Re: Apple II obsolete???

[pubpc1@library.ucla.edu]

spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector) wrote:
>"Tom Zuchowski" <71214.1670@compuserve.com> wrote,
>in response to my reply:
>>> I disagree with your definition of obsolete, then.  I use both a '486
>>> PC (25MHz) and an Apple IIGS regularly and equally.  For word processing,
>>> I use the GS almost exclusively because at 13.75MHz, the GS runs its
>>> word processing and page layout software faster than the '486 runs its.
>>> For graphics processing and Netscape, the '486 is very useful.
>>>
>>> But then again, based on your definition, a '486 is obsolete too, right?
>>> Come on, what is something that's obsolete?  A horse and buggy is an
>>> obsolete form of transportation because, in fact, it can't do most of the
>>> things that a car can.  However, would you consider a classic Mustang as
>>> an obsolete transport?  No, because you know that it can be driven around
>>> just like the latest Taurus.
>>
>>Good heavens. A 486-25 is horribly obsolete. You're talking 6- or
>>7-year-old technology there. If you consider a 486 to be useful for running
>>Netscape, then you are a far more patient person than I am. I totally gave
>>up Web browsing on my 486DX-33 until it got replaced by a new system with
>>adequate RAM (nothing chews up memory like web browsing).
>
>    I consider the 486 obsolete too, even my 486-133. It may sound quite
>fast, but it still only just barely reaches the speeds of a Pentium 75.
>It is a fine machine for web-browsing and most other tasks, but I'd trade
>it for a Pentium in the blink of an eye (actually I'll probably see about
>getting one before the end of the year). I've certainly no attachment to
>it, not like any of my Apple II's. :)
>
>Mitchell Spector
>spec@vax2.concordia.ca

Its the only PC I've got, but I've given the machine a benefit of
a doubt.  You wouldn't believe what enough memory would do to speed
up a 25MHz '486.  I get the impression that at least part of the speed
increase that people see when switching from an old '486 to a newer
computer comes from the fact that the new computer has two to four
times the RAM as the '486.

Like I've said, because the '486 is running its word processors and
page layout applications so slow, I use the 13.75MHz GS for those tasks.
A fast GS is simply faster than a slow '486 in these cases.  Since the
'486 my only PC, I use it for Netscape and graphics processing.

However, based on my definition, the '486 is not obsolete.  Folks,
before the advent of computers the word "obsolete" has always had
a very strong connotation.  It literally means "next to useless."
Are '486 and GS computers "next to useless?"  Of course they aren't.
Therefore, they are not obsolete.

-Scott G.