Re: A Tale of Two Apples

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

<pubpc1@library.ucla.edu> wrote:

> B.J. Major wrote:
> >Mitchell Spector <spec@vax2.concordia.ca> wrote:
> >>What killed the Apple IIgs was _Apple Computer_.
> >
> >Is there a point to going over this stuff over and over again?
> >I mean, I just don't see what the point is.  Everyone knows what
> >happened back then and everyone has their own opinions on it or
> >who was at fault, etc. etc.  This is like constantly dredging up
> >the past--it doesn't help things NOW.
> 
> B.J., I respect your opinion, but I am just about fed up with your
> constant goading us, the GS supporters, for discussing the past of
> _our_ computer.  If this, _our_ newsgroup, is not the place to
> discuss it, what is?  What you are doing, trying to prevent this
> discussion because it is unfavorable to Apple Computers, is like
> if an Mac or PC user went into comp.sys.amiga.* and trolled about
> how it was justified that the Amiga died because the Mac or PC
> was better and so on.

Now that I re-read this paragraph, I see you are making another wrong
assumption/analogy.  I never in any way said publicly that the
discontinuance of the IIgs (or the rest of the II line) at the time that
decision was made, was the right thing to do.  It may or may not have
been, depending on the person's take on the whole matter.  I do know
that companies like Apple make business decisions such as these on a
daily basis and that discontinuance of models, systems, or whatever,
etc. is something that happens as a matter of routine--like it or not.

To make an analogy that's a bit more realistic, the current crop of PC's
can't run the oldest PC software--or very old versions of DOS.  The
modern architecture of the machine simply won't permit it.  PC's also
haven't shipped with 5.25" floppy drives for some time, and there is
still a lot of older 5.25" PC software floating around.  Yet I see no
one like yourself running around and complaining to the masses about
this.  If someone wants to run software that old, they go and obtain an
older machine to run it, period.  They don't expect that the new
machines will continue to run everything because that's not the case.
So, if someone wants to continue to run Apple II software--they go and
get a used Apple II.  The Mac shouldn't have *had* to run Apple II
software from its beginnings as you have stated (although I know it does
now in emulation mode and before with the LC IIe card), any more than
the new PC's should *have* to run the oldest PC software and 5.25 disks.
Change--especially technology change--is going to happen with you or
without you.  Your being against it isn't going to stop the change from
happening.

And, I certainly don't feel any superiority just because I happen to use
(and like) Macs.  To me, Macs and Apple II's are two different systems
that cannot be (and should not be) compared.  As stated before, there
are plenty of us in this group that use and like both systems.  You and
some others seem to have a problem with that.  THAT's what I am fed up
with.  I say live and let live.

-- 
--bj   Auto reply will not work; please reply to bjbear@ibm.net
Proud owner/user of Apple Computers since 1984
Barbie & Ken doll fan since 1961