mdavis@pro-sol.cts.com (Morgan Davis) (10/10/90)
The Unknown User writes: > You're a person who I presume makes your whole living on writing > software for the Apple II.. Am I correct?? If I'm wrong please correct > me. You're correct. At the present time, the Morgan Davis Group supports and sells four Apple II series-only products. We also have released a number of useful Macintosh public domain programs, but nothing commercial (yet). > If you are, then you're saying it's dumb for people to remain loyal > to the Apple II? > Isn't that like cutting your own throat? Remaining loyal to the Apple II means continuing to release excellent, high- quality software and support. It also means keeping your wits about the Apple II marketplace in order to provide good service. Good business sense involves keeping an eye out for changes, and one of those changes has been so clearly evident that it evades many staunch Apple II supporters. The change is within Apple. It has been occuring for quite a while now. If you want your business to remain supportive of the Apple II, you need to understand how Apple Computer works, and be wary of curves up ahead. I, too, went through a "bash Apple" stage when it first became apparent that Apple wasn't doing all they could to further the Apple II series. Their bias toward the Macintosh was (still is) frustrating and unfair. After three or four years of watching this, it became obvious that Apple was not going to change in the way I wanted them to. It was an acceptance that no matter how loud we complained, or fumed at Apple II developers conferences, the things we wanted were not to come about. Apple has continued to support the IIGS by releasing system software updates, but that seems to be the extent of their vision for the IIGS over the last few years. All the while, of course, they've pumped out Macintosh upgrade after Macintosh upgrade. *That* is the writing on the wall. *That* is the acceptance we must all face. Apple (for better or worse) has screwed itself out of the Apple II market, but has really dug in $ucce$$fully in the Macintosh market. As a software developer, and one who isn't keen on having to learn new systems from scratch (IBM, Amiga, Atari, etc.), going from the IIGS to the Macintosh is an easy and viable transition. It makes sense. At the toolbox level, the two machines are, by comparison with other manufacturer's models, nearly identical. I find 68xxx to be easy to grasp (and very refreshing) after learning the 65816. With news that Apple is developing hardware to allow my existing software to run on the Macintosh, it makes sense for me to continue my Apple II support for a new breed of Apple II users: those on Macintoshes. Plus, it opens up a exceptionally HEALTHY and THRIVING software market for me. By comparison, the Apple II market is very stagnant and dead. The Mac software market is simply bustling with heathly businesses, excellent magazines (with lots of competitive advertisers and quality products), and best of all, lots of support from Apple! It seems so foreign to us Apple II developers who have fought bitterly to get the support we desperately need, only to find that if you end up developing for the Macintosh, Apple lavishly heaps support on you! It is refreshing and frustrating at the same time. I've done my time, written my letters, screamed my lungs out, and bashed Apple up-side the head a number of times. It isn't doing any good. Continuing to do *this* is "cutting my own throat". I enjoy writing software -- it is my sole source of income. I can't afford to close myself into a dying market. I don't even want to, regardless of my affection for the Apple II series. --Morgan Davis P.S. It is my opinion that the best programmers are those who have a rich exposure to many systems. Those who intend to be excellent programmers ought to explore, then bring back good ideas that can be implemented in Apple II software. If we don't, we'll be stuck with AppleWorks forever. UUCP: crash!pro-sol!mdavis AOL, BIX: mdavis ARPA: crash!pro-sol!mdavis@nosc.mil GEnie: m.davis42 INET: mdavis@pro-sol.cts.com ProLine: mdavis@pro-sol