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From: jlc@goanna.oz (J.L Cybulski)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Big Mac Systems (was Word 3.0 and new Finder)
Message-ID: <839@goanna.oz>
Date: Wed, 20-May-87 05:08:11 EDT
Article-I.D.: goanna.839
Posted: Wed May 20 05:08:11 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 23-May-87 10:59:08 EDT
References: <6531@amdahl.amdahl.com> <876@eneevax.UUCP> <6187@dartvax.UUCP> <19103@sun.uucp>
Organization: Comp Sci, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia
Lines: 42

Recently we had a number of articles describing new versions of
Word, Finder and System (should we include Juggler?).

OK, I agree; Word 3.0 is the most powerful wordprocessor.
The same applies to the new generation of System and Finder.
Improvements to Apple and Microsoft software usually lead to
the inevitable expansion of their functionality, this however
has a strange mushrooming effect - growing software size.
Do you remember good old times when Finder was less than 40K,
System could be squeezed to 150K and Word was around 100K
not to mention MacWrite of 50K. Now the new system has to support
64K ROMs, Mac E, Mac+, MacSE, Mac II; the new Word has a spellchecker,
stylesheets, adjustable menus, outlines, mailmerge, etc...

Now think, how many times an owner of Mac 128K uses DS drives,
how many times the new Imagewriter user is going to print
on a LaserWriter, how many times have you used a Word print merge,
we could go on and on.

Now, I ask a question:

	Couldn't it be easier for the user (not the programmer though)
	to construct configurable software?

We could then construct a system that supports only a Mac+ user with
an ImageWriter, who does not want to use AppleTalk, who will always
use double sided drives, and who does not have a hard disk to support.
We could construct a small Word application which allows wordprocessing
and outlining but rids of kilobytes of spellchecking software, quickswitch,
mailmerging, hyphenation, flexible amendable menus, and stylesheets.
Then your new System, new Finder and new Word would probably fit onto
a single disk with lots of fonts, MacDraw, Switcher, and other configurable
applications.

People who frequently move their applications from one computer to another
would have to either construct a new system or to live with a big
system that contains everything - they would have to pay for flexibility.
Why should everyone pay for unwanted flexibility?

PS: It is a bit like taxation, it is either that everybody pays high taxes
and everybody gets free but crapy service or you pay lower taxes and you
could pay extra to choose between good and bad service.