Re: CMD products for GS (NTSC->RGB?, Scan Doublers, 20MHz)

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

Cameron Kaiser wrote:

>supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer) writes:
>
>>The result is a sad mix of a computer that tries to do '90s tasks
>>with '80s technology.  Some users are unwilling to let go of potential
>>unfulfilled, thanks to Apple.  Some users are unwilling to see the
>>potential that is there, treating it as an 8-bit II.  Because it has one
>>foot in the Amiga's boat and one foot in the Commodore 64 and
>>128's boat, it has no firm platform to stand on and has fallen into
>>the water.
>
>Are there really that many people who have GSes and eschew the older ][s?
>While there's a lot of Amigaheads who upgraded from 64s, they kept the 64s
>and in some cases do more with them. What do most people on this group have,
>GS or IIe/c?

Some might disagree, but I think it is safe to say that most of the
active development in the Apple II world in the past 8 years or so
has been done with the GS in mind.  Most of the diehard (well, as
far as an Apple user can be diehard and nothing like the fanaticism
of a Commodore user) Apple II users have a GS.  Very often, we
hear complaints from the few active Apple II users who've stuck to
the 8-bits.  They say "history will remember the 8-bits as more
significant, and rightly so" and "there's been too much emphasis on
the GS."

This is not to say that no one uses 8-bit II's.  On the contrary, the
schools still use them and many GS users have 8-bit units stashed
away and use them for their uniqueness.  Units such as the IIc Plus,
one of the finest 8-bit computers ever made.

The emphasis on the GS can be explained easily.  The GS has some
features in common with the Amiga, so it is the most advanced II.
The 8-bit Apples have sound that can't match a Commodore 64, so
you won't get new software that taps into sound and graphics like on
that computer.  As a total picture, the GS looks up to the Amiga in
terms of video, zips ahead of it in terms of audio, and shares a hacker
spirit with the Commodore 64 and 128.  You can look at it as one bit
8-bit Apple, one bit Commodore 64, one bit Amiga, one bit Mac, but
doing each of those bits not quite as good as the real thing.  Jack of
all trades is a master of none.  This is really sad because we need
the fanaticism and hacker spirit of the 64 and 128 user.  In fact, the
GS may actually be doing better if it were not such a diverse computer.
Had it not been, Apple may have not feared it would compete against
Macintosh and let it live.