Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ucbvax!decwrl!adobe!ondine!greid
From: greid@ondine.COM (Glenn Reid)
Newsgroups: comp.text
Subject: Re: PostScript Conspiracy
Keywords: Bigger Slower More $$$
Message-ID: <4208@adobe.COM>
Date: 2 Sep 88 02:55:02 GMT
References: <565@pcrat.UUCP>
Sender: news@adobe.COM
Reply-To: greid@ondine.UUCP (Glenn Reid)
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated, Mountain View
Lines: 44

> Yeah, there are some nice features to PostScript.  But is it really
> worth the extra delay and cost?  The bottom line is to keep
> the printer and me busy.  And I'm not busy if I don't have my
> document to read and mark up.
> 
> IBM would be proud to be able to claim PostScript authorship.  It is
> a product that can't help but put people on the migration path
> upward -- to faster and more costly hardware!
 There is no upgrade path:  essentially the full feature set is
 available on every single PostScript printer.  You just have to pick
 features like speed, paper handling, color, fonts, or whatever.
> 
> OK PostScript Folks.  FLAME AWAY.  I've got the trusty HP at my
> side.  I can out flame you on paper with both cartridges on the floor.

This does bring up some interesting points.  Without directly comparing
PostScript to anything else, consider these questions:

    * Can you print at 150, 400, 600, 1270, or 2540 dots-per-inch?
    * Can you print in full color?
    * Can you print on 11x17 paper? or on 18x24 inch RC paper?
    * Can you print full page halftoned images?
    * Can you send your print files across the country as electronic mail?
    * Can you import graphics from a drawing program into a word processor?
    * Can you merge a Macintosh illustration into output from troff?

These are not questions that bring the "feature set" of PostScript into
play, merely the device independence.  The intent of PostScript is true
freedom from device-specific marking instructions.  The same file will
execute on all PostScript printers, provided some marginal care is
taken, and the files are portable and represented as 7-bit ASCII.  In
addition to this, PostScript is a full-featured programming language,
supports unlimited scaling and rotation of fonts and everything else,
and isn't even much slower on a comparable marking engine, if the
program is written well.

PostScript is not a "point product", it is a total solution.

Glenn Reid
Adobe Systems Incorporated
Mountain View, California

Disclaimer:  I work at the company where PostScript was invented, and
 although my company generally agrees with what I say, it is not a
 completely unbiased opinion.