Re: Teach files to AppleWorks Gs

[Toby Reiter <str4552@OBERLIN.EDU>]

On 1 Dec 1996, Nathan Mates wrote:

> In article <57qmvj$i9h@duster.adelaide.on.net>,
> David Goble <goble@kigateway.eastend.com.au> wrote:
> >	Apart from resaving the Teach files as text, then recomposing on in
> >AWGs, is there any other way to convert the teach files to AWGs
> >format?
> 
>    Both formats are moderately documented (ftp to ftp.apple.com,
> dts/aii/sys.soft for AWGS, Toolbox reference volume 3 for Teach). If
> you're really adventurous, write a translator. 
> 
This response displays an overriding problem of many of the responses in 
this newsgroup.  I would say that the majority of those reading and 
posting in comp.sys.apple2 are not programmers, but users (and yes, 
Nathan, a lot of us even have positive things to say).  When this person 
asked a simply question "Is there a way to convert a to b", you responded 
"why don't you program it".  Similarly, other people posting simple 
queries were also given somewhat complex or excessive responses (Original 
post: "My computer crashes often." Response: "Rewire the power supply.") 
Although this may seem a logical response to many of you, for myself, I 
can barely wire a battery to a lightbulb (well, maybe better than that, 
but not much). I would love to learn to program and learn to solder, but 
you can't expect to shove a technical manual into somebody's hand and 
have them know what to do.  

I suggest that a FAQ be written which would help Apple II users to get 
progressively more knowledgeable about their computers, both from a 
programming and hardware  level.  This FAQ would list books, manuals, 
etc. in a progressive order so that people could start from the bottom
and work up.  As it is right now, most computer users can be at only 
three levels: illiterate, moderate user, or super user.  The road from 
illiterate to moderate user is easy to follow: simply by reading all 
your manuals cover to cover you can pretty much get to that level. 
However, there is no way to get from moderate to super user as far as 
I can see (on any platform).
 
I would appreciate people's general comments on this. It wouldn't hurt 
to hear how people here first began using this platform and how they 
first began to program (i.e. How did Nathan, Joe Kohn, Henrik Gudat, 
David Empson, et al. get involved with the Apple II?).  This could 
be a great chance for a history lesson, eh?

Just my 2 bits,
Toby Reiter