Commentary: I Hate to Leave Like This

[eaiu184@rigel.oac.uci.edu (Jimmy Shaw)]

I just want to get a few things off my chest, so if you are
short on time, or don't like pointless babbles, press "n"
(or any other key that will skip this message) now...

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I am primarily responding to a few emails that I got in regard
to the recent posting I made to comp.sys.apple2.marketplace.
In that post, I posted some games titles that I am selling.

A few of the mailers complained about the "high" price for
those GS specific (with the exception of Star Saga: One) games:
they were on the average $15 per game.

A few were offended that I would be abandoning the GS (in reference
to my .signature file,) and they weren't shy about letting me know
what a brainless and gutless traitor I have become.

Instead of responding to them in person (and to discourage
further Jimmy-bashing,) I'd like to make a few comments.

On the pricing of my games:

   If my prices are too high, then shop elsewhere.  I am not
forcing anyone to buy these games.  Face it, these games are
luxury items, not necessities.  It's not like I am running the
only supermarket in town and charging $100 for a dozen of eggs.

   Another thing, it hasn't been easy for me to part with these
games.  They have become more than just a collection of paper,
plastic, and disks.  They are a part of my memories, of fun &
frustrating times while playing, etc.  I price these games at
an amount that is "fair" to the buyer and to myself.  How do you
put a price on pleasant experiences and memories?  In an ideal 
world, I would have enough money to buy the 486 and still keep
these games.  In an IDEAL world, I would not have to move away 
from the Apple IIgs platform AT ALL!  Which leads me into my
second thought...

On leaving the GS and getting a 486 PC.

I never imagined myself as an owner of an intel based cpu.  NEVER.  
I also thought of myself as a die-hard Apple II user.  Started
with my IIe back in 1983, and the GS in 1988.  I used to laugh at
clones and clone users.  Sure, I bought into the fantasy: Apple II
Forever!

I'd be a liar if I said I am not excited about getting the few
remaining components to my 486.  (and in the anal tradition of all
clone users, let me tell you exactly what I have:

   Amd486DX-40 (this sucker is better than intel's 486DX-33), on
a VLB/ISA motherboard, with 16 megs of RAM.  An Orchid Fahrenheit
1280+ VLB graphics card capable of 1280x1024, and 16.8 million
colors (though not at the max resolution.)  A Western Digital
340 meg HD, dual high density floppy drives, a Pro Audio Spectrum-16
sound card, and a 15" SVGA monitor.

   And since I am putting my own system together, the whole thing
will only cost around $2000, (which, incidentally, is about how
much I paid for my GS back in 1988.)

   And to top it all off, I will be running IBM's amazing OS:
OS/2 2.1. 

The hardware alone is something the GS will and could never match.
Not this late in the game.  Maybe if GS+ was released a couple of
years back.  But not now.  And the potential (and promise) of what
OS/2 can do is greater than DOS/Windoze/NT/Cairo/Chicago or 
anything Microsoft could ever conceive.


The day I realized that I need to move on is the day it struck 
me that I am still using an 8-bit program (albeit one of the
most productive program I have encountered so far,) Appleworks 3.0
to write my papers.  That after all these years, there still isn't
a decent word processor (NOT text editor) for the GS: real margins,
multiple spacings, spell-checker, thesaurus, foot-notes, etc.  I
am an English and political science double major, and writing 
(or bull-sh*tting) papers IS a large part of my academic life.  
AppleWorks GS v1.1 doesn't do it.  WordPerfect GS doesn't do it.
ShadowWrite and EgoEd, the same.  (Yes, I know about the TextEdit
not allowing multiple spacing, etc.)  I am in no way insulting or
degrading the wonderful efforts of GS programmers.  Face it, they
have to overcome a lot.

On simple DTP projects, like creating a flyer: I have (or actually,
HAD GraphicWriter III v1.1, sold it awhile back) GraphicWriter III.
I know how to use it, and I can get great results from GWIII and
DeskJet 500.  So what's the problem?  The problem is the amount of
effort that goes into producing something that is halfway decent.
It should have to be this hard to be productive.  I am tired of the
640x200 resolution.  This won't do for DTP, not even for simple ones.

And what about "consumer" technologies like CD-ROM?  Yes, I know
about DiscQuest from Sequential Systems (I applaud Jawaid and
others at Procyon and Seq. Sys.)  But still, the same limitation:
mostly hardware.  GS programmers have a way of working magic.
(And don't bring up TurboRez GS as the savior of the GS.  I'll
personally come over and hit you with a rubber hose.)
And what about games like X-Wing, Wolfenstein 3D, and DOOM?  Think
they'll ever be ported for the GS?

I am not a programmer; but I enjoy messing and hacking with
hardware and new technologies and goodies.  That is one of the
reasons why I bought an Apple IIe, then the GS, in the first place.
But now all the fun is elsewhere.  

[Sheesh, this rambling has gone on longer than I expected, like
all ramblings do.  Wrap up time.]

Moving away from the GS isn't easy for me.  I've been with the GS
and the II BBS community for a long time, and have made some
great friends.  And yes, the GS is superior in many ways: I still
can't believe, after listening to the wonderful sounds and music
from the ensoniq chip, I have to downgrade to FM based sound card
like the PAS-16!

I am still keeping the GS, mostly as a bare-bone unit; all the
goodies have been sold.  I can't imagine actually selling the 
GS; the ZipGSX, yes, the digitizer, yes, the various software, 
yes, but not the GS itself.

[wrapping up even as we speak.]

In short, I would like to leave the Apple II world with pleasant
memories, and not with the angry words of a few people.  Ian
Schmidt wished me well when I told him I was leaving, "Good
Luck," he wrote, "and have fun!"  Isn't that what computing
and BBSing is about?


Good luck and have fun!

Jimmy

P.S. to those who have responded positively to my ad: I wrote
you back with detailed info on the address, pricing, etc.
--
Jimmy Shaw		    RamFast, (ZipGSX-less), and System 6...Apple II
eaiu184@orion.oac.uci.edu   Forever! (But I am getting a 486 anyway.)
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