Re: Observation about group

[wbdesnoy@acs5.acs.ucalgary.ca (Byron Desnoyers Winmill)]

Michael J. Mahon (mjmahon@aol.com) wrote:
: >without a well written program the computer is just a lot of electrons
: >running around in circules [sic].

: But don't put down those whose needs drive them to faster, more capacious
: platforms.  [...]  Many software houses see the hardware improvement rate
: as a license, even a mandate, to consume all the available resources,
: whether value is delivered or not.

While arguing that faster is sometimes better, you hit the nail on the
head: the software being published today is not always faster.  In fact,
sometimes it is downright slow!

I continually have to remind people that the computers of twenty years
ago are not 10000 times slower.  That is absurd since that would imply
that ProDOS would take about 6 days to boot, and you would still be
waiting for the word processor to load.  Even the original Macintosh
takes it 15 or 20 seconds to boot, with GUI.  The "wicked fast"
Macintosh IIfx can't boot System 6 that fast because it takes about
10 or 20 seconds for the hard drive to spin up.

Now you are correct: an Apple II is not going to be a plesant video or
photo editing machine.  No machine is perfect.  Even the 'bigger, faster,
better' machines of today have their own problems.  I consider
distractions to be one of those problems.  Writing is a chore on the
present machines because there are so many more 'interesting things' to
do (these 'interesting things' are actually trivialities).  The Apple II
is more plesant to work on because I can deal with one, continuous
train of thought.  In otherwords, it takes less disipline to work on
an Apple II.  :-)

When all is said, I see that a lot of older machines can do a lot of
neat stuff.  This includes video editing and digital photography (both
of which I can do on my 68040).  I am also tired with "keeping up with
the Jones's" simply because they insist that I need a modern web
browser (hence machine) simply to view their website, email them
(HTMLized email), and other collaborative efforts.  Using a computer
in the era of connectivity has detached us from the realm of individual
choice.  That is why I get tired of the 'bigger, faster, better' crowd.

Byron.