glang@well.sf.ca.us (Gary T. Lang) (02/19/90)
For a newsletter we're putting together dedicated to news about the NeXT machine, please send me via email or bix mail a list (and if you have the time description) of any NeXT program that is shipping or in development that you are aware of. Please include price and availability particulars if possible. We believe that the NeXT machine is already the #3 platform for GUI applications; after only 1 year and 4 months, there are more applications shipping for it than for OS/2, OpenLook and Motif combined. For this and other reasons, we believe the mainstream trade press to be ignoring some simple facts about the current state of the software industry 1) A new generation of software cannot be developed until the tools are firmly in place for next generation development. The current interest in C++ on the Mac and IBM platforms is a good start but there are totally inadequate and nonstandard debugging and Interface Builder-like tools on those platforms - usually developed by vendors other than the hardware vendors or the compiler vendors, leading to incompatibilities between the C++ implementations and the Interface Builders. Look at the Mac - Prototyper, the closest development tool on the Mac to IB does not generate C++ or objectove enhancements to Think C. On the PC side, Case:PM or Case:Windows do not really do much to aid Glockenspiel C++ development. On the NeXT, it's all part of the system. Until this new generation of applications are developed, the current slump will continue to dog the industry. 2) Despite the best efforts of Microsoft and IBM, OS/2 has not taken hold for development of this new generation of software. We don't believe that it ever will at this point because at this stage of its implementation it provides no end-user solution that isn't already more than adqeuately addressed by Unix and its variants, which includes Mach. We want to ask the question: is it wise to spend so much time and energy solving problems that were solved years ago when our industry is losing momentum with potential customers? No it isn't wise at all. Closed systems like OS/2 have never provided lasting solutions to the techical problems that deal with issues that need addressing by the much needed renaissance in software we desire to see. There is increasing evidence that even IBM is starting to understand this. The address for the applications you know about is: 3700730@mcimail.com or glang on BIX or glang@well.uucp Thanks for whatever information you can send us. And of course comments are welcome, particularly over email.