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From: jm7e+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jeremy G. Mereness)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Why Keep the //....
Message-ID: <AY6=r5y00W0dQ7=mpR@andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: 11 Mar 89 06:33:41 GMT
Organization: Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Lines: 36


I wish some people at Apple Co. could read this.

I have heard arguments from across the board over the Apple // being a
"dead architecture" (from MacWeek) and too old and so forth. However, I
have had a chance to talk to fellow students at Carnegie-Mellon's CS and
Computer Engineering Departments. Almost ALL of them I talked to got their
start on an Apple //. The exceptions were a few Pets, Atari's, and
Commodores, but ALL of them were familiar with the // and liked it when they
worked with it.

They agree that a 12 year old, if given a Mac or PS/2, will NEVER learn
programming or computer science.

The Apple // may not built like a workstation like a Mac, designed to handle
raw power with little overhead, but the // has more to offer to the young
programmer than any other machine. The logical progression from BASIC to
Machine Language to the first assembler was crucial to many CS and CE
majors today. Those that I have asked say this is NOT possible now that the
// is disappearing and the Mac has taken over. The Apple // generation will
be the last of the CS generation. If this sounds rash, consider trying to
interest a 14-year-old in UNIX. The next generation will look at computers as
appliances, things to be used but without a clue and much less an interest in
how it works.

* This, if for NO OTHER REASON, is why the Apple // should survive *

...and is one of the reasons that so many people remain loyal to the
machine. This, in my opinion, is the equation that the marketers in Apple's
high offices have neglected.

So, Apple, Let's see what your labs, your Cray, and your engineers can do.
Let's see a fast, capable OS, speed that doesn't discourage, and some Pride.

jeremy mereness
jm7e+@andrew.cmu.edu (arpa)