declan@portia.Stanford.EDU (Declan McCullagh) (07/17/90)
Lynda Botez writes in an earlier article... >Well, perhaps I didn't say it clear enough. The article in Byte I was >referring to said the program was too slow, and the resolution was coarse. >I would imagine they were using it on a regular Apple IIGS (the 2.8 mhz >kind... who knows, it could have even been set to 1 mhz...). Hey, take a look around you. Look at the rest of the computer world. VGA is commonplace, and Mac II's are ubiquitous at colleges. There just aren't too many IIgs' lurking around schools or businesses - the two most lucrative markets. >The resolution is acceptable, but with the rest of 'em capable of 640 x 400 >and better, our machine is getting way behind. I'd say it *is* way behind. Is it so hard to realize that Apple has relegated the IIgs to the educational world? So far, their policy and product introductions (IIc+, Video Overlay Card) have been consistent with that intent. I expect that we'll just have to accept it. On the other hand, there will be some interesting news from KansasFest later this week, so perhaps a policy shift is in the works, one consistent with Apple's new found religion of the low-end? >I dunno. I look at my Apple and say, why can't Apple make my 9 mhz Apple IIGS >standard? A redesign of the motherboard would give the speed I have to >everyone. Lynda makes some excellent points here. Since Apple has such a monopoly on its hardware, people tend to look at what systems _they_ release, not what is available from third parties. In addition to proving users with that comfortable "Apple feel" (not to mention multicolored logo), it demonstrates the company's commitment to its product line. At the risk of tormenting a fossilized horse, think back to the fall of 1986, when Apple introduced the IIgs. At that time, it seemed wonderful; the speed, graphics, and sound were far beyond the expectations of the average Apple II owner. Now, it's close to four years later (almost half a decade - an infinity in the computer world), and the Apple II community has seen no substantial changes in the IIgs. In the same time period, six new Macintosh models were introduced. -Declan ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Olympic Technologies / Registered NeXT Developers \ declan@portia.stanford.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
dlyons@Apple.COM (David A. Lyons) (07/18/90)
In article <1990Jul17.080219.28572@portia.Stanford.EDU> declan@portia.Stanford.EDU (Declan McCullagh) writes: >[...] >At the risk of tormenting a fossilized horse, think back to the fall of 1986, >when Apple introduced the IIgs. At that time, it seemed wonderful; the speed, >graphics, and sound were far beyond the expectations of the average Apple II >owner. Now, it's close to four years later (almost half a decade - an infinity >in the computer world), and the Apple II community has seen no substantial >changes in the IIgs. No substantial changes? I suppose you mean just in the hardware, but I would argue it doesn't make much sense to consider only the hardware. Try booting up System Disk 1.0 sometime. There have definitely been major changes in the GS User Experience. But the, I'm a Software guy. There's a lot left to be done in software. -- David A. Lyons, Apple Computer, Inc. | DAL Systems Apple II Developer Technical Support | P.O. Box 875 America Online: Dave Lyons | Cupertino, CA 95015-0875 GEnie: D.LYONS2 or DAVE.LYONS CompuServe: 72177,3233 Internet/BITNET: dlyons@apple.com UUCP: ...!ames!apple!dlyons My opinions are my own, not Apple's.
toddpw@tybalt.caltech.edu (Todd P. Whitesel) (07/19/90)
dlyons@Apple.COM (David A. Lyons) writes: >In article <1990Jul17.080219.28572@portia.Stanford.EDU> declan@portia.Stanford.EDU (Declan McCullagh) writes: >> Now, it's close to four years later (almost half a decade - an infinity >>in the computer world), and the Apple II community has seen no substantial >>changes in the IIgs. >No substantial changes? I suppose you mean just in the hardware, but I would >argue it doesn't make much sense to consider only the hardware. Try booting >up System Disk 1.0 sometime. There have definitely been major changes in >the GS User Experience. No argument there. But tell me, have you tried to use the system, most notably the INSTALLER, with one drive lately? Now there's a user experience for you! >But then, I'm a Software guy. There's a lot left to be done in software. Agreed. However, the motherboard badly needs a real update -- a quantum leap in performance that lends credibility to a revised marketing campaign and does the new system justice. I won't rehash the Apple //f again (version four? when?) but I will say (again) that Apple knows how to fix the GS. It's more a matter of internal politics and whose projects get canned in budget cuts and things like that. Sad, but true. One consolation: Apple is not (by far) the only company whose future is threatened by executive politics. Todd Whitesel toddpw @ tybalt.caltech.edu