Re: Amelio's ouster

[nobody@REPLAY.COM (Anonymous)]

spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector) wrote:
>In article Geoff Kaiser <SuperKais@MacConnect.com> writes...
>>I hope Apple tries to regain this attitude they once had, and keep pushing
>>it in everyone's face; most people are unaware of all the things Apple Mac
>>machines can do

What's this got to do with the Apple II?  I know that some of you may feel
there is nothing else to talk about, but please move this to comp.sys.mac
and comp.sys.ibm.

I'm getting tired of seeing "PC vs. Mac," especially since I think both
are fine machines.

>
>    Unfortunately, most people are unaware of all the things the Macintosh
>_cannot_ do, and sadly, many parents, educators, business people and first
>time computer buyers are ignorant on this fact. Apple's entire selling and
>marketing philosophy seems to be based around one thing today: Fear.
>
>    Yes, that's right, fear (and insecurity). Fear of the "other" option,
>that big scary thing called a PC. They build up (or should I say blow up?)
>a great sense of fear and anxiety about using a non-Macintosh computer,
>feeding on a people's fear of the unknown. To many individuals who've
>never touched a computer before, learning to use (and especially work
>with and operate one independently) is most definitely an anxiety. There
>are no doubt people who actually believe pushing the wrong "buttons" will
>cause the expensive machine to break or even explode!

The PC has the more modern OS (pre-emtive MT, etc.), but the Mac has the
better interface and more powerful CPU (top end PPC are faster than MMX
Intels).  _Both_ have advantages.

>
>    True a computer should be relatively easy to operate and understand,
>but there is MORE to what makes a good computer than just how simple it
>is to use. It's quite sad the only selling point Apple can come up with
>is "fear of the unknown" and not about strengths. A person asks, "Why
>should I buy a Macintosh?", and the only justification Apple can give
>is PC's-will-make-you-feel-defective, PC's-are-too-hard-and-confusing,
>PC's-are-strange-and-unfamiliar, Beware-the-evil-PC, run-for-cover!
>Talk about avoidance of the issue, what of the Macintosh itself? I
>almost never hear Apple state the other strengths, and that is simply
>because there are relatively few today. Not only that, this whole thing
>about fear is an old smoke screen that's wearing thin. The way Apple
>talks of PC's, you'd think PC's were all still DOS-boxes that work
>only by typing obscure commands on monochrome amber screen (it's 1997,
>not 1984, things have changed).

Well, I like and use a '486, but I prefer the user interface of the GS.
This Apple interface is basically the same as the Mac's.

"Which is better" arguments are stupid.  Each has its advantages.  Heck,
I can think of a dozen reasons to justify a GS or an Amiga over a Mac
or PC even.

>
>    Remember the movie the Wizard of Oz, with the man behind the curtain?
>Well that's the same kind of show Apple is putting on to scare people from
>the PC. The majority of Mac users have never even used PC's (or the oh so
>common, "I've used one at work") yet claim how impossible they are to use,
>spouting back the same random fears Apple ingrains on them: Config.sys!,
>IRQ's!, and DOS prompts!......Oh My! ;). Not knowing what something is,
>or even understanding it, is the reason for fear.

I agree.  There are advantages to being able to tweak config.sys and
other settings.  There are also advantages to the Apple way of doing
things, however.  I feel that neither is significantly superior to the
other.  The Mac does have the CPU hardware advantage, but its old OS
core is dragging it down (but it will _still_ do some things faster than
top of the line MMX based PC computers).  The NeXT microkernal will
be integrated into the next OS to provide pre-emptive MT.

>Something akin to the Amiga or even
>the Apple IIgs back in the mid-80's, which were both very exciting when
>there were mostly only boring "business" PC's and monochrome Mac boxes
>(as well as the large variety of 8-bit machines, which although offered
>more choices and made nice home computers, were still getting kind of
>stale). I want something that will make me stop dead in my tracks; faster
>Pentium and PowerPC chips with updated OSes thrown on them are not exactly
>exciting. If Apple can invent this new machine, by all means let them and
>all best of luck, but I really don't see that kind of vision from them.
>
>Mitchell Spector
>spec@vax2.concordia.ca

Or the Atari ST.

Those early experiments in multimedia really do seem more refreshing than
the boring Mac and PC convergence (now not much different than each other!).

-Scott G.