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From: AWCTTYPA@UIAMVS.BITNET (David A. Lyons)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: If GS meant business...
Message-ID: <8807151450.aa00450@SMOKE.BRL.ARPA>
Date: 16 Jul 88 00:49:32 GMT
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X-Unparsable-Date: Friday 15 Jul 88 1:14 AM CT

>Date:         Wed, 13 Jul 88 13:28:00 N
>From:         DEFFER%CGEUGE51.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (Eric DEFFERARD)
>Subject:      If the GS meant business...

>The GS was designed because someone to whom Apple owed a lot, wanted to
>give Apple's first fans a beautiful toy.

Really?  I think they designed the GS because it is a logical step
up from an Apple II, maintaining software and hardware compatibility
while adding a lot of new functionality.  Something that there is a
market for.

>If the GS meant business, these demos would have been done when the GS
>started shipping 2 years ago.

Sure, but 2 years ago most of the stuff being demonstrated was not
finished (or not even started!), and the language they will be in (C,
right?) was in a very rough form (Apple was [& is, as far as I know]
writing the system software in assembly).  Who knows--the demos may
even demo some things that are currently still under development.
I'm willing to wait.  In the meantime, there is enough other demo
source available.

>If the GS meant business, Apple would send these notes and demos by
>first class air mail to every one who asks for them FOR FREE (they
>can afford it). I am a member of APDA but please, do send them on this
>net, lots of GS owners aren't. Why can't you for once make a nice
>move and provide something without being asked ?

EXACTLY, Apple should take notice of the trends in industry in this
respect.  Every year, GM totals up all their extra profits & gives
away all the free cars they can AFFORD to!  And NBC figures out how
much free advertising time they can afford to give away, and you can
bet they DO IT.

Really, I don't think the above attitude is very fair to Apple.
They ARE providing something without being asked.  Did YOU write
Apple and ask for demo source?

Keep in mind that Apple is most likely working on a lot of stuff for
the IIgs that we don't KNOW about.  Think about all the rumors you've
heard--some of them are probably based in fact.  There's a lot more
going on than tech-support.

>About GS Works, well my opinion is that Apple does not want to develop
>software, and definitely doesn't want to increase the size of it's GS
>departement because they don't want to spend money on the GS line.

Apple *is* developing software--SYSTEM software, not application
software.  Claris does the application software.

>[...] if Claris bought Styleware, I believe it's because they want
>to get the credit [for GS Works]. This tactic could have worked well
>if they bought Styleware a couple of months ago before they published
>that ad in apple 2 magazines.

You're entitled to your own pessimistic opinions.  I think Claris
bought Styleware because they didn't have enough Apple II
programmers, and they figured buying a company full of very good
Apple II programmers would be a good way to get some.  I'm confident
that Kevin Harvey would not have allowed his company to be bought
unless he thought it would be beneficial to the GS world.

>Eric DEFFERARD
>BITNET  DEFFER@CGEUGE51
>UUCP    mcvax!cernvax!cui!deffer

--David A. Lyons  a.k.a.  DAL Systems
  PO Box 287 | North Liberty, IA 52317
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