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Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!usc!ucsd!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!agate!shelby!siegman@sierra
From: siegman@sierra.STANFORD.EDU (siegman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc,comp.sys.mac.hypercard
Subject: Re: "Innovative software like Hypercard" [sic]
Message-ID: <123@sierra.STANFORD.EDU>
Date: 8 Jul 90 22:21:32 GMT
References: <1990Jul7.225429.22821@midway.uchicago.edu> <33543@ut-emx.UUCP>
Sender: siegman@sierra.Stanford.EDU (Anthony E. Siegman)
Organization: Stanford University
Lines: 37

My two opinions on this thread:

1) I won't express an opinion pro or con on the value of Hypercard as
a programming system for amateur programmers, or as a sales tool for
Macs -- though I some time ago decided there was no stackware I was
finding useful, and de-accessioned HyperCard completely.  (Maybe
getting a CD-ROM drive would change that.)  

But I'll point out once again -- hope this doesn't get tiresome --
that for the amateur, occasional, part-time programmer (at any level
from high-school student to full professor) who wants to write a few
real Mac-like programs now and then, to do real work, QuickBASIC
provides a superb, powerful, easy to learn and easy to use real Mac
programming environment and language.

Certain interface-intensive tasks I'd certainly chose to implement in
HyperCard.  But QuickBASIC programming on the Mac, even with interface
considerations included, is certainly no harder to learn or use than
is HyperCard scripting, especially if you want to "write a program";
and the hardware and memory requirements are very much less.  (And you
can end up with a nice small free-standing clickable application.)

2) IMHO the debates raging in this and other groups over the relative
merits of the Mac versus Windows 3.0 are largely irrelevant.  A very
large number of novice computer buyers (and a large number of
elementary and high school educators needing to replace their Apple
IIs) are going to look at Windows 3.0, and say, "Hey, that's great!!
...  Just like the Mac!" (whether that's true or not) ".  And then
they're going to look at clone prices, and at the total system they
can get for their limited dollars (and the warranties), and say "And a
lot cheaper too!!"  And they're going to buy the clone with Windows.

(And developers are going to look at, what is it, 1 million Macs, and
7 (?) million PCs and growing, out there, and decide where to steer
their creativity.)

I don't think Apple yet really believes this will happen. We'll see...