Re: Apple and the Holy War

[pausch@saafNOSPAM.se (Paul Schlyter)]

In article <3921cadb.195974185@news>,
Jeff Blakeney <CUTblakeney@home.com> wrote:
 
> On 16 May 2000 09:16:26 +0200, pausch@saafNOSPAM.se (Paul Schlyter)
> wrote:
> 
>> A GUI is a convenience but not a *necessity* !!!!  People are getting
>> so spoiled nowadays......
> 
> No, a GUI isn't a "necessity" but if it wasn't for the GUI there would
> be a lot less computers in homes today.
 
I don't think so!
 
You're not even aware of most of the computers in your home -- you
probably have at least a dozen of them.  They're embedded in your
refrigerator, your stove, your dishwasher, your TV, your VCR, your
telephone, your elevator, and maybe in many other places too.  Do
all these embedded computers have a GUI?  No!  Are you going to throw
them out just because of that?  I don't think you will....
 
Even what you think of as "one computer" is most likely half-a-dozen
computers (assuming you have a modern computer, such as a Pentium II
or III, or a PowerMac -- or perhaps even a SparcStation?): the
keyboard has its own embedded computer controlling it, the disk
controller card has one, each harddisk has one (which, among other
things, shuffles around logical sectors and hides bad sectors, to
give the illusion of a disk with no bad sectors), your modem has one,
your video display has one ... et cetera et cetera.  Do all these
computers have a GUI of their own?  No!
 
Most computers in the home aren't those all-purpose desktop computers
we're working and playing with -- it's all those specialized embedded
computers we're often not even aware of.  And they run fine without GUI's.
 
 
> Heck, if it wasn't for the fact that the IIgs has a GUI, I probably
> wouldn't still be using my machine today.
 
My Apple II+ has no GUI, and I still use it occasionally -- admittedly
mostly for nostalgic reasons...
 
 
>> A CLI does have its advantages, and the total absence of a CLI, such
>> as on the Macintosh, is an obstacle.
> 
> Yes, as CLI has its advantages and it also has disadvantages just like
> GUIs which have both advantages and disadvantages.
> 
> Personally, I find the GUI to be far better for average, daily use.
 
Both should be available in a desktop computer, to give the user a
choice.  As I said above: "the total absence of a CLI, such as on the
Macintosh, is an obstacle".  Since it doesn't take much to implement
at least a rudimentary CLI, Apple must have left it out of the Mac not
for practical but for ideological reasons -- and we've already read
about holy wars at Apple... :)
 
Of course the total absence of a GUI can be an obstacle too, but it's
more a convenience than a genuine ability that's lacking (with the
obvious exception of heavily graphics-oriented software of course,
such as DTP software).
 
 
>> Let those with all the $$$'s go on using Micro$oft products -- then
>> they'll get what they deserve....  <g>
> 
> There are a lot of other companies that produce products that use a
> GUI other than Microsoft.
 
I know -- that comment was more about MS products than about GUI products
in general.
 
-- 
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