Tony Duell skrev:
>> >> 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. =)
>Well, put it this way : Most of my computers are not PC-clones.
But they use PC drives?
>> 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.
>OK, perhaps I should have said that since many machines use MFM encoding
>(and many others use FM single-density encoding), it's useful in other
>machines can at least handle that format. The Amiga can (and thus an
>Amiga can exchange disks with the rest of the world). A Mac can't.
And that, of course, is bad. Just being different isn't enough. OTOH,
sometimes compatibility may be a curse. If users can use a common format, they
might not stick the better alternative. Look at the lack of success for all
things modern on the PC clones. If you can just launch a DOS session, there is
never a great enough need to develop that silly little LhA unarchiver, MS Word
converter, music piracy client or what have you.
>It's good to build a better machine than others, but not, IMHO, at the
>expense of _any_ compatability.
Isuppose compatibility sometimes must be sacrificed. Nowadays, it seems mostly
to be a matter of policy, though. Things which have been supported in older
versions are dropped without there being anything in particular preventing its
continuous implementation.
>In the days of 8" controllers, various manufacturers designed double
>density schemes that were basically incompatible with each other
>(standard MFM, DEC RX02, etc). But just about everybody supported
>standard 'IBM 3740' single-density disks as well, so that data could be
>exchanged between systems. I find it useful that the same 8" disk can be
>read/written on a PDP11 (RX01 or RX02 in single-density mode), a PDP8/e
>(ditto), a PERQ2 (standard 8272-based controller), and a CASU CP/M
>machine (Micromation Doubler controller, built from TTL and small PROMs).
That's nice. Just like in the CP/M days. Just as long as it doesn't haunt
computer users for generations to come.
>> >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
>That's basically what I don't like. Not that the Apple had its own format
>that was, in some respects, superior to the PC one. But that it couldn't
>_also_ read 'standard' disks that could be produced on just about every
>other make of machine out there.
Agreed.
>I nthe case of the Apple ][, there is a justification for the
>simple/cheap disk controller that could only do GCR recording (even
>though I didn't much care for it). In the case of the Mac, there's much
>less justification.
When it comes to Mac, you just tend not to get particularly worked up about
silly connectors and formats. OTOH, when it comes to Big Blue, I wish they
would get off their high horse and face the stark reality of not being the
ones setting standards in the PC world any more. IBM have made an AUI
connector of their own, too, as well as proprietary SCSI connectors.
While on the topic of SCSI connectors, didn't Macrovision use a DB23 as a SCSI
connector on one of their Evolution Zorro SCSI boards for the Amiga?
--
En ligne avec Thor 2.6a.
optimus_at_dec:foo$ %blow
bash: fg: %blow: no such job
Received on Wed Mar 28 2001 - 18:17:14 BST