Re: What do you use your Apple for?

[Calibrator <calibrator@freenet.de>]

On 18 Feb., 19:14, dog_...@macgui.com (D Finnigan) wrote:
>
> Thanks for making me want to try even harder to get it done. ;-)

I call this my "inverse motivation technique"! ;-)

> The problems I see in the Apple II community come from two factors:
> 1.) Not enough new people
> 2.) Existing people not actually doing stuff with their Apple

I think it's more complicated than that. There were always three
types of users:

a) The computer-illiterate who only wants to use the system
for business or some basic applications like word processors,
Visi-Calc (huge success there!) or following the stocks.
Sometimes a system was specialized for the business at
hand or running bookkeeping software. These people
weren't geeks but up to a point they were in the minority
back then. Today they are the norm.

b) The scholars and gamers. These guys often started as
kids, able to learn and use a system to satisfy their needs:
Playing awesome video games - mostly for "free" - and often
studying the hard- and software that works hand in hand to
create things like that. Hacking in programs from magazines
and modifying them, learning to program in the process.
They are fascinated by computers even though they don't
necessarily intend to go pro with it.
In other words: These are the 'power users', able to run and
service software and the system itself. Installing hard- and
software, even problematic ones. Dabbling with programming
languages, sometimes even cracking games and creating
"intros" for their groups.
This type of users still exists today and though modern
systems are much more user friendly in some aspects
(networking for example) they often can't program much
more than simple batch files now. They often want to do
more but they don't really have the time or the staying power.

c) Finally, there are developers. This is by far the smallest
group of course and they mostly fall into the software category.
These are the guys that often go pro and earn their living
with it. They are often methodical and finish things because
they use things like milestones and do project management.
Sometimes they are are simply ambitious enough to let
their chaotic programming style get into their way or large
amounts of procrastination.

Today:

When we analyze the usership of the Apple II (or any other
retro platform) we see that (a) doesn't really exist anymore
as they use more powerful modern systems now.
That leaves us with (b) and (c) and I'd say that (b) is the
norm today: People that love to play with their favorite toy.
Playing old games that sometimes need special care to
make them run without glitches, buying/collecting hard-
and software, studying the system perhaps even trying
a hand at programming (again).
Until they really finish hard- and/or software projects they
remain in the (b) category, though.

The elusive (c) category, the developers, often have a
background in engineering or professional history in
software development. It's a very small group - much much
smaller than back then so not a lot is being made.
What is being made, though, is often of very high quality
even if it doesn't have a big audience.
Designing hardware like the Carte Blanche is definitely
hardcore and you not only need to be (c)-grade to make
one but to make the most out of it you practically need to
be a (c) grade user yourself. A product like this can still
be something for the "masses" (like an accelerator card)
but often because people just love to buy collectables.

Speaking about collectors: It seems to me that some people
just buy up every new thing on the market - just because
they can. Then they cheat themselves by thinking that
they will really make the most out of the product - which of
course never happens as the next sensation is just around
the corner...

Funnily, the situation now is not unlike the situation *before*
the Apple II came to the market, when dinosaurs uhmm
single-board computers like the AIM, KIM etc. ruled the earth.
We have the power users and the developers, but not really
many application users.

But why aren't there more developers now even though
the hurdles are way lower today to produce software?
It's cheaper as one doesn't even have to have the necessary
hardware - an emulator on a normal PC/Mac will suffice (is
there a home without one?) - and one can choose between
a lot of software development suites ranging from Applesoft
BASIC to comfortable integrated programming environments.

Is developing on 8-bit platforms simply too unsexy? Perhaps,
as using less than true-color 3D graphics with millions of
polygons and pixel shaders in hardware seems way beyond
ancient - it's protozoan in their eyes.

Yes, there are quite a few guys in their thirties here - people
who haven't had a history with the system but who are really
interested to look behind the scenes. The 8-bit platforms are
still viable tools to understand how things work but even if
one had learned enough about it - will one actually make
use of the knowledge by finishing a non-trivial project?

bye
Marcus