cosell@BBN-LABS-B.ARPA (09/24/84)
From: Bernie Cosell <cosell@BBN-LABS-B.ARPA>
The September issue of the Atlantic has a `Computers' column by James Fallows
(actually, I don't recall seeing such a column in the Atlantic before so I'm
not sure if it is a one-off or a newly instituted regular). In it, among other
things, he does a pretty scathing job of cutting the Mac. It turns out that he
virtually completely presents my primary gripe about the Mac (and says it a lot
better than I ever could). I'm sorry for this late notice -- I think the Sept
issue is just about to disappear from the newsstands. The article is much too
long to post, but if you're really interested and can't find a copy I could
probably be persuaded to (US) mail you a Xerox...
Excerpt:
...Considered as a feat of engineering, the Macintosh is as dazzling as
anything that might be found at the Paris Air show. It is that rare
product in which innovations that were difficult to create are also
impressive to see. There is a vivacity to the screen display that can be
matched only on the Macintosh's forebears, Apple's Lisa computer and the
Xerox Star system....
...Technically sweet as it is, the Macintosh fails the basic test that the
market has established for personal computers: it does not make enough of
life's chores simpler...Apart from those who routinely need to make
sketches or charts and include them in memos, not many people will find
that their lives are easier because of Macintosh...
...Most keyboards have a ``number pad'' which makes business and accounting
projects go more quickly. The Macintosh does not... Even more irritating,
its designers, in an act of inexplicable hubris, decided the that
Macintosh should be the only computer ever built without cursor keys...
Making a mouse available is like offering your guests chopsticks in
addition to silverware. Making it mandatory is like forcing them to use
chopsticks even when you're serving soup...
/Bernie
cosell@bbn-unix