Mac Expert 1995 Winter/Mac Expert - Winter 95.iso/Les fichiers/Tidbits/TidBits 101 à 200/TidBITS#185⁄19-Jul-93

Text File | 1993-07-19 | 28.0 KB | 607 lines | [TEXT/ttxt]

TidBITS#185/19-Jul-93
=====================

Apple layoffs and Microseeds dropping Rival - where will it end?
   Not with the Newton or the PowerPC, that's for sure, and we
   have more details on those two hot topics. Bill Seitz reports
   on PC Expo, Matt Neuburg comments on censorship on the Internet
   in New Zealand, and we take a long look at how the Internet is
   worming its way into government at the level of elected
   officials.

This issue of TidBITS sponsored in part by:
* APS Technologies -- 800/443-4199 -- [e-mail]
   Makers of hard drives, tape drives, memory, and accessories.
   For APS price lists, email: [e-mail]  <-- New!

Copyright 1990-1993 Adam & Tonya Engst. Details at end of issue.
   Automated info: <[e-mail]>. Comments: <[e-mail]>
   ---------------------------------------------------------------

Topics:
    MailBITS/19-Jul-93
    Apple Layoffs
    Centris/Quadra/PowerPC Notes
    MessagePad Trickles In
    Rival Changes Hands
    PC Expo Comments
    Letter from the Antipodes: Censorship on the Internet
    The Internet Goes to Washington
    Reviews/19-Jul-93

[Archived as /info-mac/per/tb/tidbits-185.etx; 29K]


MailBITS/19-Jul-93
------------------
  You probably already noticed our redesign in this issue. Like most
  publications, we spent months in consultation with graphic
  designers and information architects in an attempt to create the
  best possible look for TidBITS. Right, sure, in our spare time.
  Actually, only the top and bottom of the issue have changed. We
  felt that the top of the issue was top-heavy, so we moved all the
  administrative details and the multitude of electronic addresses
  to the bottom where you can find them if you need them.

  For those interested in APS price lists, note that I will mark new
  ones at the top of the issue, so if it doesn't change, assume
  that the price list is exactly the same as the week before.


**DeskWriter owners** who have printers with serial numbers that
  begin with 2936 or lower should get "Free Upgrade Kit No. 02276-
  60106," a sheet that describes how to acquire the free upgrade kit
  mentioned by James Brigman in last week's article about refilling
  DeskWriter cartridges. James also mentioned that the ink he's
  found to work best for refills is Scheaffer Brand "Skrip" ink,
  which costs about $2 at most office supply warehouses. Hewlett-
  Packard -- 800/538-8787


**PowerBook Prices Drop** -- Apple lowered even more prices in a
  drive to increase sales and profits after the $188 million loss in
  the company's third quarter. This time all PowerBooks except the
  Duos received the red tags, with suggested retail prices dropping
  7 to 34 percent. That 34 percent price drop was for the PowerBook
  160 4/40, which fell from $2,429 to $1,609. If you're in the
  market for a PowerBook, make sure your dealer has instituted the
  new prices before you buy. The $188 million loss sounds bad, but
  we find it interesting to note that Apple's third quarter net
  revenues were $1.862 billion, a 7 percent increase over last
  year's third quarter, and Macintosh unit shipments increased 20
  percent over last year's third quarter. Laying off employees is
  expensive, and that's where the loss came from.


**RSI Online** -- Rik Ahlberg <[e-mail]> writes: Just a
  note to let you folks know that there's a new mailing list for
  those looking for information on repetitive stress injuries
  (including carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, occupational
  overuse syndrome, and cumulative trauma disorders), how to deal
  with them, and what resources are available to people living with
  pain.

  The list is open to all those interested in joining and/or
  supporting a support, referral, and information resource for those
  suffering from repetitive strain injuries. Even if you are outside
  of the Boston metro area, please do not hesitate to join the
  group. To join the discussion, send mail to:

    [e-mail]

  Boston-RSI meets regularly at the Boston Computer Society's main
  office in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA, beginning in August.


**BrushStrokes**, or What happened to MacPaint? Claris has
  announced the shipment of BrushStrokes, a $139, 32-bit color,
  painting and image editing package. Two Swedish programmers,
  Christian Holmen and Nicklas Ungman, originally developed
  BrushStrokes for Casady & Greene, from whom Claris acquired
  marketing rights for the Claris Clear Choice label, which
  publishes innovative software from independent developers. Claris
  -- 800/3CLARIS -- 408/727-8227


Apple Layoffs
-------------
  Last week Apple laid off 2,100 employees, 1,100 in Santa Clara,
  500 elsewhere in the U.S., and 500 in other countries. Another 400
  layoffs in other counties are scheduled for the next 12 months.
  The layoffs come as part of a reorganization designed to cut costs
  and make Apple a tighter, more-focussed company, but whatever the
  rationale, it's hard to see so many talented workers, including
  some friends, let go. We at TidBITS wish the best to both those
  leaving Apple and those remaining.

  For those leaving Apple whose talents run toward programming,
  allow us to suggest that an excellent way to create name
  recognition in a competitive job market would be to create high-
  quality shareware. And of course, if you consider the variables
  that make a shareware program a financial success, quality,
  timing, distribution, and a sufficiently good cause, helping an
  out-of-work ex-Apple programmer is distinctly a good cause.


Centris/Quadra/PowerPC Notes
----------------------------
  An alert reader notes in response to our article in TidBITS #182_
  that although the Centris 660av and Quadra 840av, and possibly the
  PowerPCs, will perform voice recognition, record and playback
  CD-quality audio, and work as a v.32bis modem, they most certainly
  will not be able to do all these tasks simultaneously. So forget
  about telling your Mac to interact with communications programs.
  In fact, the only report he had of Casper (voice recognition) on a
  Centris 660av beta machine was not promising; it was apparently
  too slow to be useful. Let's hope that changes with the shipping
  code. And of course, there have been problems with the way the Duo
  and Express Modem work together to replace some of the guts of a
  modem, so emulating a modem may not be a wonderful idea in all
  cases.

  He provided some other interesting details and comments. The
  Centris 660av and Quadra 840av will support 24-bit color with
  sufficient VRAM, just like the Quadra 700, but not the Quadra 800
  or currents models of the Centris.

  In addition, apparently Motorola just announced the low-power
  version of the 68040, so it's likely that we'll see an '040
  PowerBook before the end of the year, and since the low-power
  version of the PowerPC chip won't be out for some time after the
  first 601 chips ship, we're unlikely to see a PowerPC PowerBook
  nearly as soon.


Jonathan Kolodny <[e-mail]> writes:
  Anyone on the verge of buying a new hard drive who might be
  concerned about compatibility with the Power PC (either through
  upgrade or purchase) should consider this advice from Paul McGraw
  of APS:

  "Preliminarily, I understand that standard SCSI drives will work
  in a Power PC, though if I were a betting person, I would probably
  bet on the third-high (1" x 3.5") form factor, rather than what is
  referred to as a "half-height" or 1.65" x 3.5" form factor. Many
  large drive capacities are currently available in this form factor
  - some with spectacular performance numbers - and more are being
  announced each day."

  If you don't need high capacity (yet) you might want to wait three
  to five months when more high-performance drives will be
  available. Keep in mind that a slower drive will negate some of
  that speed advantage that tempted you to buy a Power PC in the
  first place.


MessagePad Trickles In
----------------------
  The first MessagePad details are trickling in from Pythaeus. "What
  is the MessagePad," you ask? Why the first of the Newtons from
  Apple, of course, and they're appearing soon, so pay attention.

  The first units will range in price from $800 to $950, and just
  like Barbie will have a bunch of nifty accessories that cost
  between $20 and $250. Accessories include batteries (alkaline and
  rechargeable), battery packs, chargers of various kinds, carrying
  cases (including spiffy leather ones), connection kits for Mac and
  Windows, fax modems, 1 MB and 2 MB storage cards, battery
  boosters, and some cool software packages. Ken is still sold
  separately. Other details for the curious include:

* Weight: less than one pound,
* Dimensions: 7.5" x 4.5" x .75"
* Screen: 3.5" LCD
* CPU: 20 MHz ARM 610 (a RISC chip)
* Memory: 4 MB ROM, and 640K RAM (hmm, I think I've seen that last
  number somewhere before...)
* Expansion: One PCMCIA slot
* Connectivity: Infrared link, and one RS-422 port
* Pens: Two, one black, one red (just kidding about the colors)

For automated Newton propaganda, call 800-7-NEWTON.

  Information from:
    Pythaeus


Rival Changes Hands
-------------------
  by Mark H. Anbinder, News Editor -- [e-mail]
     Technical Support Coordinator, BAKA Computers

  The authors of the Rival anti-virus utility for Macintosh
  announced last week that Microseeds, Inc. is no longer supporting
  the software. The authors, Frederic Miserey and Jean-Michel
  Decombe, stressed that a new structure is being formed to provide
  distribution and support, and in the meantime, support is still
  available.

  They ask that all registered users provide them with contact info
  (see below). Users who provide an electronic address will receive
  the latest version of Rival (1.2.4) and all vaccines immediately,
  and will be added to a mailing list to receive updates and
  vaccines to handle new viruses, as they appear. (Users whose email
  gateways won't support large files should so indicate when
  contacting the authors.) Bug reports and requests for technical
  support are also welcomed via the addresses below.

    Fred and JMD
    1705 Cowper Street
    Palo Alto, CA 94301

    [e-mail]
    [e-mail]
    [e-mail]
    [e-mail]

  The authors ask that users send a note with name and company name,
  postal and electronic mail addresses, telephone and fax numbers,
  Rival serial number and license specifics (single or multiple user
  vs. site license), and if possible, the version of Rival and
  vaccines already on hand.

  Information from:
    Frederic Miserey -- [e-mail]


PC Expo Comments
----------------
  by Bill Seitz -- [e-mail]

  I attended PC-Expo in New York earlier this month on its first
  morning, since I wanted to hear Chairman Bill's oratory. Am I the
  only one who finds it embarrassing that kick-off presentations for
  major industry conventions are used for mere PR pimping? No grand
  visions, just "here's why my company is better than everyone
  else's company." Gates is hardly unique in this regard - it's a
  tedious invariant. Still, Bill did (inadvertently) make some
  interesting comments. To wit:

* Applications push the operating system to improve. This has
  certainly been the Microsoft synergy game, and is a clear
  admission that there is serious interaction between the two sides
  of the Microsoft empire. It's also just one approach. Consider
  Apple's strategy that the OS pushes the hardware; this justifies
  Apple's unwillingness to license the MacOS to other hardware
  platforms, since it would dilute their control over hardware,
  losing the control over the design and evolution process. It also
  points out how helpful Claris could be to Apple if Claris were a
  more effective organization. Is Claris held back for fear of
  harming the third party developers Apple relies on, or is there
  another explanation for Claris's problems? Some Claris products
  are pretty good, but nothing pushes the envelope other than
  ClarisWorks.

* Operating systems are moving from being application-centric to
  document-centric to eventually object-centric (where an object is
  seen as simply part of a document that can be consistently
  manipulated by a toolset). This is where everyone is going. It's
  just a question of who gets there quickly enough to build
  momentum, and whether the advantages of such a system can be sold
  to the public as added value (witness the oft-repeated banality
  about how "Apple has less justification for their high prices now
  that Windows makes Intel machines almost like Macs"). By the way,
  this comment was in the context of Bill's OLE 2.0 demo, which will
  supposedly be out this year, and which Microsoft will push across
  platforms.

* Applications must internally support workgroup coordination. By
  this Bill meant they must support the delegation of updating
  pieces of a given document. This sounds to me like something that
  should be part of the object-centric OS.

* Cross-application, and maybe cross-platform scripting languages
  will become increasingly important, as OS objects can be hooked
  together with greater ease. This may not be called application
  development, but at least can be considered application
  customization, and must be viable at least for power users. Visual
  Basic will be coming to the Mac in all Microsoft applications next
  year. [And will compete with AppleScript, Frontier, and a host of
  other scripting languages that are rumored to arrive soon, all
  compliant with Apple's Open Scripting Architecture. -Adam]

* Applications must provide intelligent assistance (agents,
  wizards) to help users with complex tasks.

  Two other Microsoft notes of interest. First, Access (their
  Windows database) was mentioned only once in the entire
  presentation. Microsoft used Excel for a lot of user applications
  that seemed to me more natural as database applications. Second,
  when one of Bill's lieutenants, in demoing Visual Basic, asked how
  many people use Visual Basic, he got more blank looks than cheers.
  This may be a giant reality check for user programming, despite
  the kudos it has received in the PC trade press.

  The busiest booths seemed to be WordPerfect with their new DOS
  version coming out (ooh, the PC world is so exciting!), Corel, and
  Apple (for its Newton demo area). Prize for emptiest big booth
  goes to Claris.

  Multimedia was one of the Expo's running themes and had its own
  area (granted, it was the dungeon room). This theme seemed driven
  largely by New Media magazine, which had sponsored the InMedia
  awards for best interactive products. There were a number of
  machines set up with vendors like Newsweek Interactive and
  Nautilus. Multimedia still looks like an exciting area, but one
  with serious pitfalls. Newsweek, for instance, provided still
  photos and videos for the two stories specifically created for
  each issue, but only gives you the text of articles for the paper
  edition's back issues on the disk, and all because they haven't
  bought the electronic rights to the photos they print!

  Another theme was clearly the PDA ruckus, what with Casio's
  Zoomer, Apple's Newton, Sharp's Wizard/Newton, and AT&T's EO. They
  all try to depend on handwriting recognition, but I was
  unimpressed by the accuracy of any of the systems; they all added
  support of an onscreen keyboard as a backup. All these booths
  interested passersby (especially Apple's), but that doesn't mean
  that a huge yawn won't follow the product introductions (or more
  likely, loud gasps as people see the price tags). I see the Mac
  market as being the most open to this, as we are already the most
  involved in open communications systems (email, file sharing,
  etc.). Given their size, the units will be the most expensive
  DayTimers in existence if they can't easily tie into desktop
  systems. This requires not only hardware and OS support for moving
  info, but application support for import, export, and
  synchronization of data.


Macintosh LC 520
  Along with a PowerPC beta in the skin of a Centris 610, Apple
  showed the new Macintosh LC 520 at PC Expo. Thanks to
  <[e-mail]> for this information. The LC 520
  (ironically using the same number as the old Atari 520 ST) is
  essentially an LC III with two internal front mounted speakers, an
  internal AppleCD 300i and an integral 14-inch color monitor (640 x
  480 in 16-bit color). It looks like a Color Classic on steroids.
  One interesting feature is that this is an Energy Star computer,
  so its power consumption is reduced up to 50 percent. Don't get
  too enthused about buying one yet, though, since they're aimed at
  the education market last I heard.


Letter from the Antipodes: Censorship on the Internet
-----------------------------------------------------
  by Matt Neuburg -- [e-mail]

  About a week ago, system administrators at the Computer Center at
  the University of Canterbury, in Christchurch, New Zealand,
  removed from the list of available Usenet newsgroups all those
  beginning with "alt.sex", and perhaps others believed to contain
  pornographic material. Since this computer is the distribution
  point for Usenet news for the entire South Island, these
  newsgroups are no longer available to users in that half of the
  country. (If they have a friend in the North Island, though, I
  presume there's nothing to stop the sending of an email message
  containing extracts from these newsgroups, which are still
  available there.)

  This move made the media news, but did not raise the automatic hue
  and cry over "repression of free speech" that it might have in the
  United States. New Zealand has no written constitution at all, let
  alone one where the notion of free speech has been enshrined for
  two centuries; the concept of freedom of speech and other notions
  familiar to Americans were only guaranteed in law three years ago,
  and even then in an ordinary statute not considered to have
  ascendancy over other statutes. In this case, the system
  administrators were, they said, simply bringing themselves into
  compliance with a law against the distribution of pornography.

  My own view of these events is unimportant and probably
  inaccurate. As an American, just two years a stranger in this
  strange land, I don't know much except a lot happens here that I
  don't understand. Personally, I had never noticed these newsgroups
  (honest!), and despite my knee-jerk '60s liberalism, tend to
  applaud a system which can at least try to do something about
  pornography, unlike the U.S. which, in one view at least, becomes
  enmired in its own rhetoric while things get worse. But I rather
  think that the lesson is clear. The Internet feels like a free
  unimpeded flow of information, but in fact its packets must be
  relayed by nodes, where anything can happen, and there are no
  envelopes to steam open. Neither the University of Canterbury nor,
  as far as I know, anyone else, has plans to check my email to see
  if it contains words like "sex" or "communist." But that, as this
  incident seems to show, is a contingent fact, not a law of the
  universe. Let's stay awake: there are going to be big issues to be
  decided one of these days.


The Internet Goes to Washington
-------------------------------
  As the Internet grows and brings more people online, those of us
  online become curious about who is available on the Internet.
  Services for finding specific people have never impressed me, so
  public announcements and word of mouth are still the best way to
  get in touch with someone famous who has appeared on the nets.
  Luckily this has been happening a lot recently.

  Of course, the most publicized Internet arrival is that of the
  President and Vice President of the United States, Bill Clinton
  and Al Gore. To increase communication with the White House, the
  Clinton administration has set up an Internet site,
  whitehouse.gov, along with addresses for both Clinton and Gore
  (listed below).

  Now, it's a good bet that neither of them reads the email sent to
  those accounts. I have trouble keeping up with the my own email,
  and that's only in the range of 30 to 70 messages a day. When you
  consider the hundreds if not thousands of messages that must pour
  in every day, I'd rather not have the leaders of the country
  spending their time reading email, and heaven forbid, becoming
  Usenet junkies or spending hours trying to create a saxophone with
  ASCII graphics.

  For the moment, the staff will merely track how many messages are
  received, along with the subjects of the messages. Receipts will
  be sent, but they won't be tailored to your specific message for
  the time being. The White House staff have made that a goal for
  the end of the year, and rumor has it that they have commissioned
  MIT to create software with a sufficient level of artificial
  intelligence that it can reply to the incoming messages. Could be
  interesting.

    Bill Clinton -- [e-mail]
    Al Gore -- [e-mail]


House of Representatives
  In an effort not to be shown up, the House of Representatives (the
  second and larger body of the bicameral American Congress, for
  readers unfamiliar with the U.S. governmental system) announced a
  pilot program to provide email access to a small number of the
  representatives. Representatives taking part in the pilot program
  include (followed by their state abbreviation and district): Jay
  Dickey (AR-07), Sam Gejdenson (CT-02), Newt Gingrich (GA-06),
  George Miller (CA-07), Charlie Rose (NC-07), Fortney Pete Stark
  (CA-13), and Melvin Watt (NC-12). Gee, I wonder why Jesse Helms
  isn't included.

  Unfortunately, the House program suffers from the close-mindedness
  that comes from believing arbitrary boundaries have inherent
  meaning, especially in terms of the political patchwork method of
  defining districts these days. For the moment, if you wish to
  communicate with your representative via the Internet, you must
  first send a snail mail postcard to your representative's office,
  including on it your Internet email address along with your name
  and snail mail address. The press release says, "This process will
  allow Members to identify an electronic mail user as his or her
  constituent." This bothers me, if only because I strongly suspect
  that special interest lobbying groups can gain access to
  representatives whether or not they happen to be from the proper
  district in the proper state. The point of the Internet is not to
  restrict the flow of communication.

  Once they've figured out how the pilot program works, they plan to
  make any necessary modifications and then open it up to other
  members of the House of Representatives who wish to participate.
  All in all, it feels half-hearted. I could be wrong, and I hope I
  am, but the entire program smells of something dreamed up by
  people who don't have a clue what the Internet is all about.

  To receive more information on this program, send email to:

    [e-mail]

  (Which, by the way, is a strange use of the domain addressing
  system. Something like [e-mail] would make more
  sense in a meaningful hierarchical domain system.)

  You can send comments about the service to:

    [e-mail]


Online Congressional Hearing
  More promising than the pilot program is the announcement of the
  first Congressional Hearing to be held over a computer network.
  Appropriately enough, the hearing is on "The Role of Government in
  Cyberspace" and will physically take place on 26-Jul-93 in the
  Grand Ballroom of the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The
  hearing and an open house later that day are open to the public,
  but more interestingly, the hearing is open to the Internet at
  large.

  The Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance will use 30
  SPARCstations in the hearing room to allow everyone present to use
  email, Gopher, the WAIS, and the World Wide Web for research into
  the topics at hand. I hope everything is up and working that day!
  Some witnesses will testify remotely, sending audio and video over
  the Internet.

  This is a chance to get your ideas into the public record, since
  an email address has been established for anyone on the Internet
  to use before and during the hearing. If you have ideas or
  comments on the role of government in the Information Age, send
  them to the address below. Topics you might address include:

* Should government make public data available for free on the
  Internet?
* Who should pay to build and maintain the Internet?
* How should the Internet be used in the daily workings of the
  government?
* How would you use the Internet to communicate with the
  government?
* Should the FBI, CIA, and NSA keep their prying fingers away from
  the Internet? (OK, so that 's begging the question.)
* And I'm sure you can think of plenty of other related topics.

  The important thing to realize is that we of the Internet
  community have to let the U.S. Congress know that millions of us
  care about the Internet. It's not enough to complain every time
  some new method of taxing modem users or selling off the Internet
  comes around. For many of us, the Internet is an integral part of
  our lives and livelihoods, and we must convey that sense of
  importance.

  I'll admit my bias. I want the Internet to be recognized as a
  community in its own right, on an equal footing with all the
  communities made up by arbitrary geographical or political
  boundaries. Perhaps for the first time in the history of the
  world, people have come together in a community based on mutual
  intellectual need without concern for race, sex, religion, or
  location (for the moment we'll conveniently ignore the wealth, but
  more and more projects such as the Seattle Public Library's public
  terminals are making the Internet available to those who can't
  afford computers). I'll argue that just as physical communities of
  people are considered worth preserving, protecting, maintaining,
  and funding, so is the virtual community of the Internet.

  Send any comments, suggestions, and opinions (no flames, please,
  remember that we're trying to paint a positive picture of the
  Internet) to:

    [e-mail]

  I gather that you won't necessarily get a response from this
  address, but another address has been set up where you can
  communicate with a human about the hearing. To talk to that person
  about the hearing, send email to:

    [e-mail]

  And to give credit where credit is due, support for this event
  comes from Sun Microsystems, O'Reilly & Associates, UUNET
  Technologies, ARPA, BBN Communications, the National Press Club,
  Xerox PARC, and many others. And hey, if anyone goes to this event
  and wants to write an article on what happens, let me know.

  Information from:
    U.S. Government propaganda


Reviews/19-Jul-93
-----------------

* MacWEEK -- 12-Jul-93, Vol. 7, #28
    AOCE -- pg. 44
    Acrobat Exchange 1.0 -- pg. 54
    PowerBook 180c -- pg. 54
    3-D Type Programs -- pg. 60
      Typestry 1.1
      StrataType 3d 2.0


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