked me out was a demo of Knowledge Engineering's _Lithographer_ at the RasterOps booth. Bill Bates, company prez, was using a MacII to show this off. It's a combination of a draw and paint program, but you could use it in the same way as ImageStudio on a 24-bit color image. That's damn cool. But the most impressive part (Bates said he wasn't sure he was going to sell Lithographer) was the sample printed output he brought along. Bates has written a PostScript-compatible(clone) driver for an imagesetter called The Ultrasetter. Output resolution is 3000 dpi. Bates understands that all the flashy graphics in the world isn't worth much unless you can get it on paper for a reasonable price. He hopes to have a product announcement in the spring. Watch for it. It won't be the biggest announcement of the year, just the most important. -- /Paul Ausick Dana Computer, Inc. 550 Del Rey Ave. uucp: ...hplabs!dana!paul Sunnyvale, CA 94086 408/732-0400
edmoy@violet.berkeley.edu (01/20/88)
In article <39117@sun.uucp> chuq@plaid.Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) writes: >This was the year the Mac went Hyper. If I never see the word Hyper again, >I'll be happy. A few months ago, in Boston, Apple announced Hypercard. This >month, in San Francisco, the Mac Vendors went Hyper. Other than "hyper", the word that impressed me was "color". Lots of it. Lots of color monitors and video cards to choose from, such as SuperMac, PCPC, Jasmine, E-machines, etc. Most were 8-bit color, but there were at least five 24-bit color systems (RasterOp, Jasmine, SuperMac, TrueVision and Mass-Micro Systems). The last two are designed to capture video signal (from a camera or VCR) in 24-bit color at 30 frames per second. And there was three color printers that I saw (QMS, CalComp, Versatec). These were all based on the multi-pass wax toner process and were either 200 or 300 dpi. They only cost 14 arms and 32 legs :-) On a related topic, there were ump-teen video digiters and scanners at the show. Of mention is ProViz, which uses a video camera mounted in a copy stand. It has color filters that go in front of the lens to take separate images in red, green and blue (a poor-man's way of color digitizing, but ProViz still isn't what I would call cheap). >Speaking of hyperventilating, trying to breathe was an interesting exercise >at this years MacExpo. It's interesting to put things in perspective. Two >years ago, MacExpo was at Brooks Hall, sharing it with the Apple II. Last >year, it moved to Moscone Center, sharing it with a boat show. This year, >the boat show is gone, more than doubling the size of the exhibits over last >year. Friday, normally the slow day, was walking gridlock. Getting from one >side of the hall to the other was a non-trivial problem, due to the size of >the crowd. I'm frankly surprised the fire marshall didn't move in. It was, >in no uncertain terms, a zoo. If you occasionally see something where I say >"look interesting, I'm going to get more info" it's because I saw something >I was interested in but could never get close enough to the booth to grab >marketing material, much less talk to someone. I heard that a total of 30,000 people attended last year's MacExpo. This year, 20,000 attended just on Friday! I don't know what the final figures are. Thursday the 14 was "VIP day" by invitation only. It was alot nicer, being many fewer people than Friday or Saturday. At the opening talk, they showed some of the old videos (like the scene of "1984" with a women throwing a hammer and smashing the giant video monitor). They had a new video of what 1997 (ten years hence) would be like. Besides implying that Macs would take over the computer world, the scene I liked the most was one showing a new Mac, shaped like sunglasses with floppy disks the size of postage stamps! Edward Moy Workstation Software Support Group University of California Berkeley, CA 94720 edmoy@violet.Berkeley.EDU ucbvax!violet!edmoy
chuq@plaid.Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (01/20/88)
>I heard that a total of 30,000 people attended last year's MacExpo. This year, >20,000 attended just on Friday! I don't know what the final figures are. The final figure I got was over 50,000 people. Next year, they are going to be splitting space -- All of Moscone, all of Brooks hall, and part of teh Civic Center according to my sources. THAT should be a royal zoo. chuq Chuq "Fixed in 4.0" Von Rospach chuq@sun.COM Delphi: CHUQ What do you mean 'You don't really want to hurt her?' I'm a Super-Villain! That's my Schtick!