Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!att!rutgers!usc!wuarchive!uunet!munnari.oz.au!murtoa.cs.mu.oz.au!rob
From: rob@cs.mu.oz.au (Robert Wallen)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: System 7 and Mac Plus/SE 68030 upgrades.
Message-ID: <3119@murtoa.cs.mu.oz.au>
Date: 5 Nov 90 08:17:59 GMT
References: <9514@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> <1990Nov3.122558.28340@rodan.acs.syr.edu> <9516@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> <3117@murtoa.cs.mu.oz.au> <1990Nov5.065457.2872@world.std.com>
Reply-To: rob@murtoa.UUCP (Robert Wallen)
Organization: Comp Sci, Melbourne Uni, Australia
Lines: 78

In article <1990Nov5.065457.2872@world.std.com> boris@world.std.com (Boris Levitin) writes:
>My, my, things are getting so tense here that Jesse Jackson will soon be
>making an appearance. :-)  SERIOUSLY, 2.2 is NOT the current version of

Well, tense is a good word.  But consider how hard I had to work to get Macs
into the office instead of PC's running Lotus, based on 'how easy they are to
use' and 'the software is so much better'.  Try running 'it will be ok when we
get the next rev' past an accountant mentality and see which machine you buy.
And factor in the number of days that the machine was unavailable as well...

>Excel.  2.2a has been around for a year and works fine on 6.0.7 (I don't
>know about 6.0.5 but would be surprised if it doesn't).  Unfortunately,
>Microsoft has not widely advertised the availability of 2.2a (a very useful
>update that also fixes the misguided assumtion that 

Figures doesnt it.  So if you want to keep using the 'friendliest' computer
around, you need to keep your nose to the net and up to your eyeballs in the 
latest MacWeek, MacUser, MacTutor, etc and hope you catch the clues...

>Same goes for HyperCard.  Apple has greatly improved it in v. 2.0, and it's
>still FREE, so why won't you get it?  There's non-stop whining on Usenet

Rest assured I 'would' get it.  Lets just make sure that I 'can' before we
start slamming around the term 'whining' please.  And from what I read in the
afore-mentioned media, HyperCard is not exactly free these days, is it?

Just imagine our office runs a nifty little database on Hypercard which we 
justified because 'its free'.  Now run a 'runtime-only' version instead.
'Oh, if you are a serious developer you'll get the edit-version for only $x
bucks'.  Lets see, 'Dear boss.  I need to buy another copy of that software
we have been using because it doesnt do what it used to any more. Im sorry
we used it instead of DBASE on the PC and I promise it wont ever happen again
but can we just do it this once?'

Also, the deadlocks caused by 'User A: I want to use the latest features of
MacNeato 7.3 but it needs System 6.12.3a.  When are we upgrading?'
'User B: I need to keep using WizzoCalc 1.8 and it breaks under anything later
than System 6.11.2.  Get onto the people at WizzoInc and get the latest version
from them, will you?'
Who do I keep happy?  And how do you guarantee that you will even be able to?

>Now, the original Mac II also crashed when you tried to run MacWrite 4.5
>(still very popular at that time), because MacWrite 4.5 (not the Mac II)
>didn't fully follow its own guidelines.  Should Apple have not introduced
>the Mac II so as not to "break its own code?"  If it worried about

As I recall, the change there was a CPU not just software. This sort of thing I
can deal with. Have you heard me complain about the sound software that
stopped working when I got my SE/30? Or the Thunderscanner that needs a
different serial port to get power from?  Or the TurboMouse that needs a
non-adb connection.  (And yes, I could get these upgraded if I thought 
spending the money was worth it.  For now, I just keep using the 'other' Mac
that I keep around 'just-in-case')

>>Point me at a store where a megabyte costs ME $35 and my nose is yours for
>>the bopping.  Although Australia may be a little far to walk ;-)
>
>US$35 is the bottom end of the price range for 1MB SIMMs in the US.  Many
>of the mail-order vendors at the back of MacWeek (such as the Chip Merchant)
>will sell at that price, although airmail to Australia would be extra, but

Actually, my 5mb upgrade for the SE/30 cost me about $500 AUS once you factor
in our crappy dollar, freight, insurance, etc.  Thats about $125 per SIMM.

And correct me if I'm wrong here but I just bet that sticking in $35 worth of
RAM gets you system errors and not much else.  Dont you need at least two? Or
four?  (Note: If you tell me you get TWO for $35 I really am going outside to
burn an effigy of our national treasurer!)

>then, no-one said that being a community of some 14 (?) million people
>on an island-continent far away from the nearest civilization was going to
>be easy.  At least it encourages self-reliance :-)

It certainly isnt.  And it certainly does.  But for a machine that prides
itself on being for the international market, its software vendors sure dont
realise that there is a world outside the U.S.A.

And apologies to those who think this should be in some other newsgroup.