Re: Problems in "Modernizing" a //gs

[bjblackbear@ibm.net (B.J. Major)]

Scott G. wrote:

> 
> Yes.  Basically, their next generation machine _should_ have been
> Apple II and GS compatible.  That only makes sense not to alienate
> the market.  Now you might point out that modern PowerPC based
> Apples can emulate even the GS.  That's true, but the early Macs
> such as the SE could not run GS software!  Apple alienated most
> of its user base and it was all part of the plan to get schools
> to buy new computers.  This plan backfired and Apple lost market
> share even in education to the "Wintel" machines that are so hated
> by Apple fans.  The fact that PowerPC machines are finally powerful
> enough to do GS emulation, however incomplete, changes nothing.
> All those users of the Apple II and the GS have gone PC already,
> many convinced that they would never buy from a company that
> abandoned users in this way again.

This is the only personal comment I'm going to make on this point
myself; sooner or later, the "backwards compatibility" of ANY computer
system needs to be cut off and severed *for good*.  Or it inhibits and
prevents future expansion and future reprogramming.  Just as the Mac OS
is finally letting go of its 68K emulation mode to run older software as
the newer System software is getting more and more items rewritten in
"PPC native" format.  If this is not done, it will never truly be
operating as a full PowerPC machine, it will always be running in 68K
emulation for a lot of its needs and therefore, not harnessing all the
power of the machine.

This very speculative question of whether or not a modern Apple IIgs
could exist while running all the demand's of today's software, and
STILL run all the games and apps from the early 1980s onward is very
questionable to say the least.  *This is NOT a put-down of the idea to
have a modern IIgs; it's reality*.  There simply hasn't been a modern
day machine out there that can run things from that far back (emulators
not included in this).  Computer companies, just like companies that
make other goods, feel that if you buy this wiz-bang machine that can do
all this, you will never have a need to buy a newer computer.  And
that's not how business works, unfortunately.

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Proud owner/user of Apple Computers since 1984
Barbie & Ken doll fan since 1961