Re: hanging out in Dallas, and the impact of Apple // on humanity

[Chad Choi Lin <chadlin@nyetcom.com>]

Wow!! Now that was a true virtuoso post! This is what keeps the Apple II
going -- the spirit and passion of its users. Many thanks to you, Dan,
for reminding us what we all come together here for.

Dan Bethe wrote:
 
> Hey there.  I live in the Dallas area and was wondering how many of you
> are around here.  Perhaps anyone from the Apple Corps of Dallas?  I'm
> not in any user groups but would consider joining if they have an apple
> // community.
>         I just went to the Apple Corps of Dallas meeting at the Infomart, where
> Apple debuted the iMac.  These people would believe anything the
> announcer told them.  It's as if they were in general addicted to having
> their hands held.  I know this information is not useful to a lot of you
> who weren't there, but my point is that I'm not going to deal a whole
> lot even with *nice* people who are ignorant of their heritage.
>         They had displays all around because it was Apple Corps' 20th
> anniversary.  There was an Apple ][, a ][+, a //gs, a ///+, a Mac512k, a
> MacTV, iMac, and many more.  One dewd was doing machine language on the
> ][.  Apple's original thermal printer was there; it was about 4" wide
> like a point-of-sales receipt printer, and reminded me of when Apple's
> stuff was hand made with care by people who would pass as a real human
> being.
>         I ***loved*** that stuff even if I didn't know what it was, or even if
> it was broken.  I could tell that it was made by a very creatively
> intelligent person.  Psychology shows that is a minority combination :)
>         People would walk up and say "HAVE YOU TRIED THAT NEW EYE MACK, IT'S
> GRATE.  IT'S LIKE, HI-TECK OR SOMETHING."  And I'd say "It's not
> proportionately as good as an Apple //.  There's nothing wrong with
> those machines, and if you want a 'cheap low cost entry' computer, how
> does $100 sound?  Either Apple // or the Newton should be there."
>         And they'd say ".....SYSTEM HAS RETURNED ERROR 11, UNKNOWN TYPE.  THOSE
> PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN DISCONTINUED.  NECESSARY STEPS HAVE BEEN TAKEN; THE
> HIVE MUST EXECUTE PRUDENT MEASURES TO ENSURE SURVIVAL.  $1200 IS CHEAP."
>         And I'd say "Yes, well it didn't need to be done that way.  That iMac
> is weird."
>         After they'd reboot their brain, they'd say "......TYPE 11 ERROR.  THIS
> IS WHAT WE HAVE NOW AND IT IS BEST TO JUST LIVE WITH IT."
> 
>         This conversation is paraphrased based upon talking with Dallas's
> regional Apple rep of CompUSA, and various others standing around.
>         One guy asked the official-from-Apple iMac evangelist "so it has no
> SCSI, no ADB, no internal slots....will it work with _anything_ i
> already have?"  And the guy rambles on about HOW YOU DONT NEED THOSE
> THINGS and it's better this way, you'll see.  And I said "In short, NO,
> you have to THROW EVERYTHING AWAY without any promise of peripherals."
> The Apple droid claimed to not speak for any other manufacturer, but it
> might be possible to get compatible USB peripherals to replace your past
> investment Real Soon Now(tm).
>         And this other dude standing next to me goes "NO YOU DON'T!!"  I
> thought, "oh boy i can't wait to hear this."  he says "THAT'S WHAT
> ETHERNET IS FOR.  YOU JUST USE YOUR EXISTING MAC, TO PLUG THE
> PERIPHERALS INTO."
> 
>         Friends, the Apple // community already has a better proportionate
> blend of these features than most other stuff:
> 
> * compatibility and availability of hardware, software, and data
>         (thanks to SCSI, ADB, kick-ass developers, loving users, and other
> common standards)
> * ease of use
> * looooow price
> * best balance of performance -- performance is predictable, so features
> are already tuned for your favorite platform
> * ability to do the most of everything that most people would want to do
> * not going obsolete within itself
> * community integrity based upon the very high likelihood that any
> product you buy has the very best quality and functionality possible
> * creativity
> * longevity
> * life
> * fun
> 
>         I can think of more things that I *CAN* do with Apple //, than things
> that I CANT.  And I throttle this platform pretty hard.  //gs is the
> embodiment of true legacy support, elegance, performance, and the best
> blend of backward-and-forward compatibility I've ever seen, in a mass
> market computer.  It's more hardware compatible than iMac!!!!
>         We have strength in numbers!
> 
>         And forget the comparisons; that's useless in the end.  I love and
> respect all users of all machines who are happy and productive and true
> to themselves, and I think Macintosh and Apple and LOTS of other
> platforms are great.  I have jobs with them and I want certifications in
> them.  I'm wearing my free Apple tshirt right now!  Nobody's even heard
> of all platforms in existance.
>         Aside from the comparisons ....  this machine has soul and heart -- it
> reflects each of us, who we are, and who we *can* be.  It begs to be
> used..for *each* of us to use, mold, extend it.  For the love of the
> machine and its designers and for the love of each other.  Thanks to Woz
> and all those who led and followed.  This thing is saturated with love
> and potential, from each one of us.  It's been lovingly pursued by
> educators, artists, techies, geeks, and just plain hapless, wayward,
> inspired, talented -- but personally motivated -- individuals.
>         Many people bought this platform just for specific applications, whose
> origin was inspired by the machine.
>         Those individuals -- no group, no company, no laws, no trends, no
> standards, no riches, no RULES -- are the driving identity of this
> machine.
>         This little box -- whatever type of Apple // you have -- is love, art,
> and inspired creative energy.  I say that the technical miracles come
> second.  The comparisons are irrelevant.
>         Material things like linear performance benchmarks, market value,
> popularity, and corporate support occasionally superficially ease the
> individual's support.  But even if only a handful of these machines had
> been built, or even only in schematics, I would have studied it and its
> creators from afar.
>         In my life, most technology I care about in the world shares Apple //'s
> roots.  Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES share much hardware
> design with Apple //e and //gs, for example.
>         I don't yet know how or why this core technology, like cpu's and i/o
> gates and graphics and computer science languages and storage technolgy,
> developed in such a way to foster Woz's inspiration of Apple at the time
> that it did.  And I'm not sure of how to compare this phenomenon to
> events and individuals of other times and cultures.  I wonder if it can
> be described as American somehow.
>         Well this is why, even though I don't know how to design hardware or
> write great programs, I've been inspired to use my original //gs years
> ago to write and post to AOL a similar glorious essay about Stephen
> Wozniak on his birthday.  And it's why I've read every novel I've found
> relating to Apple or the techno-social origins of hackers.
>         I'm into computers and information technology because this type of
> individualized global power is the ONLY way for us humans to clean up
> our personal, global, and historical mistakes.  It's one step past
> teaching someone to read.
>         I hope that this comp.sys.apple2 community can sustain my eccentricity
> -- read it or delete it, eh?!  :)  Write to me via email, or post your
> own!!!!
>         I'm waiting to hear from you, especially if you're female ;)
> 
> APPLE // FOR-AS-LONG-AS-ANYONE-WANTS-IT
> 
>         p.s.  I suppose someone could be using Apple //'s all the time these
> days just because they're totally obsessed, but I haven't seen that yet!

-- 
Peace, Love, and Apple II Forever!
Chad Choi Lin
chadlin@nyetcom.com

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