From: dlyons@Apple.COM (David A Lyons)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: Andy departs... (was Re: System 6 Launcher!)
Date: 14 Apr 92 17:47:43 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA

gtolar@xcluud.sccsi.com (Glynne Tolar) writes (in two messages):
[...]
>I saw this comming from a mile away.  I knew Andy was only a temperary in the
>Apple II.  All this talk about how great MPW is.  SHEESH!  Apple does to its
>employes what it does to its customers.  Pulls them over to the Mac! [...]
>[...]  I do thank Andy for his work
>for the II <although I'm not sure of his true motavations, I don't think
>they were purely to help the II but for for his career>.  Also I thank him for
>his honesty!!!  I bet he knew flames would come from it.  From me so far
>anyway.  I don't liek Apple and some of the people there in.  <some I think
>are sluting themselves for a job rather then saying they are there to help the
>II>.  Can you help the II working on a Mac, I doubt it.

Zow!  Be sure to express that negativity...if you kept it all in your head all
the negative charges would repel and Cronenberg you (head explodes, as in
Scanners).  :-)

Warning:  Unsorted collection of Dave Opinions follows.

(1) Everything is temporary.  So what?  Do what you can with what you have
    while you have it.  Somebody said that (besides me).

(2) MPW *is* pretty cool.  I've been using it since 89 for GS projects
    (both Apple and personal).  It increases my productivity.

(3) The *Mac* pulls people over to it.  The company can push, but
    product has to do the pulling.  The GS pulls people to -it-, too.

(4) Company direction.  There's certainly a tendency for people (and
    companies) to want to do revolutionary new things.  Since there
    can never be enough resources to do everything, there's a pull
    away from old things.

    That's not inherently bad; that's just life.  The trick is finding
    a good compromise between "support old products" and "develop new
    and revoluationary products."

(5) Have you ever met Andy?  Do you know -anything- about his motivations
    or career goals?

    Is an Apple II job at Apple is some sort of magical "stepping stone
    into a 'real' job"?  That's an amusing notion.  (But then I'm easily
    amused.)

    What possible motivation would an Apple II hiring manager have to
    hire somebody who didn't have the skills and enthusiasm needed for
    the Apple II job they were interviewing for?

    Yes, over the years plenty of good Apple II-oriented employees have
    moved on to other areas of the company.  Not just Macintosh, either.
    But while they worked in Apple II land, they were dedicated to their
    work (and of course some still contribute to the II on their own time).

(6) I don't even follow your technoslut argument.  I'm not aware of
    any claims made by Apple employees as to why they're there.

    *** begin paranoid Robocop 3 fantasy ***

    Cupertino, 1992.  The entire Apple II group goes on strike, except for
    Dave!  Street gangs armed with Macintosh PowerBooks threaten to overrun
    the city.

    <commercial: Mary Hart for Mac anti-viral software, plus pills to
     prevent people from having epileptic seizures from hearing her
     voice>

    Dave comes upon a Mac gang abusing a IIgs, and he pursues them to
    the Old Abandoned Post Office.  Oh, no!  He's ambushed, and his
    body is severely abused and left for dead.

    Luckily, it's Saturday night, so there's a crowd of hungry people
    outside Dave's apartment wondering where he is, and who's going
    to feed them pizza! -- They give up and head for Pizza Hut, right
    next to the Old Abandoned Post Office.

    On the way, Andy N confuses this Robocop fantasy with some Total
    Recall fantasy, and wanders off in search of Sharon Stone.  The
    rest of our heroes discover and rescue what's left of Dave (just
    his head and a pair of orange shoelaces) and rush him to an Apple
    ATG lab, where they rebuild him out of old Apple II parts.

    We see what RoboDave sees:
       RoboDave
       ROM Version 4
       Testing... <do re me fa so la ti DO!> System Good

       Menu bar:  Apple File Edit Options Weapons Networks

       "About RoboDave..." chooses itself from the Apple menu,
       producing this window:

          PRIME DIRECTIVES

          (1) I will not harm an Apple II user, nor through inaction
              allow an Apple II user to come to harm.
          (2) I will obey all commands given by Apple II users, except
              when that would conflict with the first directive.
          (3) I will consider my own desires, "life", and career goals,
              except when that would conflict with directives 1 and 2.

       Oops!  The Options menu pulls down, and "Asimov mode" item chooses
       itself, toggling off.  Window updates to read:

          PRIME DIRECTIVES

          (1) Protect the innocent Apple II users.
          (2) Serve the Apple II public's trust, or whatever's left of it.
          (3) Uphold the law (excepting, of course, any Apple II users who
              feel they've obviously earned the right to steal software,
              because companies don't care about them).
          (4) [CLASSIFIED]

    RoboDave speaks:

    "I must go.  Somewhere on the InterNet, thousands of Apple II users are
     having the same problems."

    Armed with a copy of "Solutions to Very Common 6.0 Problems," RoboDave
    walks off in search of a SLIP connection....

    *** end of whatever that was...for now ***


Okay, I admit it...there's a point to all that.

My real, hopefully-non-paranoid, prime directives:

  (1) Be productive.  Contribute towards order rather than chaos.

  (2) Don't get discouraged by negative people.  There are plenty
      of them, but they aren't my problem.

  (3) Spend at least 5 minutes a month doing stuff not directly
      related to computers.  (There's a whole world of other
      geeky stuff out there to explore!)

  (4) Have a sense of humor whenever possible, and the rest of
      the time.

-- 
David A. Lyons, Apple Computer, Inc.      |   DAL Systems
Apple II System Software Engineer         |   P.O. Box 875
America Online: Dave Lyons                |   Cupertino, CA 95015-0875
GEnie:DAVE.LYONS  CompuServe:72177,3233 Internet:dlyons@apple.com

My opinions are my own, not Apple's.