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From: agr@vaxine.UUCP (Arnold Reinhold)
Newsgroups: net.micro.mac
Subject: Re: Application availablity on Mac, Atari ST, and Amiga
Message-ID: <187@vaxine.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 7-Aug-86 11:31:23 EDT
Article-I.D.: vaxine.187
Posted: Thu Aug  7 11:31:23 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 11-Aug-86 02:57:59 EDT
References: <3513@amdahl.UUCP>
Reply-To: agr@vaxine.UUCP (Arnold Reinhold)
Organization: Automatix, Inc., Billerica, MA
Lines: 17
Summary: 

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I think Apple's much maligned decision to make the Mac a closed machine
deserves some of the credit for the availability of such a wide range
of high quality software with uniform user interfaces.  The closed Mac
gave developers a fixed target to shoot at, with the bundled applications
setting a standard of quality.  True the 128K Mac was a false start, but
without the distraction of a zillion different options, developers could
concentrate on getting the user interface right, assured of a large number
of identical machines in customers' hands that could run their products.

When the rumored open Mac is finally introduced, third party board
developers will be under pressure to make their products compatable with
the large software base, insuring that the interface standards will be
preserved.  Perhaps it is a good thing that Apple has waited so long
before opening up the Mac.

Arnold G. Reinhold