While I always liked the 6502, and while I admired the Apple people's
inclination to use software to do what others did with hardware, I never liked
the fact that they (Apple) were always happy to compromise on both performance
and reliability, even on much more recent hardware, e.g. the early MAC's, in
order to make money. They routinely left out lostf of hardware, using firmware
or software to replace it, resulting in lower CPU throughput, yet charged more
than their competitors who put the hardware "in there" and delivered the
performance. What's really odd is that their customers were so devoted, if not
sensible, that they bought the stuff anyway. My position was vindicated when,
at a BIG company where I once worked, I put a PC/AT-clone, a NIC (they were
expensive then), an HP LaserJet printer, and a graphics card with a companion
high-res monitor together for considerably le$$ than just a MAC-comaptible
printer would have cost. By having the IT guys work out a route from the MACs
to the PC/AT, we were all able to share that printer, though the Apple
networking hardware/software made it non-trivial. They liked to use the latest
greatest hardware at Apple, but they quickly turned the silk purse into a sow's
ear with their practice of giving away 90% of performance and convenience in
order to save 1% in cost. When they were done, they charged for the silk purse,
you can be sure, but still delivered the sow's ear.
Dick
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sellam Ismail" <foo_at_siconic.com>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2001 3:16 PM
Subject: Re: hard-sector 5 1/4 disk
> On Wed, 31 Oct 2001, Tony Duell wrote:
>
> > The disk II has no track 0 sensor either, hence the clatter against
> > the end stop when the machine is turned on. This, in my experience,
> > doesn't help keep the heads in alignment....
>
> I don't think I've ever had any Apple disk drive of mine go out of
> alignment.
>
> > The Apple ][ disk system has always struck me as being a cheap kludge.
>
> Exactly. It was cheap, it was fast (if the DOS was designed properly), it
> worked, and it worked well. Very well.
>
> > We've had this flame before, but my views have not changed. Sure, it
> > was minimal hardware. Sure it got more data on a disk than an FM
> > controller (but less IIRC than an MFM one). But I like to be able to
> > read that data back again, and I had nothing but trouble with the
> > Apple ][.
>
> You and Richard should start a support group for each other.
>
> Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
>
>
Received on Wed Oct 31 2001 - 16:47:52 GMT