Tony Duell skrev:
>> Tony Duell skrev:
>>
>> >OK, these drives are non-stnadard enough that you can't plug them
>> >straight into a PC's floppy controller. But that's not really what I was
>> >talking about. Thing is, I can take a floppy disk from one of the HP
>> >units, put it in a PC drive, and read/write to it using the right
>> >software. There is no way a PC can read an original Apple Mac disk.
>>
>> Yoiu're so PC-centric. Since there really weren't any PCs with 3,5" floppy
>I take that as an insult...
Then you're on the right way. =)
>> drives, that was a moot point. The Amiga used a format of its own as well=
>> ,
>Thing is, the PC's floppy disk system was about as standard as you could
>get. Normal MFM encoding, stnadard SA400-like interface to the drives. I
>could have said 'TRS-80 Model 4' or 'Gemini Galaxy' (a UK CP/M machine)
>or 'Epson QX10' or 'Torch XXX' or a number of other machines and the
>point would have been the same. All those machines, at least in
>principle, can read disks formatted on the others, at least at the
>hardware level. All of them can have 3.5" drives added if you want to.
But what if you don't like MFM encoding? Since the Amiga drive IIRC works at a
lower level, it hasn't got any preferred encoding, so that it may still read
MFM if necessary, without being constrained to that particular encoding. What
you are suggesting is adopting the lowest common denominator and sacrificing
flexibility.
>If we just require disk compatibility (i.e. the drives can have an odd
>interface) you can add other machines to that list as well, like many of
>the machines using the Sony 3.5" full-height drives.
That's nice.
>> >And I am quite sure that what most users would care about is being able
>> >to transfer files (even just text) between their machine and their
>> >cow-orker's machine. Which might be in another town, or another country,
>> >so you can't set them up next to each other with a null-modem cable.
>>
>> Couldn't the original Macs read PC disks using Apple file exchange or sim=
>> ilar
>> programs?
>No. The IWM (Integrated Woz Machine) disk controller in the Mac/Mac
>512/Mac+ can't read anything but Apple GCR disks. It's impossible
Now, that's a pity. First the Lisa drive, then the Mac. I thought that a drive
with variable speed would be able to read most formats.
>> >I still think the correct solution to that is to use a bigger case. I
>> >have never understood this love of making things small, especially not
>> >when there are good technical reasons not to do so.
>>
>> If you live in a 17 m=B2 flat like I do, you'll come to appreciate such t=
>> hings.
>> =3D)
>Hmm... I ran out of space _years_ ago, but I still prefer larger machines
>that use the standard connectors and which are large enough to work on...
But then again the Mac isn't for us. It's nice to have a lot of flat desktop
machines which are easily stackable, but if you've only got one machine,
stackability is a minor concern. Besides, most standard PCs are hidously ugly.
It's no coincidence interior designers and fashion photographer prefer Macs to
bland Taiwanese mini towers.
--
En ligne avec Thor 2.6a.
Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build
bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the universe trying to produce
bigger and better idiots. So far, the universe is winning.
-- Rick Cook, Mission Manager, NASA Mars Pathfinder Project
Received on Tue Mar 27 2001 - 18:51:08 BST