Welcome to the monthly column of news and views in the Apple IIgs world.
KansasFest: A Reaction
This month's KansasFest held good and bad news for the IIgs news. (I won't cover all the news--see Lee's KansasFest report for that.)
The "Well, I Was Kinda Hoping Against Hope" News
Ñ No new GS was there, and Apple representatives were sorry that the
rumor got spread. They had asked some user groups what they would
like to see if there was a new GS, they didn't say "There's a new GS--
what would you like to see in it." They wouldn't completely rule
out the possibility in the future, but it doesn't exist now.
The "That is Darn Fast" News
Ñ Scrolling around a window in the Finder is just amazingly faster now.
The GS System Software must be about the most optimized system
software in the world.
The "He Must Be from Madison" News
Ñ I went to college in Madison, Wisconsin. Someone came to the
conference and introduced himself as "Toasterhead." He came from
Madison, and throughout the conference, no one ever found out his
real name. For all we know, it has been legally changed to that.
The "Who That Heck is That?" News
Ñ Jay Jennings, one of the authors of SAM on your first issue and
current editor of the 8/16 Central disk-based magazine, whose
name on GEnie was often PUNKWARE and he had the mohawk to prove it--
yes, this Jay Jennings, came to the conference with a full head of
normal hair, looking like he was ready to go to church. This was
about as surprising as the Berlin Wall coming down.
The "Arthur Bryant's is Toast" News
Ñ Last year we recommended Arthur Bryant's as the place to get
barbeque in Kansas City. There is a new champion, and you can
try it at your local store: K.C. Masterpiece. Yes, there is actually
a restaurant named that and the barbeque is amazing.
The "What Did Mensch DO THIS Year?" News
Ñ Bill Mensch, head of Western Digital Design Center (producers of
the 65816), announced plans to make the Mensch Computer, a computer
using many 65816 chips in parallel, which makes the computer faster
(imagine five people drinking a shake all at once compared to just
one--the work gets done faster). It seems designed to be very fast,
and also seems designed to require that peripheral cards each have
a Western Digital chip on them. It was interesting but not as
interesting as Mensch standing up and chiding the Apple reps.
The "Dashed Hopes" News
Ñ Bill Heineman, author of Dragon Wars and other great GS games, had
a Super Famicom (the new 16-bit Nintendo based on the 65816) in his
room. A rush of excitement! "Er, it's broken." A sigh of despair.
The "Yet Another Awesome Demonstration" News
Ñ Roger Wagner, as usual, had an incredible demonstration set up
of HyperStudio version 3.0. It's slicker that ever and amazingly
easy to use. The consumate showman, Wagner had everyone smiling
as he displayed a stack that led the user through the history of
animation on the Apple II. From Bob Bishop's old "AppleVision" to
flashy images displayed by the Video Overlay Card, Roger's stack
was most impressive.
In general, everyone had a good time, information was exchanged, but there was no real gangbuster of the conference, no event that really would shake the Apple II community up. The fire, the verve, the energy seemed unfocused. I guess it's to be expected. Over the last few years, we Apple II faithfuls have become war-weary veterans of battle. Yet, the fire still burns. Sculley cannot extinguish it, the Mac cannot extinguish it, IBM cannot extinguish it. As long as we hold the torch up high, as long as we keep using our trusty IIs, as long as we let companies know we want GS stuff by spending our hard-earned dollars, the dream will not die. To paraphrase a Maxine Kumin poem:
I honor Woz for saying: we go on.
Male-Pattern Baldness
It creeps up on you. You don't notice it too much, try to use what's available, but one day you realize:
There's not a lot of software there anymore.
Yes, there's Softdisk and Softdisk G-S, and Publish It! 4 is here, and you can get McGee at the Fun Fair, but with Br┐derbund and Electronic Arts giving up on the II line, the choices are getting slim. The slow attrition is finally getting painfully noticeable. So what should we do?
Decide what kind of software you want, find a user's group, then make and send a petition to companies that might make that kind of software, asking that they please make it. Including Softdisk.
We'd love to hear what kinds of software you really need on your IIgs or IIe. We've been doing this a long time, and one can get jaded. We don't want to write another checkbook balancer--we want to write what you need!
Big Words
Just a thought. If you have trouble reading this size of font, you can use WordWorks (from issue #5) and change the font to a more readable size. Some of the formatted or indented parts may mess up, but at least they'll be easier on the eyes!
Thanks, Dave!
Dave Hindman, one of our best beta testers, wrote inCider/A+ to tell them that Softdisk and Softdisk G-S supply AppleWorks and AppleWorks GS templates. He did this all on his own, and seeing his letter there in the July issue was a pleasant surprise! Free advertising. (Okay, David, the check is on the way.)
BRCC! Excuse Me!
The Big Red Computer Club is making Milestones 2000 available on one of their disks (GS110). This hilarious game was reviewed on a previous issue, and is reliefware--if you like it, you send money which goes to charity. It's $3.50 and they have lots more, too. Call (402) 379-4680 for a catalog, or write: Big Red Computer Club, 423 Norfolk Avenue, Norfolk, NE, 68701. You'll be glad you did.
IT is Finished!
Our own Peter Rokitski finished playing The Immortal, the great Electronic Arts game for the GS. The animation throughout the game was amazing, and watching him finish it was truly exciting. You can get it through mail order, and I believe that the Big Red Computer Club has bought up all the software in stock of Electronic Arts and Br┐derbund, now that they are leaving the II market.
Anyway, cool game.
Oh, dear, what shall I do?
I have been thinking about writing some small demos showing some of the abilities of the GS. I'd include source code and tons of comments detailing each part of the process. These demos would include drawing to the GS screen, playing sounds, making a character generator, drawing tiles, loading from disk, and so on. Write me and tell me if you like the idea or hate it, and what in particular you'd like to see.
Superconversion
SHR Convert was one of the most popular IIgs shareware programs around. A powerful graphic conversion program, it has been beefed up and released commercially as SuperConvert. Convert Print Shop graphics, single hi-res, Finder Icons and more into super hi-res pictures, or GIF and TIFF formats. This means you can use any graphics you have in AppleWorks GS or Platinum Paint! It's only $39.95. Contact: Seven Hills Software, 2310 Oxford Road, Tallahassee, FL, 32304-3930. Or call: (904) 575-0566.
Lower Education
As reported in the Computer Reseller, Apple's share of the education market has dropped from 54% in 1988 to 49% in 1990. IBM's share of the K-12 market has risen from 27% to 35%.
IBM and Apple: Best Friends?
Yes, IBM and Apple have been discussing a mutually beneficial deal. IBM wants the Mac interface. Apple wants to start making products that more than 20% of the buying public want. Apple has said that they will be known as a software company that also happens to make hardware.
Huh? Their Claris yo-yo and always-late system software do not suggest good ground to start building on. Perhaps the latest profit reports have something to do with this move. Although they sold TONS of Mac Classics, a report said that for every Mac sold, $750 was spent on advertising. For the Macs that cost over $5000, this is fine.
