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

[Gabriel Morales <Togega@Concentric.net>]

Obsbedia2 wrote:
> 
> 
>         There are, afterall, millions of Apple 2 computers out there--and they're
> still being used!!!  What we, Apple II users are, somewhat, are evolutionaryly
> delayed.  We're Neanderthals; still living, learning and growing, but not at
> the rate of our neighbors, Homosapians.
> 
>         "Can we live together?"
>         "Sure," Apple said when it came out with the Macintosh, but we've learned
> otherwise.
> 
>         A better question is whether or not we can survive.  I'd say that the answer
> is a resounding "YEA!"  Apple II interest in the forms of programers continuing
> to write for the Apple II platforms, Apple II emulators that run on Mac and IBM
> platforms, A2 home pages by enthusiasts/programers, newsgroups like this one,
> and from collectors (hey, a few of them might actually stick a program in and
> turn it on).

I write:

	But what happens to an endangered species if it losses the ability to
reproduce? Sure Apple IIs can be made more useful- new software can be
written, new techniques and protocols can be use, and even new hardware
can be produced, but the Apple II cannot evolve equally or beyond a
certain point if new units are not manufactured.

	Even if new hardware gave the Apple II new capabilities and uses,
software employing such capabilities would be limited only to those
Apple IIs with the new hardware. It would fragment the Apple II
community further, as some would have the hardware and some would not
(-since new units are no longer manufactured, the problem would not
necessarily diminish as time passes). And how much can the Apple II
evolve without breaking some of its fundamental design specs? The Apple
IIgs, for example, cannot move to a newer, more efficient processor
because that would mean breaking its basic design. Workarounds could be
found, however, at some point it would be too costly or difficult. And
when old Apple IIs fail, what is to be done? Again, they could be
repaired, but at some point it would become too costly or difficult.

	It is not impossible for the Apple II series to "survive" indefinitely,
because like this the IBM-PC platform has survived, however there have
been powerful companies depending on and driving their economical
success by devising standards (although they sometimes do not catch on),
pushing old technologies to their limits and literally directing the
platform to what is convenient for them, and still it is a fragmented
platform (because of other OSs, I/O standards and hardware components).
The Apple II community is much smaller and lacks a minimum of such
central direction.

	The Apple II will survive, for the time being, as an enthusiast's &
hobbyist's computer and collector's item, excepting schools and other
places that either do not have enough money for new computers or have
made a considerable investment in Apple IIs in the past and still use
them. In the long-term, however, the Apple II series will survive
through emulation.

-- 
Come visit my domain at http://www.concentric.net/~Togega/.

Gabriel Morales