Re: USB input devices-- Second Sight

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

Charles Stephens <devnull@dobbs.eng.sun.com> wrote:

>Rubywand  <rubywand@swbell.net> writes:
>
>> Unfortunately, Second Sight is a dead end. It is priced too high
>> and does too little to attract enough users to make QuickDraw rewrites
>> worthwhile.
>
>I suspect all new A2 hardware is going to be _too_ expensive.  The
>cost of production alone is not going to bring a bunch of new periphs
>to the market at a cheap price.
>
>Although I have yet to own the card myself (it is on my list), I think
>it does what it is supposed to do, bring 8-bit color to the GS and E.
>Writing QD2 routines for the GS is a matter of someone sitting down
>and start coding.

The Second Sight seems to be a favorite target these days.  I will be
the first to defend the card.  It does what it does wonderfully.  It
provides 24-bit (not just 8-bit) color to the IIGS.  For example, I have
.bmp graphics files linked ("registered") to ThirdView so that when
I double click them in Finder, ThirdView gets launched and
true-color .bmp files will get displayed as they were meant to be
displayed.  Second Sight aware Cogito proves that Second Sight
games are possible.

As for the price of the card, we would not be talking about it if the
Second Sight was released five years before its release date.  The
Second Sight's price is similar to that of what the low end model
ZipGS card sold for and we do not attack the ZipGS for being too
expensive.  That's because the ZipGS was introduced earlier and
ended production earlier so it is not around anymore to be a target.
The Second Sight is one of the last hardware products being sold
for the IIGS with a price tag the same as what other IIGS products
sold for.  It seems people will not stop targetting it until it goes out
of production and is only available used.

I did not like Nathan much because of how he attacked users, but
the one thing he was right about was how people complained
about the price of the ZipGS and then after it ceased production
wondered why it ceased production.

And why is it that the only people who have bad things to say
about the Second Sight are those who have never used one?
As a Second Sight user, I can only say that the IIGS is much
more usable with an SVGA port.  ;-)

Is the programmer of "Facelift," the QD2 patch for the Second
Sight, still working on it?