Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!samsung!think!snorkelwacker!bu.edu!m2c!wpi!ggray From: ggray@wpi.wpi.edu (Gary P Gray) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2 Subject: Re: My next personal computer will be a PC Keywords: PC Message-ID: <12658@wpi.wpi.edu> Date: 4 May 90 14:40:44 GMT References: <2968@sactoh0.UUCP> <1990May4.055855.23151@athena.mit.edu> Reply-To: ggray@wpi.wpi.edu (Gary P Gray) Distribution: na Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester ,MA Lines: 122 In article <1990May4.055855.23151@athena.mit.edu> starpath@athena.mit.edu (David E Hollingsworth) writes: >> MY NEXT COMPUTER PURCHASE WILL BE A IBM-PC. > >>It is going to be awfully hard to convince me that my next purchase >>ought to be a Apple //-gs. Why? Same here. I just can't justify the cost of the machine. The price performance ratio is way too low. >Perhaps a more reasonable question is: why change? Well, for me there are several good reasons. Yes, some of us *do* need the power. For things like graphics programming (like complex fractal programs, animation in realtime) operating systems programming, numerical analysis, the power of a 25Mhz 32 bit processor means the difference between waiting a few seconds or a few minutes and waiting hours. >You probably already have a great deal of Apple equipment, software, etc... >I suppose you could sell it all & use the cash help out with the PC, or >you could >keep two computers around. (Or three, or four...) That's so. I have my Apple //c side by side with my IBM XT. I don't have to wade through reams and reams of documentation in order to program it, but then again, the down side is that there are limits to what can be *easily* accomplished. I'll probably hang onto my //c (but the again, I'm sort of a cumputer collector anyway) >The question is though, what do you hope to gain by buying an IBM-type? Programming capability. Microsoft C, Turbo Pascal, C++... Better quality software. There are no ( < //gs) wordprocessers that I have used that I liked. I bought Borland's Sprint for my IBM for ~$100, how much would I have to pay to get Appleworks? How much would I pay to get Appleworks to have all of the capabilities of Sprint, (speller, thesaurus, Postscript output.) (Most of you might not have heard of Borland's Sprint, still an argument might be made price wise for even Word (im)Perfect) Operating systems. High level IBMs are one of the more accessible Unix platforms (why Unix? I'm a CS major focusing on operating systems and compiler design.) >For what MOST people do, Appleworks can handle MOST of your computing >needs. Yes there are limitations. Yes, it is sometimes painfully slow. >But it is NOT just a clear cut case of "this is better than that." You >should decide if the extra expense is worth less than the extra gains by >having a PC. Extra expense? I can easily buy an XT clone (turbo even) for what a //GS would cost comperably equipped. The software on the IBM isn't that expensive if you choose wisely. >And I don't just mean potential gains. As someone thoughtfully pointed >out in a previous posting, there is no need for computer overkill when >buying a machine. Actually, I have seen quite a lot of this. I was talking to an owner of a computer store who had a customer who had bought a 33Mhz system recently come back to him a month later and had him order a 486 system. He wanted to stay "up to date." And what does he do on this monsterous piece of computing iron? He plays games and wordprocesses, of course. Personally, I feel 1Mhz is a bit slow even for wordprocessing, but a //c+ or a //gs would quite likely be more than this guy ever needed. Kind of like buying an Indy Race car when a Yugo would do. > You have to realize that the market is providing >machines faster than MOST people's needs are expanding. Yes, but I'm not most people :) [oops, deleted one line too many... something about why you need 800x600 graphics or something] >of neat demo programs, and maybe play some really amazing games, but you >can buy an Amiga for a lot less than $3000! 65MB hard drive? Are you >sure that's enough...not at all enough? Funny you should mention Amiga. I have heard that it is a lot like the Apple // in design philosophy. Before I buy another computer, I'm going to have to look at the Amigas. If the inner details of the computer are as good as the surface stuff I've seen, Commadore will be making money off me. >If you DO need the extra power, then why are you waiting to buy one? A little something called money :) While i've got the floor, let me say a few things about the Apple // vs. the world. I do feel attached to my //c, it is an "neat" machine. The amount of knowledge needed to program it effectivly can be learned rather quickly. This is why, I suspect, it has the reputation as a hacker's machine. As someone stated a long time ago, a kid can manage to understand and "hack" on this machine and that is how many CS students got their start. I have no qualms about doing any assembly hacking on it, whereas I've not bothered to learn 8086 assembly, and have no plans to do so. I would abandon the IBM line without a second thought for a computer that is simple and "elegant" and has horsepower. I don't want a Mac, because I would rather have a the flexibility of a command line interface and text based display over an all graphics one. Also, I have some questions on how easy a Mac would be to program with its user interface the way it is. The Amiga could be the machine I'm looking for, the "high horsepower" Apple //. I guess what I am saying is that I really don't care about Apple // the architecture as much as I care about Apple // the design philosophy. Keep the computer simple. Support the user *and* the hacker (remember the good old days, when Apple gave you all the documentation you would even need with the hardware, including a schematic?) And most of all, deliver a good piece of equipment at a reasonable price. I believe that Apple once embodied these ideals, and hasn't yet totally lost them perhaps. Just random meanderings of a tired brain... > > --D. Hollingsworth >starpath@athena.mit.edu -- -- WARNING!!! The above opinions may be HAZARDOUS or FATAL if swallowed!!! -- "My mind is going... I can feel it... | Gary Gray -- ggray@wpi.wpi.edu I can feel it..." | GEnie: GGRAY6 (This space unintentionally left blank)