Mac Expert 1995 Winter/Mac Expert - Winter 95.iso/Les fichiers/Tidbits/Tidbits 201 à 280/TidBITS#218⁄21-Mar-94

Text File | 1994-03-21 | 29.2 KB | 587 lines | [TEXT/ttxt]

TidBITS#218/21-Mar-94
=====================

Novell buys WordPerfect? Yup, and the big news had been the Aldus
   and Adobe merger, which they managed to keep secret the day of
   the Power Macintosh intro. We also look briefly at General
   Magic and grumble about insulting book titles. Mark Anbinder
   reviews Silicon Casino, a Newton game from Casady & Greene, and
   Doc Kinne examines the MessagePad 110, the MessagePad's sequel.

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 1990-1994 Adam & Tonya Engst. Details at end of issue.
   Automated info: <[e-mail]> Comments: <[e-mail]>
   --------------------------------------------------------------

Topics:
    MailBITS/21-Mar-94
    Adobe + Aldus = Adobus?
    What, More Money?
    Just Some General Magic
    An Article for Morons
    The "FatNewt": The MessagePad Scribbles On!
    Reviews/21-Mar-94

[Archived as /info-mac/per/tb/tidbits-218.etx; 30K]


MailBITS/21-Mar-94
------------------
  The late-breaking news that we've had no time to digest is that
  today Novell purchased WordPerfect for a whopping $1.4 billion in
  stock, creating one of the world's largest software companies.
  Wow.

  In the wake of the Power Macintosh introduction, a friend at Apple
  wrote to tell us that the company had a Friday beer bash, the
  first in many weeks, and that the bash was sponsored by IBM and
  Motorola. Who would have imagined that one day IBM would sponsor
  Apple parties?


**Apologies** to Graphisoft Software and Graphsoft, Inc., the
  publishers of ArchiCAD and MiniCAD, respectively. In our "Power
  Macintosh Nativeware" article in TidBITS #217_ we incorrectly
  listed both products as being from Graphisoft. Mark pleads our
  readers' and the companies' forgiveness; he was reading from a
  blurry photocopy of a fax while compiling his list! Thanks to an
  attentive Vittorio Dell'Aiuto <[e-mail]> for living up to
  his name (which means "help" in Italian) and helping us out!


**John Baxter** <[e-mail]> writes:
  I've been running my Power Macintosh 8100/80 since setting it up
  Thursday. My general impression is that everything is fast, but
  since I'm comparing the new machine with my unaccelerated
  Macintosh IIci, that's not surprising. What is surprising is that
  Eudora grabs mail much faster over my 14,400 bps modem connection
  using MacPPP. I had assumed that the modem connection was the
  bottleneck, and it probably is now.

  I've found only one conflict so far on the Power Macintosh. I back
  up using Retrospect 2.0Bi (which came bundled with my DAT drive).
  Retrospect freezes several minutes into a backup run if Virtual
  Memory is active. I have destroyed two storage sets that way,
  although I've since rebuilt them. Retrospect seems perfectly happy
  with Virtual Memory turned off, whether or not the Power Mac's
  Modern Memory Manager is turned on. [We weren't able to discuss
  this with Dantz before deadline but felt that it was worth warning
  people to prevent backup problems during this week. We hope to
  have more next issue. Also note that Dantz is working on a
  PowerPC-native version of Retrospect that will undoubtedly fix any
  such problems. -Adam]


**Dave Peltier** <[e-mail]> wrote to tell us that the
  AudioVision adapter cable, necessary to connect a standard Mac
  monitor cable to a Power Mac's HDI-45 video port, is not included
  with every Power Mac as we stated in TidBITS #217_. Some checking
  has revealed that the adapter is included with the Power Macintosh
  6100, since that machine has _only_ the single HDI-45 AudioVision
  video port. The 7100 and 8100 models' bundled video card offers a
  standard DB-15 video port, so the adapter is unnecessary for most
  users.


**Erik Speckman** <[e-mail]> writes:
  In TidBITS #217_ Mark Anbinder asserts that, instead of advancing
  the PowerPC architecture, the MPC 603 brings the PowerPC to low
  cost and low power applications.

  This is only half right. The 603 advances the architecture by
  implementing separate instruction and data caches. It also
  implements a separate load/store unit, so that memory operations
  can execute in parallel with integer, floating point, and branch
  instructions. The 603 may not be the fastest member of the family
  but I think it looks more like the future of PowerPC than the 601
  does.


**Don Pickens** <[e-mail]>, Product
  Manager for Word for the Macintosh, writes:

  In reply to TidBITS #217_ on the Power Macintosh launch and
  Microsoft's participation:

  At the Power Macintosh launch on March 14, Microsoft showed a very
  powerful demonstration of a solution built in AppleScript using
  support of AppleScript in the new versions of Word, Microsoft
  Excel and FoxPro. Clearly, this is a Mac-specific capability. The
  applications being demonstrated were in fact running on the Power
  Macintosh and Macintosh, and hence should remove doubt from
  customers' minds about the progress we're making toward shipping
  these applications this summer. And although we weren't able to
  ship by March 14, this is because rather than just porting our
  current applications to Power Macintosh, Microsoft is developing a
  whole new generation of applications for both the Mac and Power
  Mac. Our plans to ship new versions the five products we announced
  (Microsoft Excel, Word, FoxPro, Works and Office) actually
  demonstrates a stronger level of long term commitment. And, the
  minimal demo time we had didn't allow us to restate or show our
  already announced support for PowerTalk, QuickDraw GX and other
  Apple technologies. Although most of the features demonstrated are
  available in the Windows versions of our products, compatibility
  across platforms without requiring file conversions has become a
  prerequisite not only to the majority of our customers who share
  files with users of other platforms, but also to over two-thirds
  of Apple's top customers, as cited in MacWEEK in a January 1994
  survey.


**Jamie McCarthy** <[e-mail]> writes:
  I just ordered a pair of the Yamaha YST-M10 speakers that Craig
  O'Donnell mentioned in TidBITS #216_. The YST series is Yamaha's
  part number for its cables; the first two dealers I talked to were
  puzzled by that. When I mentioned that I'd read about it in a
  computer magazine, they guessed correctly that the YST-M10 is a
  special model for computers that comes with the right cable.
  Dealers without the latest catalogs from Yamaha might not know
  this.

  More interestingly, I found the speakers advertised in CDW's
  catalog (part number CDW 33070) for $89, but they'd lowered the
  price to $69 plus shipping, which is $30 lower than the next-
  lowest advertised price that I found. CDW -- 800/906-4CDW


**Kyle** <[e-mail]> writes to tell us that MEI/Micro
  Center now sells refill kits for HP DeskWriter printer cartridges.
  It seems that they have figured out how to refill both the
  original DeskWriter cartridges and the new high-capacity ones,
  which were previously thought to be good for only one use. I'd
  recommend calling and checking to make sure you get the right kit
  for your printer (or you can just ask for a catalog). The kits
  cost $11.99 each, or $10.99 for two or more, with $0.50 shipping
  for each one. MEI/Micro Center notes: "APO's, FPO's, and Canada
  add $4.00 additional for shipping. Orders shipped to AK, HI, VI,
  GU and PR, please call Customer Service (toll-free 800/634-3478).
  We cannot ship orders outside of the U.S. and Canada." Apologies
  to our overseas readers. MEI/Micro Center -- 800/634-3478 --
  614/486-6417 (fax)


Adobe + Aldus = Adobus?
-----------------------
  In the shocking news of the week, two of the 600 pound gorilla
  companies of the Macintosh market announced a plan to merge.
  That's right, Aldus and Adobe agreed to become one and the same,
  dependent on the agreement of the shareholders at meetings in
  July. What with all the mergers failing these days, there's room
  for this one to fall through as well, and the merger is subject to
  numerous conditions, with each company paying a break-up fee if
  those conditions aren't met. Talk about a pre-nuptial agreement!

  The company that emerges from the combination will be worth more
  than $500 million, and there was some fabulous corporate-speak
  about how the merger would take place. John Warnock, CEO of Adobe
  and future CEO of the new company, said it best with, "We are
  committed to achieving the cost savings necessary to make this
  transaction non-dilutive in the first full year of the combined
  operations." Hmm?

  Chuck Geschke, president of Adobe, will retain his post at the new
  company, and Paul Brainerd, CEO of Aldus, will serve on the board
  of the new company. The propaganda claimed that the new company
  would maintain existing Adobe and Aldus facilities in Mountain
  View, California and in Seattle, Washington. It also claimed that
  all major products from both Adobe and Aldus would continue to be
  marketed and supported.

  The press release contained the usual platitudes about how the
  merger makes sense technologically and financially, but some
  questions do arise. Perhaps the most interesting question concerns
  FreeHand and Illustrator, two leading PostScript design and
  illustration programs. Although Deneba's Canvas sort of fits into
  the same category, most graphic designers I know use FreeHand or
  Illustrator, or both, depending on the job at hand. The new
  company may find it difficult to market two such closely competing
  programs without in some way differentiating them. The companies
  have also used competition to push advances in interface and
  features, each attempting to leapfrog the other. Will that
  disappear once they're on the same side? And how will Aldus's
  other two graphics programs, SuperPaint and the extremely neat
  IntelliDraw, fare after the merger?

  The other question the merger raises relates to Aldus's other
  major competitor, Quark. Although PageMaker and QuarkXPress both
  have adherents, QuarkXPress has apparently done extremely well in
  taking market share from PageMaker over the years, resulting in a
  program of choice for many high-end publishers. (And please, no
  PageMaker versus QuarkXPress arguments!) How might the merger
  affect competition with Quark? Might it suddenly become easier to
  work with Illustrator and Photoshop files in PageMaker? Will Quark
  react to the merger in any way?

  On a more general note, the rash of mergers concerns me, what with
  Aldus and Adobe merging, Electronic Arts and Broderbund merging,
  and Symantec buying any utility developer that moves (rumors in
  MacWEEK put Central Point Software next on Symantec's acquisition
  list, which isn't surprising since Symantec bought Norton and
  combined the best of Norton and Symantec Utilities for Macintosh,
  so why not add in the best of MacTools as well?). I don't like the
  feel of these mega-mergers. Perhaps that's my bias toward the
  small developer who can come up with something that would never
  see the light of day at a large company because it doesn't fit
  into a strategic direction. Or perhaps I like to see competition,
  and it's hard to have much competition when game has only a few
  players. Or, maybe the computer industry is starting to feel like
  major league baseball, in which millionaire players and
  millionaire owners whine about how they're not making enough money
  and get no sympathy from anyone. There just aren't as many
  companies to root for as there used to be.


What, More Money?
-----------------
  by Mark H. Anbinder, News Editor -- [e-mail]
     Director of Technical Services, Baka Industries Inc.

  Early Newton technology adopters have paid quite a bit of money
  for the distinction of owning a Newton. The opportunity to spend
  more money seems a scary one! Not this time; Casady & Greene's
  Silicon Casino software lets Newton owners win or lose "fake
  money" (and even borrow more as needed) through a series of fun
  casino-style games.

  "Silicon Casino," which works just fine on the new MessagePad 110
  as well as the MessagePad 100 and, for lack of a better name,
  "MessagePad Classic," includes blackjack, baccarat, craps, poker,
  and slot machines in its gaming room, which is conveniently laid
  out around the MessagePad screen. When the user selects a
  particular game, the display switches to a closer view.

  The graphics are naturally neither as colorful nor as detailed as
  some Macintosh casino or card software, because of the small,
  monochrome MessagePad screen. For users in need of a quick
  diversion, though, the fancy graphics won't be missed.

  Despite the relatively simple graphics, this is a complex program.
  It includes lots of sound (which can be disabled at the user's
  option) and clear explanations of each game's rules. As a result,
  the program takes up almost 600K of user memory space, and won't
  fit in a MessagePad without an extra PCMCIA RAM card. (Not even
  the MessagePad 110 has that much available user space.) The
  package includes both Macintosh and DOS formatted floppies, from
  which users may download the program to their Newton using the Mac
  or Windows Newton Connection Kit or the free Newton Package
  Downloader.

  Silicon Casino takes advantage of the Newton user interface,
  allowing the user to drag coins and cards about with the stylus,
  but allows shortcuts in many situations for those who tire of the
  clever dragging metaphor.

  Just as a MessagePad is a one-user device, Silicon Casino is
  designed to be a one-player game. Once you start playing, you can
  never "start over" with no debt and a good chunk of money. If you
  fall behind, you must borrow money to bankroll yourself until
  you're back on your feet.

  The single-user philosophy explains Casady & Greene's copy
  protection as well. The company explains that it has tried to
  protect its software from piracy in as unobtrusive a manner as
  possible, and we believe they've succeeded. Users must enter the
  software's serial number the first time they run the program on a
  given MessagePad, and never need to again, if they use it on the
  same MessagePad. Fair enough.

  Silicon Casino is available through Apple's StarCore distribution
  group, and retails for $59.95.

  Information from:
    Casady & Greene -- 800/359-4920 -- 408/494-9228 --
      [e-mail]


Just Some General Magic
-----------------------
  I attended a talk by General Magic's CEO, Marc Porat, a few weeks
  back, and although I'm not sure I've fully assimilated everything
  he said, I came away with one important realization - General
  Magic has the right idea. Their focus is on people, not
  technogizmos, an idea that far too few developers understand. Marc
  said that General Magic's design axiom is "Never do anything to
  damage the self-esteem of the customer." If you're a developer,
  please repeat that statement a few time every night before you go
  to bed.

  The same applies to the Internet, which is one of the reasons I
  constantly push for SLIP or PPP access - I won't pretend that the
  current graphical interfaces to the Internet are ideal, but they
  sure beat the more-powerful Unix programs in terms of making it
  possible for people to interact on the Internet without damaging
  self-esteem.

  I don't want to say too much about General Magic, in large part
  because although they've announced their two main technologies,
  Magic Cap and Telescript, there's nothing but smoke and mirrors
  for likes of me to see. In short then, Magic Cap is an operating
  environment that presents a virtual world that maps more directly
  to the real world. That's a mediocre description, but until I can
  play with it, it's the best I can do. Conversations with others
  indicate that the interface, although it looks cartoonish and
  oriented to the novice, is quite deep. A friend told me how you
  can jump directly to any place within the world (in other words,
  you need not map real-world travel time into the virtual world)
  and how you can completely customize the environment. Those
  features will appeal to current sophisticated users. Young novice
  users (say, under 25) might not think of it in the same way, but
  having grown up with video games from the Atari 2600 to Nintendo
  and Sega, the concept of acting within a virtual world should be
  simple. The people I fear might have trouble with the Magic Cap
  interface are members of the generation that predates video games
  and who also haven't used computers. I'm not saying that Magic Cap
  will be harder than anything else, and in fact it will probably be
  easier, but the world view necessary for certain types of human-
  computer interactions simply won't exist for those people. Oh, and
  yes, there will be a version of Magic Cap for the Macintosh,
  although Apple has apparently grown a bit distant from General
  Magic because of the Newton, which doesn't use Magic Cap and which
  will compete with the personal intelligent communicators from
  General Magic partners such as Sony, Phillips, and Matsushita.

  Telescript is more obvious, more necessary and less likely to
  succeed than Magic Cap. Like PostScript, Telescript is a language,
  but more importantly, it's an agent technology that enables
  intelligent agents to roam the networks seeking to fulfill your
  requests, which might range from a simple piece of information
  like a telephone number to a set of concert tickets to a little-
  known performer who only comes through town once every few years.
  The problem Telescript faces, as I understand it, is that
  everything must be rewritten to support it, and that's never a
  popular requirement.

  Telescript includes the concept of Teleclicks, electronic money
  that agents can spend according to your directions. Everything
  uses authentication technology to ensure the legitimacy of agents
  and to trace transactions back to the person who must convert
  Teleclicks into hard cash.

  General Magic is realistic about the technology, and cautions that
  it could take ten or more years to catch on, starting in the
  second half of this year. Their two most dubious parts are the
  emphasis on electronic merchants, when, by their own admission, we
  as a society know nothing about electronic merchandising, and the
  use of interactive television as one of the main Magic Cap
  interfaces to the world, when pretty much every interactive
  television project has been a complete flop. People stare at
  televisions; they don't interact with them. That might change, but
  I don't see it happening soon.

  Criticisms aside, General Magic has the right idea in focusing on
  people and doing nothing to damage a customer's self-esteem.
  Products will appear and should be interesting to see, but if the
  industry can get its collective head around the concept of people,
  General Magic will have made its mark.


An Article for Morons
---------------------
  I spend a fair amount of time in the computer sections of
  bookstores these days, and I've noticed a disturbing trend. The
  trendy titles all insult the reader. There's a whole slew of Books
  for Dummies, and there are almost as many of another line called
  something like the Complete Idiot's Guide to Whatever. These books
  obviously sell well, since publishers don't continue to release
  books in a line if the line sells badly, and in fact, I presume
  that many of the books are quite good despite the fact that they
  seem to target an audience of simpletons. David Pogue, author of
  "Macs for Dummies," qualifies as a talented and technically-savvy
  writer and I love his "Macworld Macintosh Secrets" book, which
  never implies its readers are blockheads.

  But the titles make me cringe inside. I suspect these books sell
  because they feed the low self-esteem of the readers, and misery
  loves not only company, but confirmation. Implying the reader is a
  half-wit may make money, but is it a good thing? For the publisher
  sure, but for the tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands
  of readers, most of whom certainly aren't numskulls? Not a chance.
  It's a bit like putting a big sign on the wall above your computer
  saying "Have I mentioned how abysmally imbecilic I am today?"
  That's what a line of these titles on a bookshelf says to me, and
  I suspect that it may speak similarly to others. I can't imagine
  it would be a good thing to have your boss, for instance,
  subscribing an opinion of you based on your collection of Books
  for Boneheads.

  I don't know the details of how my car's engine works either, but
  I don't fret over that or go looking for a book called "Cars for
  Cretins." There's no shame in consulting a manual or a book
  (although I'd argue that if the programmers couldn't write it well
  enough that you can use most features without consulting the
  manual, they should be ashamed). Consulting a book is like talking
  to a teacher, but few teachers start conversations with, "You're
  an idiot, what do you want to know?"

  Why don't we see books whose titles, as General Magic's design
  axiom states, "do nothing to lower the self-esteem of the user?" A
  friend suggested "I'm OK, Click OK" or "Conversations with Your
  Mac's Inner Child." I'm being flip, of course, but there's nothing
  wrong with clearly targeting a book toward novices without
  insulting them.

  The rationale behind these titles is that the programs make the
  user feel like a dumbbell, and although that may be true, I don't
  buy it as a justification. I'd argue that the titles should focus
  on the program, not the user, as in "Beating GinsuWrite 6.0 Into
  Submission" or "Dominating DTPMaker."


The "FatNewt": The MessagePad Scribbles On!
-------------------------------------------
  by Richard C.S. "Doc" Kinne -- [e-mail]

  Apple introduced Newton MessagePad 110 in early March, and it was
  immediately picked up and put through its paces by an eager
  contingent of Newton fans. The Classic Newton could be seen as the
  128K Mac of the line; Apple's first different machine of the 90s.
  Carrying this analogy further it could be said that the MessagePad
  110 is the Newton's "Fat Mac."

  I've only had my MessagePad 110 for a few days and never did own
  an original, although I managed to play with one for over a half
  hour when they were introduced in Boston last August. Let me try
  to make some comparisons.

  The first difference you notice on looking at the 110 is the new
  form factor. I think the MessagePad 110 looks better than the
  Classic MessagePad, since the longer look gives it a greater sense
  of professionalism. The Classic MessagePad in comparison looks
  slightly stocky. While the slimming seems minimal on paper, it
  becomes more important once the MessagePad 110 is in the hand,
  especially for people with small hands like mine. I found it
  difficult to hold the Classic MessagePad, but the new 110 is quite
  good in this regard.

  The other great physical difference is the addition of the screen
  cover. The screen cover enables you to carry around the MessagePad
  without the screen getting dirty. Several people have complained
  that starting the MessagePad now takes an extra step, but since
  the cover folds out of the way and attaches to the back of the
  MessagePad when open, simply leave it open to avoid the extra
  step.

  The 110's pen changed for the better as well. Instead of the
  triangular plastic pen, we have a round aluminum pen. It's heftier
  and feels like a real pen; so real, in fact, that there have been
  two incidents when I picked up an actual pen and tried to use it
  on my MessagePad, not realizing the difference until too late!
  The pen now lives along the top of the MessagePad in a way that
  preserves the form of the unit on both sides.

  Upon turning on the new MessagePad you'll find everything looks
  exactly like it did with the Classic MessagePad. However, if you
  go into Memory Preferences, you'll be pleasantly surprised with
  the much larger piece of real estate.

  A few months before the Boston unveiling of the Classic MessagePad
  I saw demonstration of one of IBM's pen-based unit's handwriting
  recognition. I left the demo with my mind screaming, "This still
  belongs in a lab!" I'd never been so disappointed with a
  demonstration. With this background, I was skeptical about the
  MessagePad's handwriting recognition. Although the Classic
  MessagePad's recognition is an order of magnitude better than that
  IBM demo, it is still difficult. I was as pleasantly surprised by
  the improvement Apple made with the MessagePad 110's handwriting
  recognition as I was about the Classic's over the IBM demo.
  However, it's still not perfect. MessagePad fans are correct when
  they say that the Newton takes some training. This was graphically
  demonstrated to me in inputting my names file. My MessagePad
  simply didn't like "NY," but after a few tries it now gets it over
  90 percent of the time.

  My most pleasant surprise with the new MessagePad 110 came with
  its power management. In comparison to the MessagePad 110, the
  Classic MessagePad is a power hog! I've had my MessagePad four
  days now. During that time, I've engaged in an inordinate amount
  of data entry and general playing. Even after all that usage time
  I'm still at a 50 percent battery level using alkalines!

  The smaller screen could be a problem, since some applications use
  a hardwired screen size, resulting in off-screen elements on the
  110's smaller screen. I've tried a couple of applications that
  seem to be affected by this problem, but so far, all the needed
  buttons are at least part way on-screen, so the applications are
  still usable if you can figure out what the obscured buttons do.

  Interestingly, the MessagePad 110 has another compatibility
  problem beyond the screen size. One of the "Easter eggs" of the
  Classic MessagePad is its ability to inform you of the temperature
  if you hold your pen on the clock icon. The Classic MessagePad
  uses a temperature sensor to regulate the screen's contrast via
  software as the ambient temperature fluctuates. The MessagePad 110
  includes a dial to regulate screen contrast, so the temperature
  sensor no longer exists and software that took advantage of the
  sensor will not work.

  Have there been any disappointments? Realistically, I have a
  couple. The MessagePad supposedly can dial a phone via DTMF tones
  sent out of the speaker, but so far, I can't make the feature
  work. The screen is the part of the MessagePad most in need of
  improvement. Apple must also find a way to apply a non-glare
  coating to the screen. The type of screen Apple uses is fine for
  small screens such as those on watches, but is totally
  inappropriate for a non-backlit screen of this size. Also, the
  MessagePad 110's letters appear to "shadow" more than on the
  Classic MessagePad, which makes them more difficult to read in the
  wrong light.

  So what is the final analysis? Although the MessagePad 110 is a
  great improvement in nearly all things Newton, at this point it
  still is, as one of my friends so eloquently puts it, the ultimate
  "geek toy." There are more cost-effective ways of accomplishing
  what the Newton MessagePad was designed to do, even if they aren't
  as much fun. Even so, the 110 demonstrates Apple's continued
  support of a line and a technology of the future. We must look at
  the MessagePad 110 as the Fat Mac of the Newton line - the second
  generation but still far from the ideal. Its users will be the
  chip pioneers of the last decade of the 20th century, but the
  average person won't buy one for another few years. Am I sorry I
  bought it? No way! It has already caused the same stir on my
  campus that my PowerBook did a year ago. In the final analysis,
  you probably can find a more cost effective way to do what the
  MessagePad does, but if you want to spend the money, grab a piece
  of history while you can. The early MessagePads will be something
  to tell the grandchildren about!


Reviews/21-Mar-94
-----------------

* MacWEEK -- 14-Mar-94, Vol. 8, #11
    Shiva LanRover/E 2.0 -- pg. 32
    WriteNow 4.0 -- pg. 32

* InfoWorld -- 14-Mar-94, Vol. 16, #11
    Power Macintosh -- pg. 1
    4D First -- pg. 99


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