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From: kamath@reed.UUCP (Sean Kamath)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: Apple Manuals (bird cage liners)
Message-ID: <6470@reed.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 12-Jun-87 02:45:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: reed.6470
Posted: Fri Jun 12 02:45:00 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 21-Jun-87 01:47:41 EDT
References: <686@gryphon.CTS.COM>
Reply-To: kamath@reed.UUCP (Sean Kamath)
Organization: Reed College, Portland OR
Lines: 57

In article <686@gryphon.CTS.COM> sloan@pnet02.CTS.COM (Steve Smythe) writes:
>Here here! 
> [ . . . ]
>
>Well, I'm sure glad Apple has taken a _positive_ approach to people that know
>nothing to very little about computers.  But for those of us that know where
>the carriage return is located and what a bus is, GIVE US SOME TECHNICAL
>INFORMATION WE CAN USE!  instead of something we can line the bottom of our
>parakeet's cage with!
>
>UUCP: {ihnp4!crash, hplabs!hp-sdd!crash}!gryphon!pnet02!sloan
>INET: sloan@pnet02.CTS.COM


Here here some more!  A technical introduction(!?) to the //GS?  Come
on.  I have a feeling that we are headed for another "Inside the . . ."
for the //GS.  Now, I don't know how many of you have read "Inside the
Macintosh", but boy, what a doozy!  My friend summed it up nicely:
"It's the type of book you can pick up, flip to any page, and start
reading."  But try and use it as a *reference* manual?  While you
program?  Ha!

And also, while I'm on the beef bit, Anyone remember how Apple went on
and one about "only using published entry points to the monitor" on the
//e, but then never published any?  Or was the measly 20 or so entry
points "suggested" in the //e and //c refs it?  But the //e and //c
manuals differ?  I never heard of PrBl2 until this morning, but sure
enough, it's the entyr point 2 bytes after PRBLNK, which prints 3 blank
spaces.  What are the 2 bytes? LDX #3.  What does PrBl2 do?  Prints
however many blanks are indicated in the X register.

It seems pretty dumb to me to have pages and pages of "technical"
information about the ROM.  I personally liked having the ROM listing at
my side when I call routines.  at least then I can look at what I thing
is happenning.

Gone, say I, are the days of the Little Red Book. (I have one.  It's fun
to look at now and then, esp. to compare the ROM!)  Computers are a
business like calculator now.  Give 'em to the user!  Screw the
programmer, unless they are "officialy sanctioned certified accredited
current dues-paying members of the elite 'developement group' (make the
check out to . . .)"

Boy, with things the way they are, it's getting to the point where I
DON't want to upgrade to a GS, because trying find the information for
programming it will be worse than feeling "behind the times" with my
"ancient" architecture plodding along at 1 MHz.

I love my //e.  I put a lot of time on the keyboard.  It's got a long
time to go before I ditch it for something "better" -- without any
information to go with it!

Sean Kamath
tektronix!reed!kamath

These are my opinions.  I stick to them.  I don't know of anyone else
who holds these opinions. . .But I like them!