Re: Apple II Email (The Challenge)

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

<pubpc17@library.ucla.edu> wrote:

> To be fair, I did suggest that they buy the 20MB model because it was
> cheapest.  Still, 20MB is certainly usable on older model PCs, which
> ship with little more.  We are talking about schools here whose PCs
> often don't have enough power to run Windows.

But older PCs which use 20MB mechanisms generally do not have an IDE
interface, only an ST-506 interface ("MFM" or "RLL").  IDE was a
somewhat more recent invention, and I don't recall seeing IDE drives
smaller than 40MB on a real PC.

Assuming you have a PC with a 40MB IDE drive, the addition of a second
20MB drive would be a useful increase in disk space for DOS-only systems
(assuming the drives work together - older IDE drives tend to be very
fiddly with master/slave arrangements).

> Maybe it is just me, but I find it strange that schools would consider
> spending funds on Apple Workstation Cards to get //e computers onto
> the internet.  They would consider Apple High Speed SCSI cards to run
> Ethernet adapters on.  But for less cost, they have a hard time
> considering a hard disk that can be reclaimed to a PC when the day
> comes.

A2 workstation cards are not common enough to be a feasible option.
SCSI-to-Ethernet is not feasible due to lack of documentation and
possible OS/firmware interaction problems.  This leaves serial
connections as the only viable possibility.

Considering that most of these computers will not have a serial card at
present, having to buy a serial card AND a hard drive for each computer
is quite a significant cost.  The only part of this that is eventually
recoverable is the drive mechanism itself, and I still think it is of
dubious use in a real PC (especially when you consider that the eventual
re-use in a PC will be a few years down the line).

> Programming the beast would be easier on a machine with several
> megabytes of storage, wouldn't it?

It depends how much needs to be done.  A simple communications program
as the front end would fit fine on a 5.25" disk.  I certainly agree that
it would remove all worries about the size of the code, and would leave
plenty of room for more features.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail Mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand