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: New perspectives on Macintosh [from INFO-MCIRO] Message-ID: <4821@utcsrgv.UUCP> Date: Sat, 7-Jul-84 10:43:36 EDT Article-I.D.: utcsrgv.4821 Posted: Sat Jul 7 10:43:36 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 7-Jul-84 12:27:17 EDT Sender: peterr@utcsrgv.UUCP Organization: CSRI, University of Toronto Lines: 67 Date: 7 July 1984 03:24-EDT From: Jerry E. Pournelle Subject: New perspectives on Macintosh [from INFO-MCIRO] To: werner@UT-NGP Cc: info-mac@SUMEX-AIM In-Reply-To: Msg of Fri 6 Jul 84 11:25:04 CDT from Werner Uhrig Oddly enough I had not read Phil's editorial. Interestingly: our new Mac has the "Programmers switch" as an external plastic unprotectexd add-on that can be h it by putting a book against the side of the Mac; maybe it would have been better to be inside? But recessed or protected might be better. I have second drive for Mac now. In some ways it is very nice, but like a lot of the Mac stuff (such as the calculator) the conception is far better than the execution: for reasons I do not know, to copy ALL FILES from one disk to another requires that you, in the middle of the copy operation, insert the system disk on which you booted the mac into the main drive. If there is a reason for this nonsense (means that you cannot set up a copy operations and go away) I do not know it. Printing: it can't just ask if you are ready to print. No, it must trundle a while THEN ask, meaning that you cannot set things up to print and go away while it saves onto the memory image or whatever it does before it prints; you must wait and tell it you really mean it. Why is this? That darned Mac is the most frustrating thing -- like the old VULCAN data base program, "Infuriatingly excellent"? It's great to play with, but when you try to DO something with it--I have been using it to answer mail, and YES, I DO like to pput fried eggs in letters. But a 100 word letter takes about 8 minutes from invoking Macwrite to sealing the envelope. This is excessive; and the time was not taken in writing the letter whch took about 45 seconds. Most of the time is spent simply waiting. "Page Breaks" for instance are not form feeds, but a signal to insert spaces to the end of the 8 1/2 by 11 page (or a couple of other page lengths). I want to use 8" notepaper; why must it insist on telling me the paper lentghts it allows? If this is user friendly-- Think T ank is great on the Mac. So is Millionaire. But Think Tank has the problem of how do you get the outlines OUT of the machine to a real text processor with spelling checking and such like? I now have a table covered with: keypad mouse second drive keyboard mac and we are obviusly going to have to use a hard disk if this is to be fast enough for any really useful work. The conception was great. The idea of a machine that deviated from the main trend is all right IF there's no attempt to isolate the user from the rest of the computer community ( I fear there was, here, but perhaps I'm wrong). The execution leavs a LOT to be desired as a practical working device for som,eone who simply wants to write articles (no full screen length) do spread sheets (slow) and get his taxes done. Sigh. The little bugger is fun to play with, and Think Tank really flies on it. They seem to have managed to get in with the icons; their disk even boots from turning the machine on. How did they manage that?