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: : Fundamental Complaints Re Mac (Discurvive Flame) Message-ID: <4828@utcsrgv.UUCP> Date: Sun, 8-Jul-84 01:55:57 EDT Article-I.D.: utcsrgv.4828 Posted: Sun Jul 8 01:55:57 1984 Date-Received: Sun, 8-Jul-84 02:18:46 EDT Sender: peterr@utcsrgv.UUCP Organization: CSRI, University of Toronto Lines: 56 Date: Sat 7 Jul 84 11:40:33-PDT From: Tony Siegman Subject: : Fundamental Complaints Re Mac (Discurvive Flame) To: info-mac@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA I got lucky in Stanford's discount lottery, got an early Mac, and have been using it moderately heavily since then (and had access to a Lisa before that). The Mac is losing its initial glow, for several reasons: 1) Rigidity of its interface: I agree totally with Jerry Pournelle: Any computer to be used seriously must have a SUBMIT or ".CMD" or batch facility, so you can put it doing things and go away (or at least turn your attention away). (On a DEC-20, for example, if you know the system you can rattle off 6 unrelated commands from the keyboard, invoking 6 separate programs, and the system will store up all the keystrokes and process them in order). When the Mac repeatedly makes you wait 20 sec or longer, then give some trivial input, then wait again, those pauses are just long enough to slow you down and make you feel irritated, and not long enough to turn your attention to some other task, even if it's right in front of you. You mostly can't enter commands from the Mac keyboard, and when you can, the buffer isn't very big. 2) Limitations of the mouse: I've come to realize that the mouse is "insanely great" for certain things, like selecting cells in Multiplan for instance, or graphics of course; but for anyone who has typing skills it's lousy for sustained composition and word processing. Continually moving your hand from keyboard to mouse is very disruptive. Give me an all keyboard word processor -- and an all keyboard system for entering commands and responding to inquiries any time. 3) Lack of software: Not even an elementary assembler. (Hell, my TRS-80 Model 1 cassette machine had an assmbler). "Real soon now" has passed. You can get lots of promises, but when you've bought the hardware and the software isn't there yet, YOU'RE the hostage. 4) Inadequate documentation: I am getting very frustrated at being unable to find any clear description or picture of the conceptual structure of the Mac operating system and its software ... what's the Finder, what's the System, what's going on in all these disk swaps, what's stored where? I don't want to do any detailed programming, but I do want to have a basic understanding of the structure of the machine. For example, I've just gotten the updated System diskette, new Finder, etc. How much of this do I have to copy onto my older diskettes and backups, especially those for other non-Apple programs, and how do I do it? What's essential to change and what isn't? The documentation doesn't say, and I can't find a clear enough understanding of the logical structure of the system to figure it out for myself (which I have been able to do on a dozen previous computer systems, large and small). My affection for the TRS-80 Model 100 laptop that I sold to buy the Mac grew with increasing use; my affection for the Mac is shrinking. Almost wish I had the Model 100 back... -------