Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!udel!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!o.gp.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!ba0k+ From: ba0k+@andrew.cmu.edu (Brian Patrick Arnold) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hypercard Subject: Re: Chill Out Message-ID: Date: 4 Oct 90 02:15:17 GMT References: , <4769@crash.cts.com> Organization: Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA Lines: 73 In-Reply-To: <4769@crash.cts.com> So, since so many of us feed off of third-hand misinformation, here are excerpts from this week's MacWeek article on "Apple tries to ease Hyper anxiety" pseudo-quoting from Mike Holm, HyperCard product manager: "There are no plans to ship a 'crippled' HyperCard...the binary is the real thing...the...bundled HyperCard will have the same script editor and stack-creation functions as the full development tool.... In the bundled version, however, stack-editing options will be concealed from users and...only one...disk, containing HyperCard and a few stacks, will be included.... The decision to hide scripting was made in part because people in Apple's Instructional Products group were concerned that naive users would accidentally damage stacks they use if authoring and scripting capabilities could be activated too easily. Plans to ship just one HyperCard disk...were made...before the decision to have Claris distribute the full version was made.... The Claris-labeled [development] version will include five disks and about 700 pages of documentation on HyperCard, stack design and the HyperTalk scripting language. Retail pricing for the full [development] version has not been set, but...[current] HyperCard owners will be able to upgrade for $49." Okay, before that, I said: >I personally look forward to real documentation and real programming >tools from Claris in the $50-100 range. Wow I missed it by a buck. Then Eric Hicks pointed out: >So now you'll spend $50-$100 on Hypercard AND $50-$100 dollars on >decent HyperTalk books/programming tools. Yes and no. I DO expect to shell out, er, $49 on HyperCard AND decent documentation/tools, and maybe $25 for a new HyperTalk book. I have no illusions that HyperCard 2.0 is much improved and will require me to invest some more, but $74 IS LESS than the ~$150 I (or my grant) shelled out on fluffy books and inferior tools for HyperCard 1.2.5. I DON'T expect to shell out a penny if I just want to develop with the HyperCard 2.0 application alone (with a stack or two thrown in). We ought to be able to upgrade our HyperCard application and Home stack using our own disk for free, but I for one am considering the developer's upgrade because it simply makes sense for me. Eric goes on to say: >...I've heard that Bill Atkinson had a contract signed when he >developed HyperCard stating that it would always be free and bundled The announcement already stated that HyperCard is still being bundled with Macs. Maybe the application itself is not totally free for us anymore, we will see. Anywhoo, Bill did not play a central role in HyperCard 2.0's development. I think the part about Bill threatening to release the source in the public domain is reaching a little - binary yes, source no. In a different post, Rick Brink asks: >How much stock do you own? 100 @^#$%!* shares. That doesn't pledge my allegiance to the company which occasionally does some obviously incredibly brainless and stupid things (the Iraq situation really sank the stock along with everything else anyway). But my foolhardy drive to hang on to their stock partially represents my high appreciation of the many insanely great things the company STILL does for us pee-ons. Despite all the wind blowing on the net about Apple "continuing to falter" and making bad decisions, I think HyperCard 2.0 and the positioning of Claris to develop support tools for it will come to signify some of those insanely great ideas that still come (er, came) from Apple. The only blemishes so far are a horrendous delay in HyperCard 2.0's release and in a horrendously worded initial press announcement. The worst potential blemish involving us I think will have been avoided once the hullabaloo (I just wanted to spell that) dies down and reality sinks in. - Brian