Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!moravian.EDU!nicholaA
From: nicholaA@moravian.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: GS/OS and programming standards
Message-ID: <8903052108.AA11311@batman.moravian.edu>
Date: 5 Mar 89 21:08:19 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 81


> My personal advice regarding the Apple IIgs is this: if you NEED
> an Apple II, by a IIc+.  Otherwise, BUY A MAC!!

Well, quite frankly, I disagree _very_ strongly on this point.

> For legal reasons, I need to spell this out:  THESE ARE MY OPINIONS,
> AND ARE NOT THE OPINIONS, OFFICIAL OR UNOFFICIAL, OF CLARIS OR ITS
> DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.  MINE, MINE, MINE, ALL MINE!  In fact, these
> are about as far from Calris's opinions as you can get.

I'm also certainly glad about that, too.  If everyone at Claris had an attitude
like you _seem_ to express about the IIgs, we'd have a more serious problem
than we already do, wouldn't we?

> 
> Jeff Erickson 

A certain article that Mike Westerfield wrote on AppleLink PE comes to mind
right about this point.  Just something I thought you wouldn't mind reading
in the wake of all this Apple II-bashing:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subj:  My View                               89-02-17 12:06:57 est
From:  MikeW50

I have talked to a lot of people at Apple, and also spent a lot of time
watching what Apple says and does.  Here are some observations of my own:

1.  Apple computer has made no official decision to kill the Apple II.  If they
    had, we would not see the level of support that we do see.

2.  There are people at Apple who want to kill the Apple II.  They use Macs. 
    They hate the "little brother".  I dislike them.

3.  The danger to the Apple II is not from a concerted effort to kill the Apple
    II, it is from a lack of effort from the top to root out and fire the people
    from comment #2.

As I see it, Apple could send some strong, positive messages to us if they care
to.  Some of these would be:

1.  Kick the Macs out of AppleFest.  Starting with Boston, AppleFest is no
    longer an Apple II show, it is a home/education show.  Marketing says this
    is because 29% of the people at the last AppleFest had Macs, despite the
    fact that there was "no advertising for the Mac."  Bull.  From what I was
    told by folks who dropped by our booth, Cambridge marketing didn't have
    enough pre-ticket sales, and panicked a few days before the show,
    advertising it as an Apple & Mac show in radio spots.  Some of those 29%
    stopped by me booth, and were mad because I didn't have any Mac software.
    
    So, Apple, fix your own problem:  take your Macs and put them in their own
    show.  Give us back our Apple II show.

2.  A new CPU upgrade would be nice.

3.  Continued support for GS/OS and native development tools are essential. 
    Take your cross development tools and show them at your Mac show:
    real Apple programmers don't give a damn about your cross development tools.

4.  Give us Hypercard.

5.  Give us a file server that doesn't require a Mac.

6.  Fire anyone in top/middle management who tries to kill the II.  Promote at
    least one visible, vocal II supporter to the VP or higher level of
    management.

See, we don't need much!

Mike Westerfield
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I can only say that I _really_ support what Mike said.

-------------
Andy Nicholas                  CsNET: shrinkit@moravian.edu
Box 435, Moravian College   InterNET: shrinkit%moravian.edu@relay.cs.net 
Bethlehem, PA  18018                  liberty!batman!shrinkit@sun.com
                                uucp: rutgers!lafcol!lehi3b15!mc70!shrinkit
AppleLink PE: ShrinkIt                rutgers!liberty!batman!shrinkit