Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!ames!netsys!scooter!neoucom!wtm
From: wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: CRETIN MANOR MAIL
Summary: JP not a dumb as he looks (in print, that is)
Message-ID: <1368@neoucom.UUCP>
Date: 16 Oct 88 03:01:14 GMT
References: <7699@gryphon.CTS.COM> <3220@hubcap.UUCP> <7369@well.UUCP> <3589@cs.utexas.edu>
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
Lines: 42


Really, our common foe, Dr. Jerry, isn't really dumb.
Occasionally he writes very nice well informed stuff, but it is
always somehwere other than in _Byte_ it would seem.  Jerry's wife
is also quite a bright person, though the column in Byte usually
makes it sound like Roberta needs excessive computer hand-holding.
In fact, Jer's column in the ibm (yep, fightin words, I know)
special issue of Byte is actually pretty good.

I guess the thing that annoys me about the Chaos Manor column is
that it is hypocritical (for lack of a better word).  It seems to
me that JP spends a lot of time pretending he's a total klutz, when
he must be pretty bright.  After all, he's been writing that column
long enough and he's rubbed elbows at enough trade shows that he
ought to have absorbed some expertise by osmosis by now.

What aggrivates me is that JP seems to pan stuff as no good when
said software fails to come complete with company president to
install it on JP's computer.  Case in point was when Phillipe Kahn
set up (an apparently pirate copy of) Sprint on Jerry's computer;
subsequently Sprint got a good review.  Back in the days of CP/M,
Jerry had nice things to say when Bill Godbout used to personally
fix Jerry's computer.  The one other thing that irks me is that JP
keeps plugging his books, but that is a different issue.

I do like the idea of a goofball (not necessarily JP!) reviewing
stuff.  If any random goofball can successfully use a given piece
of hard/software, then I can probably handle it too.

Finally, I do agree with JP that the code wheel is a dorky idea.
It seems dumb to have a code wheel on some commodity software like
a game.  Games are cheap enough (or ought to be) that one might as
well buy it, rather than pirating it.  In these days of computer
viri, there is good incentive to buy a game, rahter than get it
from a pirate of unknown origin. .. but then a virus or two have
even been known to slip into commercial products.  So much for that
idea...

--Bill
  our sendmail is acting up, try the address below if you want
  to flame, or whatever; don't reply to neoucom:
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