Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!bbn!bbn.com!mesard
From: mesard@bbn.com (Wayne Mesard)
Newsgroups: news.misc
Subject: The "Macintoy" chant is getting tired
Message-ID: <41604@bbn.COM>
Date: 19 Jun 89 13:01:56 GMT
References: <2073@astroatc.UUCP> <2928@csd4.milw.wisc.edu> <659@whizz.uucp>
Sender: news@bbn.COM
Reply-To: mesard@BBN.COM (Wayne Mesard)
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc., Cambridge MA
Lines: 36

In article <659@whizz.uucp> alexc@whizz.UUCP (Alex M. Chan) writes:
>	I agreed. But in my perosnal view, who would clone a MAC ?
>	To me it sees to be just a toy for kids to play with or a
>	fancy typing machine for people would like that "mouse" and those
>	stupid sounds... and stuff...

My, how clever you are.  How informed.  You prefer a UNIX box.  So do I.
But:

  1) You and I are computer-heads.  The power, and thus the complexity,
of UNIX neither overwhelms us nor intimidates us.
  2) I use my Mac, not my Sun for word processing, because there's
simply no faster, easier way to get professional documents produced.
That goes for memos right on up to book manuscripts.  Yes there are
things that Scribe and Tex can do that MS Word (et al) can't.  But is it
really worth the overhead?
  3) The Mac solved the user interface problem.  It didn't perfect it.
But it drastically increased the non-computer-heads access to computer
power.  If you don't need an interface, fine.  But there are hundreds of
people in my company doing things they couldn't possibly have done on
their own without a Mac.  Meanwhile, we have closets full of PCs
gathering dust.  There are educational programs being written that would
not fly in a non-Mac-like environment.  And most importantly :-), there
are games whose success is due largely to the sophistication of the
Mac's interface.
  4) Your assessment may have been valid in the days of the 128k Macs,
when there were no resident compilers and little software.  But with all
the Macs being bought, and all the people around the world doing serious
data manipulation and text/image processing it is as if you were arguing
for a return to punch cards.

-- 
unsigned *Wayne_Mesard();     "Matthew X. Williams (Tony)  This is Matthew's
MESARD@BBN.COM                first appearance here on Earth.  His hobbies
BBN, Cambridge, MA            include kick-boxing and arson."
                                -from Vassar's Commencement Musical playbill.