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From: fry@huma1.HARVARD.EDU (David Fry)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Mac Multitasking? Hee-hee!
Message-ID: <2731@husc6.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 22-Aug-87 17:07:35 EDT
Article-I.D.: husc6.2731
Posted: Sat Aug 22 17:07:35 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 23-Aug-87 13:27:47 EDT
References: <3632@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu> <1372@killer.UUCP>
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Reply-To: fry@huma1.UUCP (David Fry)
Organization: Harvard Math Department
Lines: 67
Xref: mnetor comp.sys.mac:5880 comp.sys.amiga:7679

In article <1372@killer.UUCP> elg@killer.UUCP (Eric Green) writes:
>in article <3632@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu>, wetter@tybalt.caltech.edu (Pierce T. Wetter) says:
>> Regardless why do amiga people care about MultiFinder?
>
>Well see, it's simple. It's because MultiFinder looks so lame compared to the
>Amiga Exec, which slices, dices, time-shares, and message-passes, with
>complete dynamic memory allocation amongst tasks. And you can bet purty as ya
>please that Apple is gonna advertise it as a REAL multi-tasking operating
>system, thus pulling the wool over folk's eyes when it comes time to buy a
>multi-tasking computer and they found they bought a lemon compared to the
>competition. After all, co-processes giving up control to each other do NOT
>equal a message-passing multi-tasking kernal... 
>
>In other words, Apple is engaged in a campaign of deception, and those of us
>lucky enough to have the real thing, get pretty peeved at their unethical
>conduct in doing so... 

Commodore and Apple are both in business to sell computers,
not to make nerdy computer geeks like us happy.  I think if
you look at sales figures and the over all effect on the
industry, you can only say that the Macintosh is "beating" the
Amiga.  But of course it's not really a competition.

As a nerdy computer geek I do envy the multi-tasking of the
Amiga.  But I have tremendous faith in Apple's ability to see
to the heart of a problem and make long lasting, deep solutions.
MultiFinder is billed as the first step to a true multi-tasking
operating system, and I believe the future steps will be
significant.  I envy Amiga's multi-tasking, but Amiga owners
cannot truthfully say they don't envy the Mac's enormous
toolbox that allows for fantastic control and a standardized
user interface.  They must envy its fonts, its desk
accessories, its clipboard, and its large application base.
They must envy the seamless (from the user's perspective)
interaction between the computer and printers, which has now
been extended to the Fax modem. They must envy the
fantastically generalized system design which allows the
computer to use kanji scripts as easily as Roman, and have kanji
appear effortlessly in menus, dialog boxes, everywhere. 
And starting this month they're going to envy Hypercard. 

Amiga owners, that's why we like the Macintosh: we have
respect for a job well done.  The Mac had a lot of problems
when it started out, and Apple has taken great strides to get
rid of them with elegant solutions.  (Anyone who doubts this
should read Inside Mac V. 5 to see the rather ingenious
steps Apple took to give increased performance *and* compatibility.)
Of course we wish would could multi-task now, but we're willing 
to wait rather than sacrifice the other tangible benefits of our 
machine, which are much more important in the long run.

Real people have real problems and they don't care or know
about the technical internals of their computer.  You claim
that Apple is pulling the wool over people's eyes by claiming
multi-tasking.  They are only saying what the users will
understand; fortunately, the users know so little that it's
effectively impossible to fool them on this issue.  Could you
fool a caveman into believing your Ford was faster than a
Ferrari?  He wouldn't be able to see a difference between
them. When was the last time you saw an ad claiming
the Amiga had "a message-passing multi-tasking kernel with
dynamic memory allocation among tasks?"

David Fry				fry@huma1.harvard.EDU
Department of Mathematics		fry@harvma1.bitnet
Harvard University			...!harvard!huma1!fry
Cambridge, MA  02138