Re: Question about the number of Apple users vs Mac users

[TheFlash@fast.net (Barry Allen)]

In article <Ex4d7.4254$vW2.1342450@news1.sttln1.wa.home.com>, "Ernest"
<ernestls@home.com> wrote:


> It's to geeky for my Mother, or my boss but not for kids (the future) or
> college students, or large corporations, or biotech firms, etc..

Don't get me wrong here Ernest, I think Linux is major cool. I'm a BSD guy
myself. My wildest dream is for it to catch on *big time*. Big enough that
even Microsoft feels the pain. (Oh God, wouldn't that be a wonderful thing
to see?)

My only point is that if nothing else, it has a long way to go in
"mindshare", as far as how the general computing world (the Best Buy
shoppers for computers and software) see it as a viable alternative to the
garbage Microsoft churns out.

 
> I don't know if you've been keeping up on the latest developments in Linux
> software but there's very little that you can't do on the Linux platform.


I have and it can't come soon enough for me. We need another
revolution------away from anything Gates and company can dictate policy
with.

 
> > >         I'm thinking of the possibility of the number of Apple// users
> > eventually
> > > exceeding the number of Mac users at some point. It might be an
> > > interesting scenario... ;-)
> >
> > Not in your wildest imagination. The installed Mac base is in the
> millions,
> > and still growing, and there are *at least as many* legacy Macs still
> > around as there are Apple //s.
> 
> Yeah, I agree with you on that one. The real question is, will the current
> Mac users feel as nostalgic about their old Macs as we do about our old
> Apple II's? Not likely.

Just for an example, have you seen any of the old Mac sites out there?
Again, there are probably three times as many sites dedicated to preserving
and using the older 680x0 Macs than there are for the //s. (I wish there
were more // sites-----can a guy ever have enough Platinum 3.5" drives or
spare Transwarps laying around? :>) )

Macs have no soul compared to the Apple II. They're
> useful in a utilitarian kind of way but nowhere near as interesting or
> hackable. Macs were designed for rich newbie morons with work to do, not
> hackers or "geeks." Besides, Steve Jobs had evolved into a dictatorial
> megalomaniac by the time the later models of the original Macs were
> released, and that was about when I lost interest in them.

How could you not look at an original Mac 128k or Mac Plus, and say it has
no soul? I have always thought of the Macintosh as a natural extension of
the Apple II family, IMHO. Maybe certain purists don't and that's fine.
Everyone's entitled to their opinion.

I see the older Macs as part and parcel to the continued survival of the //
just as a source for some common hardware pieces. Example: One of my Wozs
has a Power Computing extended ADB keyboard and mouse. Looks really cool,
and gives me a nice feeling keyboard and smooth mouse to use. Cost? $5.00
for both at a garage sale, and both in perfect condition.

I bought a Mac IIsi for $9.99 at a Goodwill store (perfect condition) that
does nothing but happily process files to and from the internet for all my
//s. It's older SuperDrive makes great 800k disk copies and it's external
CD-ROM serves as a file server with all of my Apple // software backed up
on an HFS CD. The possibilities are endless and can be done for pennies.

Barry Allen