Re: Apple's next move (was Apple II just won't die.)

[John Le Febvre <John@klatch.demon.co.uk>]

sheldon@netcom.com (Sheldon Simms) writes:
> John@klatch.demon.co.uk writes:
> >If you can buy an Amiga off the shelf and run Amiga, Mac
> >and PC software on it just buy loading a different OS, then it has got
> >to sell. Why can't it be done for the Apple II?
> 
[snip]
> emulation. Even if there was a IIgs emulator, it wouldn't be an
> Apple II. It would be a PowerMac that happened to be able to run
> some (not all) IIgs software on an emulator.
> 
> >The best thing about this would be that it could do all that the GS
> >does today, and could do that much more as well (better graphics
> >modes, more RAM etc).
> >If this sort of machine was announced, I'd put my money on it today.
> 
> Any old PowerMac or Pentium can do what you're talking about, it seems
> to me. The only thing that is keeping you from jumping to Pentium is
> the lack of an available IIgs emulator then? If, in fact, that is what
> you're saying then God help the Apple II user community when (not if)
> a IIgs emulator appears on a PC.

I disagree completely with this comment.  Would you say that a PowerMac
is not a Mac because it emulates a 680x0?  When the GS first came out it 
sold because it could emulate a //e.  Even the next generation of Intel 
chips are supposedly going to be RISC emulating CISC 80x86.

What I am saying is that we need a machine with a future.  It would do 
no good bringing out a machine that was say a 64Mhz 65816 or even a 65832.
If we had a PowerPC or similar based GS that could fully emulate a GS at 
say at least 16Mhz, then everyone could run their software on it, but when
a PowerPC version of GS/OS came out followed by native PowerPC apps, the 
machine would FLY.  You also have a whole bunch of programmers who are 
learning PowerPC at present - how many programmers are going to want to 
learn 65832 or whatever for a miniscule market?

Get real.  If the world is going PowerPC (or any other chip you can 
think of) then at least a GS based on that architecture would have a
future.  Anything else would just be a waste of time, money and effort.

-- 
John.
john@klatch.demon.co.uk