Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!ists!yunexus!philip From: philip@yunexus.yorku.ca (Phil McDunnough) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc Subject: Re: Low cost Mac's ? Message-ID: <14588@yunexus.YorkU.CA> Date: 1 Sep 90 08:55:31 GMT References: <25541.26DA84DD@stjhmc.fidonet.org> <1385@gold.GVG.TEK.COM> <1990Aug30.194221.29942@phri.nyu.edu> <11219@claris.com> <1990Aug31.021020.7897@phri.nyu.edu> Sender: news@yunexus.YorkU.CA Organization: York University, Toronto, Ont. Lines: 33 In article hankin@sauron.osf.org (Scott Hankin) writes: [reccount of statements relating to ease of use of Macs, intelligence of mother,etc...] Really, I didn't want to get in on this but I can't believe that presumably informed people are writing things along the lines that my mother who is intelligent(after all she has a Master's degree...) is able to pick up a Mac and draw pictures within 30 minutes, and you know the interface to the other Mac program is so easy that she can use more programs than PC users. What is the big deal about using lots of programs? By and large you are all talking about launching programs, file manipulation, general i/o. Once in the program, the Mac interface and the lack of a CLI can be a serious drawback. Moreover, serious users rarely use more than a few programs, as your typical program of substance takes a while to learn anyway. A good example is S, a statistical interactive graphics program NOT available for the Mac( but available for 386's) which is THE tool of use for people doing research in data analysis. There is no Mac interface, and the advantages gained by having one are simply outwayed by the fact that the interface is one reason the program is not available. Mac users therefore have to settle for "canned programs" which are fine as long as you have a fairly standard problem. The lack of a CLI and preemptive multitasking( and piping,etc...) are serious problems for the Mac. Unless you want to see the Mac relegated to the DTP, spreadsheet and painting worlds( where budding intelligent mothers can show us that what Picasso really needed was a Mac), you would be better off encouraging Apple to get on with improving its OS, its A/UX so that the wonderful hardware platform isn't wasted on MacWrite and MacPaint. Philip McDunnough University of Toronto philip@utstat.toronto.edu [or here] [my opinions]