Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!rutgers!iuvax!pur-ee!uiucdcs!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!uxe.cso.uiuc.edu!mccarthy
From: mccarthy@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Macs, IBMs, and compatibility.
Message-ID: <46100045@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 31 Dec 87 14:07:00 GMT
References: <37250@sun.uucp>
Lines: 37
Nf-ID: #R:sun.uucp:37250:uxe.cso.uiuc.edu:46100045:000:2067
Nf-From: uxe.cso.uiuc.edu!mccarthy    Dec 31 08:07:00 1987


Hi there.
     I read this note and felt a tinge of uneasiness about what it was
saying... then, later, I realized why.
   Written 11:50 pm  Dec 22, 1987 by chuq@plaid.Sun.COM in comp.sys.mac
>For all those folks who complain about how Apple has left you in the lurch
>over compatibility,[....]
>in the same frame that Apple put together an upgrade
>path (to the plus) and a second architecture (the II -- the SE is basically
>a funky Plus in my eyes) IBM obsoleted the PC, the XT and now the AT.
>Upgrade paths? What upgrade paths?
   Are you comparing the right things here?  I don't think the comparison is
totally valid.  How about this one: did Apple do anything more towards
making Macs (actually Lisas back then) compatible with their Apple ][ line
than what IBM is doing with their move from PC to PS/2? Just because SE's
and II's came out at about the same time as PS/2's did doesn't mean they're
the same kind of upgrade, and just because Apple came out with their new product
line about half a decade sooner than IBM doesn't mean their hands are clean
of non-upwardly-compatible griminess either.

>Say what you like about Apple. You won't get much sympathy from me. Apple
>has gone to great lengths to maintain compatibility and minimize the impact
>to its users.
   Don't get me wrong; I love Apple.  I was practically weaned on the things
(Apple ]['s, with INTEGER Basic, how's that for a trip down memory lane) back
in high school. I think they'll continue to come out with consistently
superior products to IBM at least half a decade before Big Blue even starts
thinking about them.  But like I said, compatibility between their product
lines has historically not been one of their strongest points.

>Chuq "Fixed in 4.0" Von Rospach
_____                                                                _____
D. J. McCarthy     
  {ihnp4, seismo, cmcl2, pur-ee} !uiucdcs!uiucuxe!mccarthy
  mccarthy%uiucuxe@a.cs.uiuc.edu
"Radar, get Major Burns and his spreadsheet up here on the double."
   "That's not a nice thing to call Major Houlihan, Colonel."