Re: Is there a version of Lynx for the Apple II/IIGS?

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

Joe <joko@NoMoreSpam.net.invalid> wrote:

>>Why there is no Lynx is because there is not enough interest in
>>those who have the skills to program it.
> 
>And then, ask yourself, why do those with the programming skills not have
>enough interest?
> 
>Maybe it has something to do with the fact that next-to-no-one is
>purchasing the software that is already available...
> 
>Go ahead; prove me wrong! I wish you would...

Joe, you are absolutely correct.  And I was here during the
era of the super-flame-wars so I know where you are going
with this.

However, let me point out that, before I go back to your
point, there is an even more powerful cause to why there
is not enough interest.  The age of the Apple IIGS has
passed.  Yes, it is a painful truth but the fact is there
are not enough people using the IIGS that are truly
interested in maximizing the capabilities of the computer.
Most new IIGS users are more like collectors of a
novelty item.

To get back to you point, it is true that just like in the
PC world in the Apple IIGS world the proliferation of
copies of software that the user did not purchase a
license for had a large impact on the continued viability
of the market.  I would venture to say that it had a
MUCH bigger impact than in the PC world simply
because the market was so much smaller by the
time period in question (the time of the Second Sight
card).  That said, I still believe that even if the DMCA
were in full force during that time and the feds busted
all those "IIGS memory lane archives" or whatever
they called them the IIGS market would still have
died.

I did not want to face it for a long time.  In fact, I
sunk a lot of money into my IIGS.  Probably more
than any one PC I ever owned.  Some of the software
was great, but others showed the signs of being beta
software sold to end users.  I even bought a Second
Sight card only to find that it was also really a beta
product.

So there you have it.  SIS/Marinetti vs. Lynx, the
former had the possibility of becomming a clone of
the latter but it never happened because there was
not enough interest.  If the DMCA were in effect,
the life of the IIGS market may have been extended
a bit but still, it would have ended.  The only period
of time where SIS/Marinetti had a chance of
evolving into Lynx was during the golden era of the
IIGS market when Apple still threw resources at
the computer even if it were just a bone compared
to what they sunk into the Mac.  Back then, real
software like AppleWorks GS was possible.
AWGS was the best piece of software I ever
purchased for my IIGS.  I know in the dying days
of the IIGS, the freelance programmers liked to
joke about it but which one of them could produce
what Claris/Apple produced?  The only real problem
of AWGS was that it was written with the IIGS'
potential unquestioned.  That's why to use it to its
full potential required an accelerator, Pointless
(a Truetype font engine), 4-8MB of RAM, and an
ink-jet or laser printer.

Joe, you and I old timers know that this was what
the IIGS was really built for but most of the newer
IIGS users would just laugh at us and ask why,
never knowing that the IIGS was in its own way one
of the best personal computers of all time.  THAT
is also one of the principle reasons.