From: mhughes@comtch.spk.wa.us (Mark Hughes)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: So what does this mean to us ?
Date: 22 Dec 92 17:43:53 GMT
Organization: Waffle BBS at CompuTech Spokane, Washington

Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com writes:
> Mark Hughes writes some stuff:
> >I discovered that replacing my ST with another decent system, 
> >without taking any sacrifices (pathetic sound and OS on the PCs, weird OS 
> >and incompatibility on the Mac (not to mention their expense), etc.), I 
> >had to go up to a NeXT.
> 
> Wow.. now THERE's an open mind for you..  too bad you didn't
> actually take a good look at what else is available in the world.
> In addition to the terrific sound and operating systems on PCs,
> and the smooth operating system on Macs, you also get the
> advantages of support from the company that made your computer,
> AND the not inconsequential benefit of wonderful software support
> from developers who are *happy* to be in the market.

  Actually, I did.  I've used PCs, Macs, NeXTs, HP & Sun Unix boxen, etc. 
I do programming, tutoring, or system installation or whatever anyone 
wants to pay me for on just about any system...  It may be a variable 
income, but it's given me a lot of exposure to different systems.
 
  The sound support on the PCs is pathetic.  A tinny little speaker on 
most of them, and then the rich ones have either non-standard ones that 
are supported by perhaps 3 applications or they have a SB, which has a 
slightly larger stable, but not by much - and it has some major 
limitations.  No way.  The OS's on the PC are even worse - I might 
consider a 386/486 Unix box, but that costs as much as a NeXT, and the 
NeXT is better integrated...  The Mac is the most incompatible thing I've 
ever had the misfortune to use.  I came > < THIS close to buying one, at 
one point, but I ran far far away after working with them.
 
  Ditto for the Unix systems - for the price range I can afford, there's 
nothing worth buying...  I've got a very open mind on this, but I will 
*NOT* accept a crippled computer.
 
> I see.. you're "stuck" with Atari, so you're going to badmouth
> anything else there might be.. 
> By the way, you must be new here..  go back and actually READ
> the things I've posted.  Find where I said I don't like my ST..
> please...

  I'm hardly badmouthing everything else - just providing my honest view. 
If you can live with their limitations and annoyances, then that's your 
own situation - but I suspect most ST owners can't.
 
  As for your liking or not liking the ST, I never said you didn't - but 
you certainly don't seem to notice the defects the others have (and while 
the ST does have a few of its own defects, mainly the difficulty in 
multitasking - MiNT is spiffy, but I like running multiple GEM programs, 
and MultiGEM dislikes NeoDesk <sigh>, they're not particularly crippling 
defects, as with the Mac and PC...)

> >In the meantime, don't bullshit at newbies...
> I might suggest you do the same.. don't lie to them.. 
> don't tell them everything is rosy in the world of Atariland..
> don't tell them that people like David Baggett will always be
> around, no matter what abuse Atari Corp may dish out to them.

  It's hardly rosy.  I just don't think it's the end of the world (and it 
seems to me that I've heard exactly the same kind of "Atari Will Die" 
predictions for the past 7 years.  Heck, even before that with the 
8-bit..)  Atari is a small company, and will probably always be on the 
edge of completely losing it all...  And so far they've managed to avoid 
going completely over the edge, and I suspect they will for a long time 
to come.  While I despise their corp policies, and their horrid lack of 
advertising, and the platitudes they give out to cover over it, that 
doesn't change the fact that it's the only computer and software that 
really works properly at anywhere near its price.
 
> If David decided to bulk-erase his masters of the Game Workbench
> and say "screw Atari", I wouldn't be surprised.

  Given Dave's Type-A personality, it's always a possibility <grin>, but 
I have a hard time seeing any programmer destroy code...  He may move on 
to other platforms, but he'll probably release the GW for the ST, and I 
suspect he'll keep coding for it.

> you're stuck with Atari, come hell or high water, and you have
> You may consider the truth to be "garbage", but then again,
> to reconcile yourself to that.  If the truth hurts, then maybe
> something's wrong with your slavish devotion to the company..?
> Ever give that any thought..?

  It's hardly devotion to Atari Corp, Bob.  Don't spew more garbage, eh/  
What you're giving out isn't "Truth".  It's just your opinions, just as 
this post is just my opinions...
 
  As I've indicated, if I had lots of money, I'd probably be hacking some 
other machine, probably a NeXT or a Unix box.  But I don't, and neither 
do a lot of other people.  Telling them that a PC is a better platform is 
just garbage, because it's not...
 
 - Mark Hughes (Caves of Steel 509-624-1821)  mhughes@comtch.spk.wa.us