Re: Iigs comparable to Amiga? Pah!

[Richard Kilpatrick <delorean@NOSPAMbtconnect.com>]

On 14/10/04 3:02 pm, in article
jGvbd.5575$Al3.1148@newssvr30.news.prodigy.com, "Sean Fahey"
<a2fan@hotmail.com> wrote:

> 
> "Moll" <Bettykate@dosius.com> wrote in message
> news:eDhbd.175$9K1.150@trndny09...
> 
>> IIgs will blow any 8-bit Commodore out of the water :P
> 
> The only thing the C-64 had that I was mildly envious of was it's built-in
> sound capabilities. My Commie friends were always saying "we've got better
> sound, we've got sprites, etc". To get comparable sound, you had to add a
> card to the Apple II - but I could've cared less about the sprites. When
> Ultima IV shipped, I had to get a Mockingboard for my //e - to keep up with
> "the smiths".

See, in my opinion, the Apple II from '77 to the IIgs ROM 03 of '89 is the
parallel of the 8-bit CBM and Atari lines. The fact that CBM and Atari
failed to produce a machine equivalent to the IIgs is not Apple's problem,
so to speak. CBM produced countless dead ends, Atari just seemingly couldn't
be arsed even trying. XE with a new sound chip (but 80 column was still via
a box connected to the joystick port...).

Amiga was a Mac competitor, likewise the ST was often referred to as the
Jackintosh (and I know from my SpectreGCR that it really does do a bloody
good job of emulation with only OS ROMs and some software). CBM people
saying the IIgs isn't as good as the Amiga (what I was parodying) is like
Ford drivers saying that the Monte Carlo isn't as good as a Thunderbird.

CBM and Atari both failed utterly to make a comfortable transition from 8 to
16/32 bits for their consumers. The Apple II however was able to talk to
Macs using Apple products (AppleShare, Workstation Card) in 1986/7, and if
anything the support got better as the Macintosh line matured.

Is an Amiga as good as a contemporary Mac? No. Workbench might have been
incredibly powerful, but it's godawful to use. When you reach the higher end
machines you have unstable, limited devices that were relatively expensive.
Amiga advocates want to focus on the IIgs because it's an easy target and a
'home' computer, but they overlook the fact that the SE, LC and Performa
ranges were popular home computers too.

It occurred to me last night that in many ways, the IIgs was superior to the
early Macs. 128K ROM instead of 64K. Colour. Stereo sound. Slots. Only the
65C816 speed and the relatively low screen res in the Finder let it down. It
was and still is a technical marvel.

Richard
-- 
Apples of various varieties - currently eMac/G5/PowerBook and ancients.
Carstuff - Supra and New Beetle, and happy with just two for once.
Music stuff - http://www.dmc12.demon.co.uk/music/ - MP3s coming soon!
Otherstuff - http://www.dmc12.demon.co.uk/retrotech/