Re: Nathan and the Apple Community.

[av368@lafn.org (James Poore)]

In a previous article, sfield1@ix.netcom.com ("Stephen B. Field") says:

>I think it is a shame that Nathan took down his FAQ.  Without it, I would
>probably never have been able to figure out all my problems with the apple.

I agree, it was a good FAQ.  But I also believe that other FAQ's can be 
compiled that should be as good, if not better, should we play our cards 
right.  I dont think there is any one person in the Apple 2 community 
that could make up a perfect FAQ.  But with careful and deliberate 
attention, the FAQ can be made better by taking the best of the best and 
keeping it availiable widely and anchored at ground.

Making a good FAQ is not an easy task, it needs to be informative to the 
experienced user, yet readable and understood by the novice.  It should 
not have an enormous amount of material that would intimidate but enough 
that you wouldnt be flustered trying to find the information.

>As a
>hobby, I have a lot of fun fooling around with this old equipment and have
>collected some of the games out there, but don't expect to spend a whole lot
>of money on new applications.

Same here...I compare it to radio.  When I was a kid, I had a great time 
with tube (the big glass things that get hot) radio with all kinds of 
tuning knobs (TRF tuning for you electonic buffs) that could pull in 
distant radio stations.  I also had a solid-state tuner with FM stereo.
The FM radio had great sound but didnt have ability to pull in the 
distant stations, the tube radio had terrible sound, but could pull in 
broadcasts from as far away as Cincinatti (I'm was in Fresno CA).  Each 
unit was around for a different reason.  Now that I'm grown up 
(argueably), my computers have take the respective places in my room.

>It seems like people are split between those that own the old 8bit Apples
>(II+,IIe,IIc) and the GS.  Those with the 8bit computers seem to appreciate
>asimov and the programs on that system.  Those that own the GS still seem to
>feel that there is money to be made on that system and don't like asimov.
>
>If people keep arguing on these newsgroups I think they will continue to
>chase away the contributions of others.  Its just amazing how petty some of
>the newsgroup messages are.  Lets start helping people out thats the only
>way
>to keep the community alive and well.

Well, I believe there nuthin wrong with a little arguing back and forth 
as long as it is bringing to light both sides of an issue, but some 
things really got outta hand with the name calling an such.

>My biggest compliant with the community has a whole is there refusal to
>recognize the viability of apple emulators.  Most of these programs run .DSK
>images while all the "legit" apple FTP sights refuse to format images in
>this format.
>
>This forces me to download .SHK images, and then dump them to the apple,
>unpack them, save them on a floppy, and then send the image back through ADT
>to the PC.   Its insane.  I still havn't entirely got the hang of this.
>
>The community has a real elitest attitude that you have to own an apple in
>order to run the software.   Again, I feel that this just simply chases away
>more possible members.

Elitest?  Hardly.  The Apple community was the first to adopt a 
"standard" in file compression and stuck to it.  Its not our fault that 
nobody followed our lead :)

For the record, I thought Nathan was great troubleshooter for Apple 
related problems and his GUPP program was the ONLY thing that could make 
my GS boot up flawlessly every time.  However his social skills as well 
as his arrogant attitude was his downside, which I guess ultimately led 
to his departure.  I will personally miss his professional computer 
skills, but I wont lose any sleep over any his now absent postings.

My $3.98 worth
Jim