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From: mlbarrow@e40-008-11.bloom-beacon.mit.edu (Michael L Barrow)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Hypercard white elephant...
Message-ID: <1990Jul15.051324.12295@athena.mit.edu>
Date: 15 Jul 90 08:12:50 GMT
Sender: daemon@athena.mit.edu (Mr Background)
Distribution: usa
Organization: MASSACHVSETTS INSTITVTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Lines: 58

In article <1990Jul7.050240.21181@csrd.uiuc.edu> forbes@sp11.csrd.uiuc.edu (Michael Scott Forbes) writes:


   I've been trying to avoid posting follow-ups to *any* of the children of the
   offspring of the spawn of "Rumor:  Loss of Mac's 20% over Windows 3.0"
   (the thread that ate comp.sys.mac.misc; the resulting loss of productive
   Mac-related conversation has narrowed the Mac/Windows gap by 11%   ;-),
   but I have to take exception with the phrase "innovative software like
   Hypercard".

   I've just spent an afternoon of clearing space on hard drives at a friend's
   place of work; the most effective method of doing this so far, freeing up
   three to four megabytes of unused space, is to remove Hypercard.  No one
   uses it; there's barely enough memory on these Mac SE's to run it; and
   the mystery question of the day is "What is it?"  It seems to be a piece of
   software in search of a practical use; unlike databases, spreadsheets, page
   layout programs, etc., there is neither a high demand for hypermedia engines
   nor a lucrative untapped market in them.

   If development costs for Hypercard are driving up the costs of making a Mac,
   then I think we can safely ax this project.  Most users could live without
   Hypercard and be richer as a result.



First of all, Hypercard does _not_ take up 4 megabytes. You are not
required to have the complete system installed on your hard disk. That's
just like keeping all the tutorial files for every application you've
installed.

Second, you obviously don't realize the number of people that find value
in Hypercard. Why don't you try going to MacAdemia? You'll see _many_
institutions that designed really great applications in the HC
environment. HC is not only used in an educational environment, but many
people use it as kind of a personal information system. You're right in
one respect, no one can really describe HC. It's unique and you can push
it to do some really amazing things.

Lastly, I like the fact that Apple has thrown a neat 'thing' in the box
with the computer. Hypercard is an interesting little environment that
promotes some type of software development at all levels -- neophytes to
experts.

Basically, my opinion is this: do be so hard on HyperCard. It is a cool
addition to the Macintosh computing environment that I think should
stick around. Furthermore, it promotes a global computing platform.

--Michael L Barrow
mlbarrow@athena.mit.edu
o MIT Information Systems/Information Services MCR Consultant
o Project Athena Volunteer User Consultant
o Member, Student Information Processing Board (SIPB)
--
--Michael L Barrow
mlbarrow@athena.mit.edu
o MIT Information Systems/Information Services MCR Consultant
o Project Athena Volunteer User Consultant
o Member, Student Information Processing Board (SIPB)