Re: DoodlesKids - a painting program for young kids

["Michael J. Mahon" <mjmahon@aol.com>]

limtc wrote:
> I disagreed. This will only open up possibilities, if your logic is
> true, then we don't even need things like Ethernet board because this
> will only be used by tiny corps of software developers.

Consider your own efforts.

If you had such a card and developed programs using its special
modes, then your programs would be usable only to IIgs users who
were willing to purchase the card.

Your maximum audience would be a small fraction of the total
number of IIgs users.

Lots of people have a IIgs (or other Apple II) in a closet, and
might get curious enough to set it up and turn it on, but relatively
few would be willing to spend $100+ to add a card to it to run some
software they have not seen before.

And WRT the Ethernet card, I expect that a relatively small fraction
of IIgs's have them.  Certainly there is very little IIgs software
that requires one.  Most people do their browsing on a modern machine,
and have found good solutions to the problem of moving data from the
Apple II domain to the modern computing domain.  (In fact, I'd guess
that many Apple II users are *glad* that their Apple II's aren't tightly
integrated into their modern computing environment.  ;-)

It is true that any *specialized* card both enables and requires
specialized software development.  That may account for why there
is practically no specialized card development going on!

This is in stark contrast to "upgrade" cards, like accelerators,
hard-disk replacements, or "standard modes to VGA" cards, which
are generally useful without creating new "standards", thereby
splitting the platform.

> On 5锟斤拷29锟斤拷, 锟斤拷锟斤拷3时04锟斤拷, "Michael J. Mahon" <mjma...@aol.com> wrote:
> 
> 
>>The last thing you want to do with a platform with few users is to
>>split the tiny corps of software developers among incompatible
>>alternatives.

-michael

AppleCrate: An Apple II "blade server"!
Home page:  http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/

"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it's seriously underused."