Re: A Tale of Two Apples

[bjblackbear@ibm.net (B.J. Major)]

Mitchell Spector <spec@vax2.concordia.ca> wrote:

> In article bjblackbear@ibm.net (B.J. Major) writes...
> 
> >Naming examples of software would be meaningless to you because the
> >titles I am referring to are developed for a particular line of business
> >and not available to the general public.  
> 
>     Well you've just made my point, the incompatible software titles are
> some rare and obscure business programs (furthermore, your saying they
> were not even available to the public!). How about naming some software
> titles the general public as access to that will not function at all?

I didn't know the profession of real estate was "rare and obscure".
These are programs that were once used by hundreds of thousands of
offices all over the country.  They are titles I have first hand
experience and use with.  Also, there have been other messages posted
this week agreeing with me that not ALL old 5.25 software will run on
today's machines.  What has been your own experience will not always be
everyone else's experience.

> >Is is possible for you to respond to any message without making
> >derrogatory statements about Macintosh???!
> 
>     Is it possible for you not to be so offended by comments about the
> Macintosh? It is a machine, not a person. What I said is a truth about
> the PC in respect to the Macintosh. The Macintosh is limited in what
> can be added to it as it is a proprietary system. The PC is not, and
> uses generic parts. For example, if the SuperDrive in a Macintosh fails
> and needs to be replaced you _must_ purchase the replacement part from
> Apple Computer. On the PC, I could purchase several types of 1.44 MB
> drives from an uncountable number of vendors and distributors. 

To which I say "so what?"  Anyway, my point was that you don't want
people ragging on the IIgs; by the same token, I don't see why the Mac
has to be ragged on.

> >You have to have a 5.25 disk drive before you can do any copying to
> >either 3.5 disks or a hard drive.  Newer machines just don't come with
> >the 5.25 drives.  My point stands that floppy drives for PCs are very
> >hard to come by these days (except for used ones), as are 5.25 disks
> >themselves.
> 
>     Your confusing the PC market with the Macintosh. 

No, I'm not.  I've looked in many hardware stores lately, and no 5.25
drives are currently for sale for use with PCs.

> I will repeat it
> again, what it ships with is _not_ what it is stuck with. Also keep
> in mind unlike an Apple Macintosh, many people out there (myself for
> example) don't buy pre-assembled computers. We buy the separate parts
> and put in what we choose. That is a nice thing about not owning a
> proprietary system.

It also leads to lots of problems, of which I have first hand
experience.  Not all no-name parts will work with each other or with the
motherboard.  There is a generic PC in our office that will not use its
sound card, for instance.  Both the machine and the card have been
checked and there is nothing wrong with either.  Nonetheless, the
computer never makes a sound or uses the card in any way.  No technician
can explain what's wrong.  And this is not the only example of why a
machine made up of generic parts is not the best idea in the world.

>     5.25 drives are very hard to come by these days? Gee, I just looked
> on the home page for one of my favorite local computer shops, they list
> brand-new 5.25 drives for purchase (if you don't believe me, go have a
> look for yourself: http://www.microbytes.com). They are also extremely
> common to find used, both double-density and high-density, the last PC
> Expo I visited had a box filled with them for about $5/ea, and the used
> computer stores I've visited have shelves full of them. The are by no
> means rare. On the other hand, when I wanted to find a SuperDrive mech
> for my Apple IIgs, it took me about 3 months of searching and I had to
> pay a high price just to get one used. 

Well, you just made *my* point.  Unless you shop used, catalog or the
web, you won't find a PC 5.25 in any modern computer store.  And
comparing finding the SuperDrive for a IIgs is hardly a worthy
comparison.  Unlike the PC 5.25, there were very few made, judging by
the posts I've read on this group by others.

-- 
--bj   Auto reply will not work; remove "black" to reply.  
Proud owner/user of Apple Computers since 1984.   
"None of my computer systems do Windows."