Welcome to my monthly column of GS news and views and so on.
SHELLO
We have a new shell! What's that? Your hands are soaking in it!
The "shell" is the program you are using now. It displays and prints articles, and runs programs for you. Jason Blochowiak (pronounced bluh-HO-vee-ak) has rewritten the shell to use memory more efficiently and not to re-load things already in memory (this is called caching). So if you have enough memory, you'll notice that once an article or icon page is loaded, switching back to it takes almost no time! Jason did a great job, so send him praises! And he is still improving the shell to make it truly a delight to use.
T-SHIRTS! T-SHIRTS! T-SHIRTS!
The folks upstairs want to know if you'd be interested in getting Softdisk T-Shirts, caps, sweatshirts, etc. We've got 'em, and they are cool. I'm wearing a gray sweatshirt with maroon lettering that says:
SOFTDISK
PUBLISHING
-------
monthly software
On the bottom of the Report Card is a space to reply. Send it in and let us know! (This T-shirt thing is my idea, by the way, so hype it!)
And let us know what you'd like the shirt to say. In fact, I think I'll announce...
A CONTEST!
Whoever sends in the best T-shirt slogan will get either a) a Softdisk T-shirt or b) some cool colored disks! You'll get the latter if we don't make any more shirts. Yes, your prize depends on how many people want the shirts. And the T-shirt might not have your saying on it, so calm down. Feel free to design a logo and everything, and we'll stick it on a displayable picture.
Deadline is, oh, April 15th. Mail your entry the same day as your tax form!
No employees of Softdisk are eligible.
Some we came up with (and therefore you can't use):
Softdisk -- we make an issue of it every month
Tom Hall -- a legend in his own mind (with my picture, of course)
Softdisk G-S -- there is no substitute
My folks went to Softdisk Publishing and all they got me was this
lousy T-shirt and a persistent heat rash
Ask me about G-Essence!
Softdisk--all other software smells funny in comparison
But Softdisk, what light through yonder window breaks?
Kiss me! I subscribe to Softdisk!
Softdisk -- 4 out of 5 dentists recommend it
I subscribe to Softdisk G-S--obviously I have far too much extra cash.
Softdisk subscribers do it monthly
Softdisk -- I'm a user.
Softdisk -- subscribe or we'll kill you.
Softdisk G-S -- more cr*p that won't run on your IIc+.
Softdisk -- an expensive way to acquire blank disks.
Softdisk -- durable, and built to stay that way.
Softdisk -- most people prefer it to self-immolation.
Softdisk -- Tom's bid for international power status
Well, let us know your ideas and send 'em in!
APPLEFEST NEWS
Well, the Big Wigs didn't see fit to send us to AppleFest, but here's some highlights from our sources:
Ñ Perhaps the coolest thing at the show was Roger Wagner's HyperStudio demonstration where--get this--he used HyperStudio to play Dragon's Lair! He took the laserdisc out of an old broken Dragon's Lair game, the first game to use a laserdisc to display the program's graphics (Don Bluth's delightful animations). Roger's stack actually PLAYED the game. The word is that Mac people were coming over the Apple side in droves to check out all this relatively inexpensive hypermedia. Hee hee hee.
Ñ Apple's GS/OS v5.0.4, HyperCard GS, and SynthLab are all out now and available for licensing. And the system disk sent out with this issue is 5.0.4! Wahoo! And HyperCard GS took 25,000 man-hours to produce, so don't get too worried about being abandoned,
Ñ National Geographic demonstrated their GTV for the IIgs and the Mac. When it came time for the Mac to make some great sound, what did it use? Why the IIgs' sound chip, of course. Aw, does the poor little Macky need some help?
Ñ Sales of the Zip GS were very strong. It can be upgraded to 10 Megahertz. Oh, baby. I want one!
Ñ Achievement awards (Winners reported by Dennis Doms of A2-Central):
Best Freeware/Shareware: Shrinkit
This data compression/decompression program is the standard
for packing file data on GEnie.
Best Educational Software: Katie's Farm
The follow-up to McGee, Katie's Farm is a game of exploration
for young children. There are no words--you just click on the
place you want to go.
Outstanding 8-bit Apple II Software: Proterm 2.2
The best telecommunications program available.
Best Multimedia:
Outstanding 16-bit Apple II Software:
Software of the Year: HyperStudio 2.1
Roger Wagner's hypermedia blockbuster is a lot of power for
a reasonable price. Teachers love it, and those that can
afford laserdisc Players are finding out how powerful a
program it really is!
Best Innovation: the RamFast SCSI card
Faster than Apple's card, the RamFast lives up to its name.
Best Development Tool of Language: Genesys
This makes designing programs that use dialog boxes much
easier.
Best Debugging Aid: GSBug
Apple's debugging aid is a very handy tool for GS programmers.
Without this, programming would be absolute H-E-double
hockey sticks.
Best Apple II Periodical: A2-Central
Tom Weishaar and Dennis Doms deserve this one. They have all
the news, the interesting opinions, and the helpful advice
that users really need.
Best Online Service: America Online
Very easy to use, say users on America Online. I must admit
that receiving and sending mail is a real breeze on this
online service.
Hardware of the Year: Apple High Speed DMA SCSI Card
A bit slower than the RamFast, but it is compatible with
scanners, CD-ROM, and works on the IIe as well!
Special Award to Claris and AppleWorks 3.0 Authors.
Although AppleWorks 3.0 missed the deadline for this year's
awards, everyone wanted to thank the folks at Claris for
their impressive new AppleWorks.
Outstanding Individual Acheivement: Roger Wagner
A one-man advertising campaign for the IIgs, Roger's
diligent defense of the IIgs and his impressive
demonstrations of HyperStudio all convey his love for the
Apple II. He created a HyperMedia Test Drive Kit for schools
that included lots of copies of HyperStudio, a laserdisc
player, a scanner, a digitizer, and more. Roger is just cool,
despite his choice of ties.
No matter what Apple does, people still love the GS. Perhaps one day they will finally wake up and notice what a niche market they are stuck in. Sure, the new Macs are really selling, but compared to IBM sales they are almost negligible. Time to eat crow, Apple, and actually try to compete with the big boys again.
HALF-DONKEYED
There is a lot of hoopla now about systems that let you bridge the gap from your Apple to a different computer platform. I think it is fairly ridiculous. Here's why.
Every machine that runs both types of software limits the use of both computers. The resultant product is sort of half-donkeyed (this IS a family disk). Let's look at all the hybrid alternatives.
ÑTrackstar
This is a computer that runs IBM software and allows you to run Apple II software either on a 5.25" disk or on a hard drive. You can't use a 3.5" drive, it runs at 2 Megahertz tops, and it is a pain in the patootie to reset.
Ñ PC Transporter
Applied Engineering's card lets you stick a PC with CGA graphics in your Apple, and use your Apple drives as IBM drives. It is fairly neat, but when you can get a real IBM clone for the same price, why bother?
Ñ Mac LC
This is a Macintosh crippled to run IIe software. The IIe card only fits in this Mac. The LC could really use the power of one of the II models, but it putters around with its 4-bit graphics and lack of great expandibility. The IIgs is much better at running IIe software. How are you supposed to run AppleWorks with a 39K desktop? Get real, guys.
So if you want to get to another platform, either buy the connecting cables and just transfer your data, or use the computer that it already works on!
WHAT'S NEXT?
The IIc+ has been removed from the Apple product line. What's next? The GS at $1149, or the IIe at $829? These computers are priced so that "if they really want 'em, well, we might as well make some money off the deal." With the Mega II chip, couldn't the IIe be made much more cost effective?
TOUCHE'
Roger Wagner wrote a response article for inCider/A+ called "The IIgs: What the Mac LC Should Have Been." Turn it around on 'em, Roger! Way to go! (See February 1991 issue, p. 13.)
SEE YOU LATER! WRITE SOON!
I want to know what you think about the GS world! I want to know how you use your GS. Write me at this address:
