4/18/94 6:28:39 PM Opening ÒChat Log 4/18/94Ó for recording. John2002 : When is the new Apple II coming out? John2002 : I heard that the Apple IIx is still under development (the IIgs was temporary.) AFL Don : I think you've bought into a bad rumor, unfortunately... John2002 : Hehe, actually I'm kidding. AFL Don : Not much chance of it's being true! Wish it were true, though... John2002 : I remember many years ago of the Apple IIx project... AFL Don : Don't we all! John2002 : But I think the IIgs is what it turned into. John2002 : Although not as good as the IIx promised to be. AFL Don : Well, they (we) could've done worse... The 2GS is still a formidable machine... John2002 : Hey, they could make an emulator for a Power Macintosh to emulate an Apple IIGS perfectly. AFL Don : Right... John2002 : ...almost.. assuming it can mix the sound channels fast enough. John2002 : The Ensoniq would be hard to emulate. AFL Don : Why bother, when the 2GS exists? John2002 : Because the Power Macintosh is Apple's future... AFL Don : ...don't recognize the screen name... Been with us before? John2002 : And it could get Apple II users to buy a Macintosh instead of an Intel-based system. AFL Don : ...for a while, anyway John2002 : Actually, I haven't been on here in a while. AFL Don : Well, some of us are still here... AFL Don : What computer are you using? John2002 : Actually I know people who still have Atari 800 series computers.. hehe.. John2002 : Right now, I'm using a computer with an Intel 486DX2-66 (running at 80 MHz) John2002 : ...using MS-DOS and Windows. AFL Don : Oh, the shame of it all... John2002 : I ran across an Apple //e emulator the other day... it was actually pretty fast... John2002 : I played a couple old //e games and they worked... AFL Don : ...interesting that someone would build one for a 486 machine John2002 : Conan, Karateka, etc.. AFL Don : Hey, hi Walt! John2002 : (I also have a C64 emulator, but don't really care about it..) AFA Fixit : Hi Guys! John2002 : Hi, Apple II forever... (or something) AFL Don : Wotznew? (Gotta card today from Marvin, in Munich...) John2002 : Now it's not even Mac II forever.. John2002 : Maybe Power Mac II forever! AFL Don : ...or 'til we pass go John2002 : ...and Apple collects $200... AFL Don : Right! John2002 : So what do you think of Microsoft? AFL Don : Mostly I don't have to think of Microsoft... AFL Don : ...so I don't AFL Don : I told Bill Gates to take care of it for me... John2002 : Take care of it? AFL Don : Think about Microsoft, that is... John2002 : Oh... Have you talked to Bill recently? AFL Don : ...not really. Lots of people I haven't talked to lately. John2002 : Do you know an easy way to reach him? (It's not as easy as it used to be...) John2002 : I think Windows is, unfortunately, the present and near future of computing. AFA Fixit : Enter Bill Gates as the user of all bootleg software when requested. AFL Don : I called Microsoft once, only once, in regard to the Apcom compiler. A very frustrating experience. John2002 : It needs to be done right this time... AFL Don : Never again... TallStuff : Hello all :) John2002 : Microsoft does tend to "borrow" primarily. Although their latest programs are... John2002 : ...somewhat unique. AFL Don : Well, count me out, Windowswize. A bunch of my radio-amateur friends are Windows Wantabees, and they have troubles that are hard to believe. Too many hoops to jump through to make Windows work... John2002 : Right, which is why Windows 4 needs to be done right... John2002 : They now have UNC (Universal Naming Convention) and some other things to resolve John2002 : pathname problems... John2002 : So the location of a file will not be as important. In other words, it will be like with John2002 : Macintosh (since 1984). AFL Don : I'll stay on the Sunny Side of the Street, with Apple, as long as possible... AFA Fixit : The Microsoft method. Wait for someone to come up with a good idea, buy it or copy it. AFL Don : Hello, Frank! John2002 : True... John2002 : And they do have good marketing... AFA Fixit : Hiya Frank. AFA Fixit : They should with the money they have to spend on it. AFL Don : It's another case of "Where does the gorilla sit?" Any place he wants... John2002 : But Word and Excel are actually good programs... for the most part... BCS Frank : Hi Don, Walt, John, TS :) John2002 : If they weren't, Microsoft would have to buy another company. AFL Don : Yeah but you can run those on a real computer. They work nicely on a Mac... John2002 : Does anyone have a phone number that Bill Gates can be reached at? AFL Don : Someone in the PC Forums might know, certainly not here! BCS Frank : Have you tried the White House, John? AFL Don : Didn't Gates just get married? Phone is probably off-hook anyway.. AFA Fixit : It's probably easier to get Bill Clinton on the phone than Bill Gates. AFL Don : You can send BC a message via Internet... BCS Frank : Right, they had to write BCS Frank : a special program to cull through his first flood of email.... BCS Frank : to sort out the "real" from the "junk." BCS Frank : God, of course, is in the details. :) AFL Don : wow, are we ever getting philosophical tonight! TallStuff : Hi Frank :) (A bit delayed ;D) TallStuff : afk again... doing that dinner thing ;) BCS Frank : Yeah, that food habit is hard to kick, ehh? :) AFL Don : Hey, I figured out what was wrong with my AW 3.0 printing problem... AFL Don : ...the one I reported last week... BCS Frank : yes? AFL Don : I'd forgotten to change the Printer Interface string to Control I 0N AFL Don : Therefore, when I tried to print a landscape spreadsheet the printer would still only print AFL Don : 80 columns, since I was still working on the default Control I 80N BCS Frank : Did you try turning the computer sideways? AFL Don : I shoulda figured that one out earlier, took me way too long! AFL Don : Darn.. where were you when I needed you, Frank? AFL Don : The perfect solution! BCS Frank : Looking for the "Any" key, no doubt. :) AFL Don : Sounds like my sister-in-law... She was videotaping old mansions in New Orleans, turned the video camera sideways so she could get all of the tall buildings in frame... BCS Frank : hehe... works, in the wonderful world of film. :) AFL Don : ...actually it worked if you turn the tv set on its side... BCS Frank : Hmmm... wonder if you could format a series of "bedside" tapes that way. AFL Don : He he he... BCS Frank : Easy to watch from bed, that is. AFL Don : Hey, saw your good suggestion re: the Apple //e 80 column card, Frank... AFL Don : I agree with you BCS Frank : Ahh, unfortunately the machine is getting the 80 col card.... BCS Frank : ... seems it belongs to a friend, only for playing games. AFL Don : Right... and there'll be more game playing only for another school computer... AFL Don : ...that's unfortunate BCS Frank : Well, if we ever have to explain to a higher authority our BCS Frank : misuse of resources..... BCS Frank : ... hmm... that's kind of a grim image. AFL Don : ...agreed BCS Frank : Course to my way of thinking Apple should have been shipping IIes witha meg BCS Frank : and IIgs's with 4 megs a long time ago. BCS Frank : But Scully and I never did get to do tea together. :) AFL Don : ...had they done that, it'd have been obvious to everyone that the Apple 2 series should have been AFL Don : taken more seriously... TallStuff : bbl... gotta eat :)( BCS Frank : Bon Appetite! BCS Frank : I've got a teacher who's asking for help BCS Frank : getting some IIes for her school. BCS Frank : She wants to get IIes for her inner city school, BCS Frank : so every student can have his own computer. AFL Don : That can be great... BCS Frank : All it'll take will be about 260 IIe computer. AFL Don : It's no good to have one computer per classroom. I tried for several years to support my physics labs AFL Don : with only one computer for the room, and it just didn't work... BCS Frank : What about Tom Snyder's "one 'puter per room" views? AFL Don : Haven't heard about TS's views, but it's not viable. BCS Frank : Why so? AFL Don : Anything you want to have students do, they can only do 1 or 2 at a time. BCS Frank : How about using teams to work with the thing? AFL Don : Everyone else has to wait... BCS Frank : I agree it's a very different arrangement than multiple computers. AFL Don : think about it, Frank... With 40 students in a lab... AFL Don : It's hours before the last group can get on the computer to analyze data. Just doesn't work... BCS Frank : Hmmm... lab, yes, that's too computer intensive for one machine. AFL Don : Right! BCS Frank : Tom Snyder's views are more for a general classroom... and even there BCS Frank : it's more like making the best use of Stone Soup. AFL Don : This is the tv Tom Snyder? AFL Don : Amazing how people who've never been in a classroom know exactly what will work and what will not! BCS Frank : No no, a very different Tom Snyder.... been puting out BCS Frank : programs and computer books for years. BCS Frank : He's a teacher with an impeccable Apple II background... AFL Don : Ok, guess I missed him. (We oughta have a rule that no two people can go by the same name in any AFL Don : given century...) AFA Fixit : Tom Snyder of Tom Snyder Productions? BCS Frank : kinda like Roger Wagner, without the ties. :) BCS Frank : Right Walt. AFL Don : Well, I think he's 'peccable in this case. Serial teaching is not as doable as parallel teaching when you've got a room full of people who have to be guided constantly. AFL Don : ...that's my opinion, anyway... AFA Fixit : Did a lot of early edutainment software. BCS Frank : I'd rather not be in the position you were... AFL Don : ...I had enough of an open mind to the extent that I spent beaucoup hours developing an entire set of lab-support spreadsheets to use as a basis for my physics labs, knowing I'd never have more than one computer. Tried very hard to make it work. AFA Fixit : I've found that more than two students per system doesn't work very well myself. AFL Don : Right, Walt, and with two, one does the work and the other watches... AFL Don : ...maybe AFA Fixit : It does tend to work that way sometimes. I usually try to stop that. BCS Frank : Well... maybe that's why they call it a cutting edge. AFL Don : Hard to do that if you have to keep the other 38 people in the class busy also... AFA Fixit : Do find that pairing up a less experienced student with a more experienced student helps as long as... AFA Fixit : the latter likes playing teacher's aid. BCS Frank : Teaching is the best way to learn. :) AFL Don : You've got that right, Frank... AFA Fixit : I've two labs in two different parts of the building and have to rely on student leaders to keep BCS Frank : Hmmm... maybe Apple should have put some info on that in the box, BCS Frank : instead of the "Touch of AppleSoft" booklet. AFA Fixit : from going nuts during the lab portions of the course. AFL Don : Teaching in industry is probably different than teaching in a public school or college... AFL Don : Different basis for motivation... BCS Frank : That's great Walt... build all sorts of responsibility, etc.... BCS Frank : ... rough on you though. AFA Fixit : I usually have a couple students that have already installed the equipment a couple times before they AFA Fixit : get on the course, so they are the natural choice to lead the hands on while I fly back and forth... AFL Don : Well, I've gotta bug out early tonight... Work to do, etc. AFA Fixit : Learned some time ago to reinforce tutor tendencies in students. BCS Frank : See ya Don :) TallStuff : Later Don :) BCS Frank : Got that right, Walt.... with any luck all you'll AFL Don : ...my classes, usually no one has prior experience, so nobody's really that qualified as a tutor... BCS Frank : have to do is watch them at work while you AFL Don : Yeah, later all! BCS Frank : sip your mint juleps. :) AFL Don : poof... AFA Fixit : Take care Don! AFL Don : :) 4/18/94 7:34:19 PM Closing Log file.