Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think!mintaka!dcw From: dcw@lcs.mit.edu (David C. Whitney) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: Re: F U T U R E O F A P P L E I I Message-ID: <1990Mar12.224350.8896@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> Date: 12 Mar 90 22:43:50 GMT References: <10789.infoapple.net@pro-generic> <1990Mar12.004717.3848@spectre.ccsf.caltech.edu> Sender: news@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu Organization: MIT Spoken Language Systems Group Lines: 47 In article <1990Mar12.004717.3848@spectre.ccsf.caltech.edu> toddpw@tybalt.caltech.edu (Todd P. Whitesel) writes: [Much snipped] >If it stays a rumor than it is proof that Apple doesn't give a shit about its >own product. I can't wait to see what happens when they think of something >that will replace the Macintosh. > >Todd Whitesel >toddpw @ tybalt.caltech.edu You're forgetting something: The mac was designed from day one to be easily updated. You'll notice that software just ain't supposed to talk to the hardware. It's been shown time and again that any program that deos doesn't survive the next update. This gives Apple incredible freedom for future hardware. You may have heard that they're buying a whole lot of 88000s these days. How hard do you think it is to write a 68030 emulator on the 88000? Not hard, I'd guess. Old software will still work, and new software will chug that much faster. Nobody will have anything to complain about. The original // was a hack. It lived this long because so many people could put it to use. Updating the hardware and software was no easy trick, and it just may be getting too hard for Apple to insure that every nook and cranny remains supported. Look at the //c and up. They don't do cassette interface anymore. The registers are still there, but the hardware is gone. That was a cheap A/D D/A converter that people used to use for simple sound recording (low quality). It's use was NOT restricted to saving programs to tape - but it's gone now because dealing with it was a pain. Apple's ability to update the Mac is not nearly as constrained. They can come out with totally new hardware that will still run the original Mac stuff as long as that stuff complied to Apple's interface spec. It's far easier for Apple to pursue the Mac. Cheap too. Don't get me wrong - I'm an avid //gs user. I program it whenever I can. I'm just not succumbing to the desire that this machine lives FOREVER. Nothing does. Also, everyone, please remember that if Apple says "So long!" that doesn't mean that your machine suddenly stops working. It's really time to get upset when your Apple repair man says, "Apple //? What's that?" -- Dave Whitney dcw@sun-bear.lcs.mit.edu ...!mit-eddie!sun-bear!dcw dcw@athena.mit.edu My employer pays me well. This, however, does not mean he agrees with me. I wrote Z-Link & BinSCII. Send me bug reports. I use a //GS. Send me Tech Info.