Re: What has changed in the Apple world last 6 months?

[Howe Family <khowe@omninet.net.au>]

In article <3a312f04@news.svn.net>, "Paul Grammens" <grammens@svn.net> 
wrote:

> Donald C. Lee <coach41@pacbell.net> wrote in message
> news:Pine.WNT.4.21.0012080122320.-297267@edward.pacbell.net...
> > Hi Paul (Grammens that is :)
> >
> >    You mentioned you haven't used Apple II's for too long.  If I may
> > ask, how long HAVE you used them?
> 
> Just a couple of years.  I agree, it's different if you are used to
> something and expert at using it, you need a good reason to switch to
> something newer. In my case, I would have to learn to use AppleWorks 
> well,
> which I'm not going to do. It's fun to look at and admire, but frankly I
> consider WYSIWYG and on-the-fly spell checking to be features that I see 
> no
> reason to go without. I also don't want to fool around with floppies 
> unless
> it's for fun.
> 

There are many WSIWYG word processors for the GS. I regularly use the 
word processing module of AppleworksGS in preference to the many more 
modern machines I have at my disposal. The GS boots up quicker than the 
modern machines. It may take a few seconds longer to open the 
application than on a new machine, but once in the word processor the 
machine is well able to keep up with my requirements. There are no 
noticable delays in response until the documents get very large. 
AppleworksGS doesn't have on the fly spell checking, but I personally 
find that annoying and would rather just check the spelling of the 
document once, when I've finished composing it. So I regularly find 
myself doing word processing for my business on my GS. Also I keep the 
business's cashflow in the spreadsheet module of AppleworksGS, because I 
find that it's the cleanest and easiest spreadsheet around. It has all 
the features I want from it set out in a nice intuitive way, so I use it 
in preference to the ones on the modern machines.

> >
> >    But your "surprise" that the Apple II can "still do things" and that 
> >    is
> > is "still used for business" is very common among people who are new to
> > the Apple II or simply outside the II community.
> >
> 
> I'm well aware the you can "still do things" with an Apple II. But in
> business there are other considerations, like speed and reliability.  
> What I
> am surprized at is that people still use Apple II's for business.  Most
> business people I deal with upgrade regularly, mostly for speed but also 
> for
> compatibility with newer software.
> 

This is one of the beauties of using the Apple II. You get off the 
constant upgrade merry-go-round. What you learn for your Apple II is 
forever. Haven't you noticed the way it works these days? You buy a 
computer with the latest software. A year later, a new version of the 
software comes out which deliberately has a slightly different file 
format from the one you bought last year. In order to keep current with 
the rest of the masses you go out and buy the upgrade of the software, 
but the new program has got even more bloated and inefficient than the 
old one, so you need to upgrade your hardware to make it run at an 
acceptable speed. Even when you have done that, you find that some of 
the added features are more of a nuisance than a help, and that many of 
the bugs which annoyed you in the previous version are still there, 
along with some new ones. Before long you come to expect that the 
software will just throw unexpected things at you from time to time, and 
live with it.

Using the Apple II is a different model, and one not everyone is going 
to be comfortable with, but we have some really good, efficient 
software. What bugs there are, are well known and people know how to get 
around them.

> I cherish my Apple II's as historical artifacts, and enjoy demoing their
> capabilities including logging onto the internet via shell. But no way 
> I'd
> use one for routine business activities.
> -Paul
> 

I for one think you're really missing out on something. Also, the 
capabilities of the Apple II are not limited to logging into the 
internet via shell. There are lots of things the Apple II can do just as 
well, or better than the new machines. Things which require massive 
processor power, like video editing and high end photo manipulation will 
always be better on a very powerful machine, but most of what is done on 
a computer can be done on an Apple II. I am very pleased with the way my 
GS web browser is coming along. It is never going to provide the speed 
and power of a full browser on a new machine, but I think it will end up 
providing a pleasant web browsing experience with acceptable performance.

Any computer is a combination of hardware and software. These days we 
have incredible processing power connected to terribly inefficient and 
buggy software. The Apple II has only moderate processing power, but has 
good software. It is a machine which screams out the fact that software 
is more important than hardware. What can you do on a 1MHz machine with 
good software? - Almost anything. What can you do on a 1GHz machine with 
really bad software? - Almost nothing.

Anyway, enough of this raving. I suggest you use your Apple IIs a little 
more, I think they will surprise you.

Kim Howe
khowe@omninet.net.au