Re: A2 Users: Endanged Species? I think not.

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

Gabriel Morales <Togega@Concentric.net> wrote:

>> No, when the last Apple II stops running, the II would be truly dead.
>> Just like when the last Mustang or last Beetle is retired, those
>> legends would also have died.  Emulators and pictures are great
>> for memories, but let's give the real hardware enough respect to
>> say that great machines have lived, breathed, and passed on rather
>> than try to pretend that some souless imitation can fill the all too
>> large shoes left by the classic units...
>
>	An emulator is not a "souless imitation". In fact, it encompasses the
>spirit of the machine it is emulating. Hardware change- it would have
>changed further on the Apple II would it have been continued. The
>concept and purpose behind the machine and the software is what is most
>important. - Remember, the Apple IIgs runs 8-bit software through
>emulation. Would you call that a "souless imitation"?

The thing about the IIGS' emulation is that it is an emulation plus an
evolution of physical hardware.  As such, the user has new hardware
to play with.  Like I said earlier, I like to feel the hardware in my
hands.

Put it another way, the IIGS emulation is so transparent that the user
does not know most of the time.  If you can get emulation to that
level, then I would agree you would have captured most of the essense
of the machine.  The PowerMac emulating the 68k Mac to run Quadra
software is another example of this "total emulation."  But Bernie
emulating a IIGS leaves a little bit to be desired, don't you think?

Perhaps you are not as diehard a IIGS user as I am.  I can put one
foot in the modern world (my Win 95 unit) and one foot in the classic
one (my IIGS unit) and I'm comfortable with that.  I don't have to give
up one for the other.  I don't have to try to "eat" my IIGS world with
my Win 95 one.  Why can't we just let the classics be the classics?
Why do we have to destroy the classics and render them to
emulation?