Re: Apple and the Holy War

[pausch@saafNOSPAM.se (Paul Schlyter)]

In article <3910DF45.7E7642D1@inetnebr.com>,
Roy and/or Janet Miller  <millers@inetnebr.com> wrote:
 
> Paul Schlyter wrote:
>> 
>> Roy and/or Janet Miller  <millers@inetnebr.com> wrote:
>>>  Paul admits that the program that he was citing was a VERY
>>> special case.
>> 
>> I never "admitted" anything like that -- it's merely your
>> interpretation of what I wrote.  
> 
> Ok, sorry for a misunderstanding.
> 
>> And I find it amusing that so many people (yep, you're not alone!)
>> thinks it's a "VERY special case" to use computers for computations.....
>>  I mean, what else where they originally created for?
> 
> But using a computer TODAY, for what they were created for in the 1940s
> IS a very special case Paul.
 
I'm far from alone in doing this though, so I don't really feel that
"special".  There are even markets for programs intended for heavy
"number crunching".  But you're of course right that today, when
computers are ubiqutous and most often are used by people who never
do any computations more complex than balancing their checkbooks, then
most people don't compute with their computers.
 
>>> The fact is that in using what most people use a micro computer for
>>> (productivity that is),
>> 
>> You mean word processing and similar trivial stuff?  
> 
> Such software is referred to a "productivity software" Paul, at least
> here, and that is how I was using the word - in contrast to graphical
> web browsing and playing games.
 
You can be productive on the web too, and you can be quite
improductive while playing around on your word processor.  Even
"playing games" can be productive -- if the game is a good flight
simulator and you e.g. want to take a pilot's license.
 
>>> an Apple //e is as good as a 1 ghz Wintel.
>>>
>>> Consider this posting which I am doing on my 100 mhz pentium. 
> 
>> I find it amusing that you call a 1 GHz PC "out of date".  
> 
> I didn't - I called my 100 mhz Pentium out of date. But hey, it's easy
> to let your eyes drop a line or two like that.
 
OK
 
>>> Word processing??? When writing a paper for grad school, or a letter, or
>>> a report for presbytery, my Kaypro 2X with it's letter quality printer
>>> does a better looking job, though the printer is slower, than my laser
>>> printers driven by my Wintel or my 040 Mac.
>> 
>> Did that better looking report help you get a better grade at school?
>> If not, it was irrelevant.  BTW when grading reports, doesn't content
>> count much more than appearance?
>> 
> Of course. But I remember in the mid 80s when I was in grad school how
> one Prof. refused to take papers that were printed out on the thermal
> printer that a lot of my classmates got with the PCjrs.
 
That I fully understand: the report shouldn't fade as quickly as a
printout on a thermal printer does.  Ink on normal paper is of course
a prerequisite -- the report must survive the grading process.
 
> And if I writing
> a letter on my letter head, well other than a print shop, nothing is
> better than a daisy wheel printer.
> 
>>> Or I could use WordPerfect on my //e, or my GS version on my GS and
>>> my ImageWriter LQ or WP on my Kaypro 16 and my Epson 24 pin dmprinter
>>> and have great looking stuff without all the overhead of a GUI.
>> 
>> Yes, but you would have a hard time exchanging documents with others,
>> most of whom most likely wouldn't use the same diskette format as you.
>
> But I seldom have to exchange files. And WordPerfect (which is what I
> use in Windows) reads other WordPerfect files just fine, even from other
> platforms.
>  
>>> Otherwise, I was VERY happy with my WordPerfect for DOS office suite,
>>> and I do miss the solid, sane software that I used to use everyday.
>> 
>> So why did you quit using it?  You claimed it worked, and you were
>> happy with it.  Don't you want to be happy?  Of course you do!  Then
>> go back to that old software!!!
> 
> But DOS software doesn't use the Greek or Hebrew alphabets on the screen
> at the same time as the Latin alphabet. Which is why I moved to Windows.
 
Why do you need several alphabets at once?  Why not use one at a time,
and then switch when you need to?
 
-- 
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