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From: barry@rbdc (Barry Newberry)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Mac vs. Apple II line
Summary: The Apple II line is NOT obsolete !
Message-ID: <1990Mar20.103837.1940@rbdc>
Date: 20 Mar 90 10:38:37 GMT
Reply-To: barry@rbdc.UUCP (Barry Newberry)
Distribution: usa
Organization: N.C. Home for Deranged Programmers
Lines: 43


I have no doubts that the Mac is far more powerful than any Apple II,
IIgs included. At 8 MHz, the 65816 can't come close to a 680x0 running
at 20 MHz. The 65816 only has 3 data registers (counting X & Y regs);
the 680x0 has 8 data registers and 8 address registers. I've programmed
the Apple II in Assembly for 8 years, and there aren't enough tricks to
make a 65816 work anywhere near as fast as a 680x0. Still, I prefer my
IIgs over any Mac (I would accept a free Mac if I got a few thousand
dollars worth of peripherals to go with it).
     The Apple II line is FAR from obsolete (IMHO, to use someone else's
abreviation). Most of the time, I run my IIgs at "normal" (1 MHz) speed.
The truth is that I spend most of my time programming (typing), and I
just don't type fast enough to require the "fast" mode. I really would
like to see the standard IIgs at 7+ Mhz, but the point is that most people
don't need a super-powerful computer. People want a useful, inexpensive,
and reliable machine. Macs are expensive. My first computer, an Apple II+,
started out with a cheap monochrome (green) composite monitor; I think it
was something like $100. At the time, you could run a good number of
programs off of a 5.25" disk (143K). Presently, a hard drive is a MUST on
any Mac, and you have to pay for the high resolution which is part of the
Mac. I do NOT like internal hard drives, due to the nature of viruses.
Also, I am not fond of GS/OS (although it's a great OS) because of the
frequent need to "Insert System.Disk."
     Apple still needs to make major improvements on the IIgs. BASIC in
ROM should support Super Hi-Res graphics and the Toolbox, as well as using
upper banks of memory. The Hi-Res graphics of the the II+ was a good
selling point, because it could be EASILY used WITHOUT additional software.
The Double Hi-Res of the IIe was not a good selling point, because almost
no one could use it. Even with all of my Assembly Language and Graphics
experince, I avoid Double Hi-Res because it requires dithering and bank
switching (bank selecting). It would be real nice to use the IIgs sound
from BASIC, using a sine wave as the default waveform.
     Apple management needs to realize that there are a lot of people
who have money and want to buy computers, but THEY DON'T ALL HAVE $5000
TO SPEND !!! Also, these people do not need multitask calculation of
dynamic five-body gravitational interaction. But a 7+ MHz CPU would be
nice.

-- 
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    Remember, until there is a cure for Assembly Language Brain Fry,
      there will always be the N.C. Home for Deranged Programmers.
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