Nice letters... not so nice letters... short ones... long ones... We love 'em all!
Do you have a question, opinion, or a comment? Write us today at:
<publisher@mymac.com> or <editor@mymac.com>
Readers in Malaysia
My name Jaffar, 27 year old male in Malaysia. I am very much interested in your magazine.
Thank you
Jaafar Kassim <jaafarm@unitar.edu.my>
Thank you for your interest in My Mac, Jaffar. If you get a chance, please drop us a line and let us know the Macintosh situation in your country. How are Macs doing against PCs, for instance? Are there Mac user groups or BBSs available?
Mac Emulator for PCs
Hi. I saw your article about Mac cloning and have a few general observations on the subject.
Most people agree that Apple will have to clone to ever form a computer universe able to compete with the Windows junk. The trouble is, to permit cloning puts the company that is cloned at serious risk. Cloning hurt IBM badly, and might prove terminal for Apple.
Perhaps there is a milder way that Apple could pursue - Mac emulation on PCs. If Apple had any sense at all, they would welcome Ardi's Executor (or Fusion) with open arms and make them function at least as well as the best of the Mac to Windows emulators like Virtual PC. Or perhaps they could create their own emulator, as they began to do way back under Sculley. Or maybe absorb the Emulator people.
Apple needs to drive a wedge between Intel and Microsoft. What better way to do this than a Mac emulator for Intel chips? And Apple needs to reassure software developers that there is a large and stable market for Mac software. How better to do this than with a Mac emulator that can run Mac software on PCs?
I used a PC from 1989 to 1996. If I had only known how much more fun a Mac would be to use, and how much more I could learn to do with a Mac, I would have converted long before. There is a huge market for a really good Mac emulator, and this would not damage Apple sales. On the contrary, once PC people get a taste of the Mac, a considerable minority would convert altogether, as long as Apple has a reasonably cheap Mac available. Why not a sub-$1000 601 Mac for the masses? Most PC people wouldn't even notice the difference in speed.
For every Mac user who would buy a PC because "he could get a cheaper computer and still have the MacOS," there would be two or three PC users of Executor or some other emulator (made 99% compatible with Apple's assistance) willing to pay a little more to get the full, unadulterated MacOS. This would also ease a lot of the friction and even hatred that some Mac and PC users feel for each other, which is just silly. You would have thought that Apple would have embraced Executor before even thinking about permitting Mac cloning, in order to build up demand for the MacOS, which would make cloning much less traumatic for Apple. But noooooo.....
One day Apple will come to their senses and figure out a practical way to give the PC world a tantalizing taste of the Mac, really cheap. I just hope they do so before they end up as a small division of IBM.
Gregg Gibson <ggibson@macol.net>
Thanks, Gregg, for your thoughts. Still, I must disagree with you, and for the following reasons:
When Apple was working on emulation software during the reign of former CEO John Sculley, they learned exactly how daunting a task it would be. Compared to Apple, the PC world is total anarchy, what with all the different sound cards, proprietary architectures, and third-party peripherals available for literally hundreds of different models of PC clones from scores of different manufacturers worldwide. To be successful, Apple would have to support all those products within the emulator, and that would simply take more time developing than Apple could then afford.
And then, why would a PC user wish to buy such a product when there are already a few Mac emulators available? True, none support software written for anything than System 6.0.7, but they do exist. If PC users really wanted to use an emulator, they would already be snapping up these products. But they're not.
Why? Because most software originally written for the Mac is now also available for the PC. True, some programs, such a GoLive's Cyberstudio, are still Mac-only products, but if PC people really wanted to run Mac-only applications, why not simply buy a real Mac?
Finally, while I agree that a Mac priced under $1,000 would do wonders for Apple's market share, it surely couldn't be powered by a CPU less powerful than a G3, because that's the minimum CPU required to use the latest System software. While it's true Apple could probably pick up older PowerPC chips for a song, how large would the market be for such a limited machine?
So whatever form our new mass-market Mac would take, it would have to be fast and innovative. And don't we have that already in the form of the cute little iMac? Now if, as has been rumored, Apple lowers the price on the 233 MHz iMac sometime early next year when faster models roll out, we would then have a machine that would more than fulfill all of our immediate market dreams...
iMac, My Mac and floppies
I have now a brand new iMac. I was among the first in Finland to get one. They started selling iMacs at 10 am on September 26. And I really like it! It is so cool, and fast and everything... The lack of floppy? I hate floppies. I backed up all the data from my Performa to floppies including almost every issue of My Mac Magazine. (I installed Be OS so I had to format the HD).
I was supposed to install all data back to my Performa and transfer it to iMac. But, one floppie was dead! So I lost everything. That is why I now hate floppies, Steve Jobs was right. The floppy is dead and iMac is insanely great!
Keep up the good work!
Regards,
Teemu S A Masalin <tmasalin@cc.helsinki.fi>
<http://www.helsinki.fi/~tmasalin>
Irate Reader
Mick O'Neil's series of articles taking off on the X-Files and Star Trek are a breath of fresh air in the computer press business. The idea of a futuristic Star Trek type space vehicle depending on Windows 2095 or whatever is truly inspired. He manages to get his point across with cleverness and humor and he is a great asset to your website.
The only problem that I have with his latest article is that he dismisses the Syracuse, New York area as a backwater in the world of F.B.I. offices, etc. Please tell him that Syracuse N.Y. is much closer to the center of things than Rota, Spain, his current place of residence. And tell him that his big brother Tom said so!
Thomas O'Neil <toneil1@twcny.rr.com>
Dear Mr. O'Neil,
I would like to thank you for taking the time from your busy schedule to express your views toward Mr. Mick O'Neil's recent article. Yes, we do consider him an asset to our staff, but his recent comments degrading Syracuse, I would have to agree, were completely unwarranted. After reading your letter, I feel we can safely infer his comments were based probably more upon jealousy than anything else. You should know it was never the intention of the management of My Mac Magazine to degrade, demean, or in any way belittle the exciting center of culture and education that Syracuse is, nor to rub anything in the noses of the citizens of that fair city.
I'm forwarding a copy of this letter to your brother so he can see that we do not share all of his eccentric beliefs. On behalf of management, please accept our deepest apologies.
Keep Safe!
Back Issues
Hey, your web page lacks all your back issues. What do we do if we want them all? Could you possibly send me an archive containing them all via email? Or post a complete archive of all your issues on your website.
Ryan Callaghan <UnoAmigo@aol.com>
Mac OS Rage ON
Yes, we only have the twelve most recent issues of My Mac on the website. The reason is simple: we have to carefully manage our server's storage or it costs us more money. My Mac, being a free magazine, does not have a large pile of cash to pay for the best of everything. So only a limited number of back issues are kept on the server. (Our advertising pays for what we do have on-line.)
Thanks for wanting to read all our back issues, though! We hope, one day, to be able to have everything thing ever done with My Mac on-line. We do, however, have "special" editions in which we showcase the best of certain monthly columns; Wall Writings, Miner Thoughts, and Tech Tips are currently available from the website. And look for a FileMaker Pro database in the near future as well. I have been working on it for the last few months, but as Russ is apt to say, there are just not enough hours in the day...
Where's Pete?
Dear Editor,
Where is the promised conclusion to 2019, Pete Miner's multi-part story?
Frederico
~The software said "Pentium II/Windows '95 or better."
So, I got better. I got a Mac. - Elliott Mitchell
We finally found Pete, made him park his truck and write the final episode to 2019 so that his fans could see what finally happened... and he immediately went back on the road. If you see him driving, honk at him!
Russ
Link me!
I really love your Mac magazine. It's full of good articles and humor. I can't wait for the next one to show up. I have an iMac and I really like it, that's why I made my own iMac site at: <http://members.xoom.com/chossid1/iMac>
How about putting in the next issue? I don't make money on it.
Leo <chossid@yahoo.com>
Ha! Like I would fall for this old trick! Someone sends in a compliment, thinking we will put a link to his website! Like that ever works!
 
Be sure to drop us a note with any thoughts, corrections, or problems you may have. We all love to hear from you, and we do need to fill this page every month! (Remember to let us know if you'd prefer to not have your email address printed.) So write in!
Tim Robertson is the publisher of My Mac, and unless otherwise noted answers all the email on this page.
email:
•Tim Robertson• <publisher@mymac.com>
•Russ Walkowich• <editor@mymac.com>
Websites mentioned:
<http://www.helsinki.fi/~tmasalin>
<http://members.xoom.com/chossid1/iMac>
 
<http://www.macwebserver.com>
My Mac Magazine ® 1998 My Mac Productions. All Rights Reserved.
