Re: Apple Computer, What Are You Up To?

[Randy Shackelford <shack@onyx.southwind.net>]

Supertimer <supertimer@aol.com> wrote:

: Again, the cost excuse.  Apple said the same thing back in the days of
: the Apple IIGS when they built in a 32 channel wavetable chip by
: Ensoniq (which still makes amazing audio silicon and keyboards) and
: didn't put in a $5 pre-amp/cable setup for audio input.  The iMac has
: a floppy controller on the motherboard and Apple neglected to put
: in a $5 cable to connect it to the back panel so that users could add
: a floppy drive from an old Mac or IIGS.

Apple hasn't made a Mac with a floppy port since '91 and hasn't made an
external floppy since '93ish. So you can forget that idea. In this day of
networks, rewritable CDs, and Zip disks, floppy drives are superfluous for
most people. I can certainly say mine rarely get used since everything
I use is on a network.

: The problem is that Apple goes for progress WITHOUT providing
: for transition.  They always want you to stop, throw out all your
: hardware, and start new.  Again, if including both the new USB with
: the old ADB and SCSI connectors is so hard, then why can Win PC
: manufacturers do it and still sell units cheaper than the iMac?  It
: would be so much better if they PROVIDE A TRANSITION. But
: Apple never does.

You oughtta read the Desktop Critic column titled "The Simplicity
Backlash" from February's Macworld.

There's also the idea of "third party opportunity" as Apple used to
call it. That was their response to the grumbling about how the first
Powerbooks had no built in video ports. People who need SCSI can add a 
card, and there are 10bT to localtalk and USB to serial converters out 
there. Keep that in mind when you have to put a card in your Windows box
to get video or ethernet. Also there are USB floppies and Zip drives. 

: You know, the iMac itself is a good computer and if it were your
: first computer, it is an excellent unit.  I have nothing against the
: iMac as a computer.  As always, the fault is not with the unit, it is
: with the manufacturer.  Apple still does not see the error of its ways.

I think it's a cheap piece of junk, and happily Apple makes better boxes.
Unfortunately, they look just as stupid as iMacs though. But you do get
slots and memory expansion at least with 'em.
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