Re: The IBM PC's slavish devotion to the Apple II

["Chuck Morris" <nospam@nospam.net>]

Bill Garber <willy46pa@comcast.net> wrote in message
mbSdnSuiFadBOHqjXTWcqg@comcast.com">news:mbSdnSuiFadBOHqjXTWcqg@comcast.com...

> Well, whether I'm right or wrong or he was doesn't matter to me.

Then why bother complaining about his post?

> If he wants to post his views, he should IMHO start a web site of
> the history of the home computer and leave this forum to what it
> is intended to do.

I believe that discussion is a part of what this forum is intended to
facilitate, your own view to the contrary notwithstanding.

> Assist people with problems and suggestions
> on getting their Apple II's running or running better.

I don't suppose the fact that you are a supplier of hard to find add-ons for
the Apple II might be tainting your view of what the "intended" purpose of
this forum is, could it?

> That type of
> post just brings hard feelings across the many platforms, Apple
> and IBM especially. Why harp on infomation that is readily available
> if you only desire and if I wanted to know, I would have damned sight
> gone and searched it out. Just like those who like to play their car
> radios so loud you can feel the bass thumping from a block away.
> If I want to hear that song, I'll surely go buy the record.

Other than the hyperbole displayed in the title of the original post, I fail
to see anything in the original message which (if read carefully) should
cause any hard feelings.  Rather than being a condemnation of the original
IBM PC, it seems clear to me that the post is merely trying to point out
that many of the approaches that were applied to the design and construction
of the Apple II series were judged to be good ideas which IBM incorporated
into it's own design and improved upon.  Overall, I see the point of the
original post as an attempt to acknowledge that the design of the Apple II
has heavily influenced the history of the design of the modern PC.

> Being a newbie, I do stand corrected quite often, but I simply do not
> appreciate my PC of choice being dragged down as inferior. It
> plainly is not, and everyone knows it. These types of posts are a
> futile attempt at keeping alive a basically hobby oriented computer
> line that had it's good days and they WERE great days. Can't we
> simply enjoy them while they are still a little popular? Can we
> not band together and keep them going as what they are, not what
> we'd like to think they are?

It appears to me that you may be a bit hyper-sensitive on the subject, and
that you may be reacting to insults to your "PC of choice" that were not in
fact made.  If this is the sort of thing that happens frequently, I suspect
that you will continue to be corrected quite often in the future.

> BTW, the more argument I receive, the more I respond.

Only a fool continues to argue for the sake of argument.  You can agree or
you can agree to disagree, but once it becomes clear that you're not going
to change anyone else's view, there's nothing to be gained by attempting to
fan the flames.

> This is my feeling in a nutshell. Use them, abuse them, that's
> your choice, but give every brand the respect it should deserve.

I do, and I have owned (and still do) Apple II's, Atari 800 series, Amigas
and PC's ranging from the IBM/XT to the homebuilt P3/500 that is my primary
machine at this point.  All of them have their strengths and weaknesses, and
I remain fond of them all, including the Apple IIe sitting on the desk
behind me at the moment.  The post certainly didn't disrespect the Apple II,
and if there was the slightest trace of disrespect for any machine, it would
seem to have been directed at the IBM PC.  Even that doesn't amount to much,
given that the original post ends up acknowledging the improvements that the
IBM PC included over the Apple II.

Having said all that, the one other point that I would like to make is that
it is not your place to tell others who post here that they should take
their opinions elsewhere when they do not agree with yours.  Should you wish
to exert this sort of control, may I suggest that you form a moderated
newsgroup such as comp.sys.apple2-according-to-garber.moderated.  You will
then be perfectly within your rights in censoring the posts of others when
they are at odds with yours.

>
> Thank you,
>
> Bill @ GarberStreet Enterprises
> http://garberstreet.netfirms.com
>

You're welcome, I'm sure! ;-)