Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utcsrgv.UUCP Path: utzoo!utcsrgv!info-mac From: info-mac@utcsrgv.UUCP (info-mac) Newsgroups: ont.micro.mac Subject: Re: flame about color Macs... Message-ID: <4304@utcsrgv.UUCP> Date: Wed, 16-May-84 09:32:02 EDT Article-I.D.: utcsrgv.4304 Posted: Wed May 16 09:32:02 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 16-May-84 10:03:55 EDT Sender: peterr@utcsrgv.UUCP Organization: CSRG, University of Toronto Lines: 33 Date: Tue 15 May 84 02:16:10-EDT From: Michael Rubin Subject: Re: flame about color Macs... To: ihnp4!utzoo!henry@UCB-VAX.ARPA Cc: info-mac@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA In-Reply-To: Message from "ihnp4!utzoo!henry@Berkeley" of Sun 13 May 84 01:19:31-EDT In non-graphic applications, color tends to be used as a field separator (a way of separating logically different parts of the screen) or a standout mode (for highlighting invalid input or out-of-band messages to the user like WARNING, DISK IS FULL). The Mac, unlike the competition, can use font changes and separate windows for the former and alert/dialog boxes for the latter. However, if you are dealing with several planes of graphic data (VLSI design, but also plotting more than two or three curves on a graph, or drawing the electrical and plumbing plans of a building) you just can't do it in black and white. Even minimal color is a huge help -- witness the three-color (red, yellow, green) radar scopes used by air traffic controllers. Oh yes, four bit planes doesn't mean only 16 colors; ask any Atari user about color look-up tables. The IBM PC doesn't use these because [IBM was dumb, and] cheap monitors only understand composite video (low resolution) or digital RGB (can only display 16 colors anyhow). The present Mac has its own homebrewed video electronics anyhow; who cares about standard video signals? Not to mention games... then again, us serious folks *never* play games on our computers. --From the butane torch of: Mike Rubin -------