Re: Is it too hard to program for the Apple?

[schmidtd <schmidtd@my-deja.com>]

On Feb 18, 1:42 pm, dog_...@macgui.com (D Finnigan) wrote:
> I think (I've probably been doing too much of that lately)

QFT ;-)

> that maybe one of
> the reasons why there aren't loads of "exciting" projects coming out for the
> Apple is that it's too hard to program on the Apple, especially compared to
> programming on today's Mac or PC.

As times changed, the toolkits got bigger and bigger.  And will
continue to do so.  As the elemental size of the building blocks
increase, the easier it is to get bigger tasks done (while consuming
ever more resources).  64k, or 16k, or 4k was never enough memory to
do a lot of good particle physics simulation.  But it was and is
plenty good for games, light business productivity (consider: before
VisiCalc, you had a pencil and paper), designing CRAYs*, and lots of
other interesting real-world interface applications (A to D converters
for measurement, modems for communications, etc.) and so on.

If you've got a "real" task to do, the more modern processor will
probably be more convenient, fast, and comfortable.  I don't think
folks use Apple IIs for a lot of "real" tasks any more, but they
certainly are a lot of fun, and on many different levels.

> Am I right in any of this? Anyone else agree/disagree or have more to say?

Nobody seriously picks up an Apple II and expects to analyze petabytes
of seismographic data with it.  I'm not sure that turning it into a
UNIX-alike is going to change that.  But just because during this 4-
day stint on c.s.a2** no one came up with the Next Killer App(tm), I
don't think it's time to throw in the towel.  The Apple II (and I)
started out life as a personal satisfaction project - a "scratch" of
an intellectual itch.  What else was really popular in the early
days?  The "programmer's aid ROM."  Beagle Brothers 2-liners.  Type-in
programs in magazines.  These aren't world-changing productivity
apps.  They are toys.  Everybody was getting their feet wet in the new
realm of making silicon do our bidding.

So, in conclusion - if you have an intellectual itch,  scratch it.  If
you're looking to solve world peace, achieve fame and/or forutne, you
probably want to look elsewhere. ;-)

* http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?AppleCrayComputer
** For posterity's sake - there was also a thread titled "What do you
use your Apple for?" also started by the OP that ran at about the same
time as this one.