Re: So, what do you think? real IIgs or emulated IIgs?

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

Blake Patterson <blake@blakespot.com> wrote:

>...Well, I don't really get this when using VirtualPC on the Mac, but
>that's probably becuase I so dislike using a Windows PC that doing it on
>my Mac _is_ a bonus.

Or because VirtualPC will forever be a more "tuned" emulator
than any IIGS emulator.  I mean, it is a commercial product
and has been tweaked so performance hit is about the same
as running 68k Mac software on your G4.  VirtualPC on your
G4 is quite a bit faster than a 233Mhz Pentium unit, which is
what many people are still using.

Another thing is that there is PC software that you just can't
find for the Mac, so using VirtualPC has a purpose.  For
example, if you are a flight simulator person, you have many
many more choices in the PC software isle.  VirtualPC lets
you run them all.  There are also more games for the PC.

But opening a IIGS emulator for anything more than novelty?
I think not.  There is nothing to be accomplished.

On a real IIGS, it is the feel of the classic, much like driving
a well kept classic car, that keeps us going.  Real hardware
can be accessorized, just like cars can.  Customized.  This
reality component is missing in emulators.

The future of the Apple II?  For the near future, it is in the
hardware.  The hardware is classic.  When all the hardware
dies, there IS no future.  The end.  Emulators are ghosts.
Shadows of the real thing.

But the near future can be a long time.  I sometimes see
1950s era cars speed down the highway.  Shining, lovingly
kept.  These cars are also "dead" with no future, but
individual units are kept alive.  I think that will be the future
of the Apple II.  And no, they are not kept in closets or
garages.  Like these cars get driven for the pleasure of
driving them, an Apple II will get powered up for the fun
of it.