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From: amanda@mermaid.intercon.com (Amanda Walker)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: What do I want to see in the Apple of the 90's?
Message-ID: <1636@intercon.com>
Date: 15 Dec 89 17:56:43 GMT
References: <9986@zodiac.ADS.COM> <192@atncpc.UUCP> <1630@intercon.com> <7614@sdcsvax.UCSD.Edu>
Sender: news@intercon.com
Reply-To: amanda@mermaid.intercon.com (Amanda Walker)
Organization: InterCon Systems Corporation
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Sigh.  OK, I do admit to being a little testy about this particular issue.
I'll elaborate a little, and then I'll let everyone argue in peace...

In article <7614@sdcsvax.UCSD.Edu>, fellman@celece.ucsd.edu (Ronald Fellman)
writes:
> [about international localization and non-roman writing systems]
> I can't see how most people would care about this!

Well, I don't know about you, but the population of the planet I live on is
not completely made up of English speakers.  Would like to have to learn
Japanese in order to use your computer?  Can I (or anyone) buy a NeXT with
all of its system software in French?  German?  Chinese?

> By the end of the summer the NeXT should have color that will blow all
> other workstations away: High speed graphics processor and
> 32bits including 8 bits transparency (alpha)

"By the end of the summer."  "should."  Macs have no problem with 32bit +
alpha color now, as we speak, and pre-existing software is already compatible
with it, to boot.

"all other workstations."  Have you ever used a Silicon Graphics?  A Sun
with a Transcept board in it?  This is an awfully bold claim to make for
vaporware.

> > - A printer that doesn't halt my machine when I print a page
> If you are worried about this, then just buy a LaserWriter IINT. That's
> what I have to do with my Mac.

True, and I suppose you even can do basic printer sharing, as long as Mach
supports the BSD line printer system.  Point taken.  I still think the NeXT
printer is over-hyped, but that's par for the course in this industry.

> Right now (or VERY soon where indicated) I can get the following
> high quality programs that satisfy all of my current computer
> applications needs:

And the NeXT may suit your needs pretty well; it was designed as an academic
workstation, after all.  However, it doesn't even come close to what's
available for the Mac.  This may change, but if so it'll take a long time.

> > - A superior and more consistent user interface (IMHO :-))
> You've got to be kidding. The NeXT's interface makes the Macs look
> primitive.

No, actually, I'm not kidding.  The NeXT's gray scale buttons and so on are
very cute, but they've made a lot of the operations abstract to the point
of obscurity.  Besides, an application bar and a directory browser are no
match for the Finder.  This is not to say that the NeXT doesn't have some
nifty innovations, but as a whole it's a less cohesive interface.  Also,
I get the feeling that a lot of people who are claiming that the NeXT, or
MOTIF, or whatever are more "advanced" than the Mac actually mean that they
look newer.  Just because something is familar, though, doesn't mean it's
obsolete.

> Last time I looked, my university price for a NeXT was much cheaper than
> a comparable MacIIci. And that wasn't counting all of the free software,
> DSP chip, or R/W/optical disk.

Well, last time I tried a NeXT, its performance was closer to a II or IIx
than to a IIci.  Also, are you counting university prices on both sides?

> I do mean to knock the Mac, I think that they have taken a lot for
> granted.

I think that Mac users take a lot for granted.  I agree with Alan Kay that
the Macintosh was the first personal computer good enough to criticize.
But from my experience with the NeXT, it doesn't perform well enough at
enough tasks to *let* me take it for granted...

> One can also buy an Amiga for 1/2 the price of a MacSE and get
> much better hardware.

Hardware is only as useful as the software that is running on it.

> I hear that there is even a MAC emulator for it (AMAX?)
QED :-).

The NeXT has some marvelous innovations, and I hope it succeeds.  It's just
not there yet, as some people have been claiming.

Amanda Walker
InterCon Systems Corporation
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