Re: IIGS and StyleWriter II

[phs172m@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au (Stephen Harker)]

In article <kk72726@pro-applebcs.cts.com>, efr@pro-applebcs.cts.com (Ernest Roshier) writes:
> You guys are still missing the point.  The Apple II Line is ""DEAD"" Take a
> look over at the Macs, just this year alone, Apple has discontinued at
> least 10 Mac models. At least they all used the same system.  But parts,
> up-grades, etc., are hard to come by for Mac models sold just a few years
> ago. Many of the Macs can not be up-graded at all. There is no way Apple is
> going to spend money on the IIGS line, Apple II's are ""DEAD"" It is a
> great system, but Apple has moved on to a different system and marketing.
> Next year they will be selling the Apple-Power PC's, and much of what they
> are selling in Mac's today will also bit the dust for the new dual system.

	I think _you_ are missing the point.  If you are using your
computer as a tool then the main criterion is whether it does the jobs
you need.  For me there is nothing I regard as significant that I
cannot do with my GS.  The only possible question is that I write
documents using LaTeX which is not ported to the GS, and you can get
PC and Mac versions of it.  However I can write files at home and do
the formatting on UNIX or VMS machines I have access to, and this
seems adequate.  Why should anyone spend money keeping at the
forefront of the technology if they don't derive a real benefit from
it?  I know people who do, because their business finds it useful, but
relatively few individual users would gain much from such a policy.

	One of the nice things about an Apple II, including the GS, is
that it is pretty easy to keep it in service.  There are relatively
few variations in the machines, a lot of parts are freely available,
and it is often easy to work on the machine itself.  The proliferation
of Macs with their increasingly complex, and different, custom chips
mean this is much more of a problem.

	As others have said: if you want power you would be better off
buying a MS-DOS machine.  You get more power for your money that way! 
Ultimately each person must decide _whether_ there is a good reason
for them to upgrade their machine.  I don't think having the latest
machine on the block is a good reason, but then I am not rolling in
cash!

-- 
Stephen Harker			was phs172m@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au
ex Monash University		now sjh@phadfa.ph.adfa.edu.au
now ADFA (Canberra)		Baloney baffles brains: Eric Frank Russell