A2'Cciitr3l
■ December
newstand price: $2.50
A journal and exchange of Apple II discoveries photocopy charge per page: $o. 1 5
The Ides of October
I was not a fan of either history or English literature in school until
we had a class assignment to read Shakespeare. One of the first plays
we were assigned was Julius Caesar. You know the plot: a group of
respected men, ostensibly friends of Caesar's, decide to wrest him
from power, for their own gain, by assassination.
The part of Julius Caesar that gripped me was Marc Anthony's eulo-
gy at Caesar's funeral. Anthony was stuck with the dilemma of
addressing a crowd that had been convinced by Brutus and his
cohorts that Caesar had been justly slain for being overly ambitious.
Since the conspirators were prominent, respected men, Anthony
could not directly "slander" them by accusing them of an unjust mur-
der. Instead, he employed sarcasm to expose the hipocracy and
treachery of Brutus and his cohorts. He bemoans how unfortunate it
was that the ruler known to all as benevolent and wise had turned out
to be so "ambitious" as to justify his murder. Anthony put the respon-
sibility for the act at the feet of the conspirators without directly
accusing them, quoting their derisions of Caesar while referring to
them as "honorable men".
The rulers that came after Caesar didn't fair so well; one of the
most notorious was Hero, who was supposedly so indifferent to the
state of the empire that he "fiddled while Rome burned". Eventually,
the empire fell to armies, which Romans likely considered "inferior",
because Roman civilization had become complacent and even dis-
dainful of the world outside their empire.
History repeats itself both in the large and small scale. One
year ago, Apple's stock was slumping; its management emphasized
only Mac products (mostly the higher-priced models) during the fall
promotional campaign and the ligs was given only token recognition.
And Apple took it in the teeth in fall sales. Since that time, after shuf-
fling a few high-level executives, Apple has emphasized the need to
lower the cost of its products to be competitive and its recognition
that the Apple 11, which built Apple's empire, will need to be support-
ed into the future. John Sculley himself has made these statements
on several occasions. But he has also kept insisting that "Macintosh
technology" is what people want.
In that context: "Friends, 1 come to bury the Apple II, not to praise
it." There are two parts to this story; one (told here) is what Apple is
doing to its Apple II customers in its ambition for the Macs and the
second (in "Apple vs. ...Magnavox?" in this issue) is what the entire
market is doing to Apple.
John Sculley is an honorable man. This year, on October 15th,
Apple announced three new Macintosh models and started its fall
advertising campaign and promotion in a roll-out "show" that oozed
like a late-night "infomercial". Here are the systems that Apple spent
(at least part oO your money developing.
The Mac Classic replaces the Mac Plus and Mac SE; it is based on
the same "compact Mac" vertical design as the earlier Macs, with a
built-in 9-inch black and white monitor. Like the previous compact
Macs, it uses a 68000 processor running at 8 MHz (for a speed com-
parable to the Mac SE), and comes with one megabyte of memory
standard (expandable to 4 megabytes). It does include an Apple
SuperDrive (1.44 megabyte floppy that reads Apple or MS-DOS disk
formats) and a keyboard and mouse, and the retail price is $999. The
only other configuration is the addition of one megabyte of memory
(total of two megabytes) and a 40 megabyte hard drive at a system
price of $1499.
The Mac LC is the "low cost color Mac". At $2499, the CPU includes
a 16 MHz 68020 processor (giving about twice the speed of a Mac
SE), 2 megabytes of RAM (expandable to 4 or 10 megabytes with an
optional expansion card), an Apple SuperDrive, a 40 megabyte inter-
nal SCSI hard disk, a keyboard and mouse, but no monitor. The CPU
expansion includes the standard Mac ports: printer, modem, SCSI,
Apple Desktop Bus, and sound output. In addition, the LC has a video
connector, a sound input (monophonic), and one expansion slot
("020 Direct Slot") access port.
The LC supports several monochrome and color Macintosh moni-
tors via the built-in video circuitry. The LC is also the only Macintosh
that will support an optional Apple lie Card ($199) for running 8-bit
Apple II software.
It will take us a while to find out how "no compromise" the Apple II
emulation card is; the LC is not expected to be available in quantity
until January 1991 and the lie emulation card is not scheduled for
release until March. The product information sheet for the card indi-
cates that it can run at either 1 or 2 megahertz and will use up to
256K of the LC's memory as expanded Apple II memory. Both of
OTHER USERS, IMTEQf^TES SHARED DATA, >AMD THEN USES
THAT IMPDRMATION TO NETWORK VICIOUS RUWORS ”
6.82 A2-Central
Vol. 6, No. 1 1
these may be considered "restrictive" against enhancements that
many users have added to their current Apple II systems.
The Macintosh llsi is the model that looks most productive to us; it
uses a 20 MHz 68030 that should be up to five times faster than the
Classic and its built-in video circuitry supports the same monitors as
the Mac llci (Apple High-Resolution RGB, Portrait Display, and
Monochrome displays). It has basically the same port configuration as
the Mac LC, with the addition of a connector for an external floppy
disk, stereo sound output, and the presence of an 030 Direct Slot
rather than the 020 slot of the LC. The llsi price is $3875 without key-
board (the basic Apple Keyboard is $129) or monitor; the CPU
includes 1 megabyte of memory, expandable to 1 7 megabytes.
The Mac Classic looks more like a clever marketing move than true
revolution; it effectively provides the pricing of the slow-moving Mac
Plus with the slightly better performance of an SE, but minus the
internal expansion capabilities of the SE. Apple credits part of the
cost reduction to the new motherboard design for the Classic, which
uses fewer discrete parts. The SuperDrive (which has so far been
excluded from the Apple II series) adds perceived value; it allows
using a higher-density 1.44 megabyte disk format and reading MS-
DOS disks that the Apple 3.5 drive cannot. But a cynic can only won-
der why the SE was comparatively so expensive versus the Mac Plus
to begin with.
The Mac llsi looks like the revolution: nearly the power of the 25
MHz Ilci in a box that costs at least a third less. Adding the 68882
math coprocessor (standard on the Ilci) only adds about $250 to the
retail price of the llsi. This is good competition for the upper-middle
range MS-DOS systems. We even ordered one for the office because
our desktop publishing program. Quark XFress, running on a Mac SE
(for all the flexibility it offers) makes you want to smash the computer.
But realistically, at about $4200 for a complete (monochrome) sys-
tem, the llsi is still priced out of the reach of the mass market.
The curiosity is the Mac LC. It appears to be close to the original
Mac II (which also used the 68020) in power, but with video support
included and, of course, Apple II compatibility (minus slots) optional.
The fact that Apple says the machine won't be available in quantity
until January 1991, and the He emulator not until March, makes it
sound as if the machine was "pre-announced" to stymie Apple II sales
in the fall. The LC appears to have been designed and positioned
specifically as an "Apple II killer".
Apple seems to feel that making the Apple 11 competitive is
too ambitious. But has Apple really made its Mac product line com-
petitive, or is it merely trying to use pricing to drive the market in the
direction its executives see fit, away from an existing user base? Look
at the pricing of the Mac LC compared to an all-Apple Ilgs system:
$1149 for the Ilgs CPU, $399 for the Apple 3.5, $129 for the Apple II
High-Speed SCSI Interface and $1299 for the Apple Hard Disc 40 SC
with terminator and cable. The Ilgs is over $400 more expensive!
The discrepance is easy to see by looking at drive prices. Apple
apparently takes less profit on the Mac's internal drives. For example,
the external Apple 40SC drive price is $ 1 299, over half the price of
the LC by itself and just $200 short of a Mac Classic with this drive
bulit-in. Also, the current retail price of the SuperDrive has been low-
ered to the same level as the Apple 3.5. Does anyone think Apple
might be leaning a bit heavy on peripheral pricing to the disadvantage
of the Apple II? Of course, we have all seen the comparative invest-
ment of that money in the development of new products for the Apple
II and Mac lines, and in the respective advertising for the two lines,
and can comfortably say that the price difference is going into the
bank, not into added value.
Apple Marketing: "Honorable men, all." As if on cue, one day
after the new Macs were rolled out, Apple's new Apple USA president,
Robert Puette, was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle saying that
Apple was phasing out the Apple 11 line. Apple issued a clarification to
deny that that was the gist of his statement; here is Apple’s clarifica-
tion:
"We remain committed to our millions of Apple II customers and
we want to make sure that they understand the high level of support
that Apple has behind the Apple II line. We want Apple II owners to
remain happy with their investment in Apple II technology and we
continue to look for more ways to protect that investment and extend
the life of Apple II products— both as standalone computers and as
part of networks.
"We will continue to sell, support, and service the Apple II product
line and provide enhancements to that line as long as customer
demand warrants it. We plan to continue to enhance the existing
product line through updates to system software and peripheral add-
ons. We fully expect Apple II computers to continue to serve educa-
tion and other customers satisfactorily for many years to come.
"On the other hand, we have no plans at this time to introduce
new, standalone Apple II models. However, we will incorporate Apple
II technology into current and future platforms, as we have with the
Apple lie card for the Macintosh LC. We believe that this compatibility
strategy will preserve customer's investments in Apple II, while allow-
ing them to move to new technology platforms if they wish."
Apple's technical service and support doesn't do a whit for the sur-
vivability of the Apple 11 if its lack of marketing support causes all the
third-party developers to move on to other platforms. When Puette
says Apple will continue to "sell" (rather than "advertise" or "market")
Apple II products, he Indicates that the money Apple earns on Apple
II products will be cheerfully contributed to the "send a Mac to
school" campaign. Only third-party support makes the Apple II viable;
Apple has always been two steps behind in providing Apple II product
support equivalent to what it supplies for the Mac. Several years of
such inactivity is not a coincidence; it's a philosophy. The Apple II has
survived despite, not due to, Apple's executives.
Apple has responded to pricing complaints about the Mac,
but continues to deny Apple 11 users similar considerations. Why
does a company that appears to have lost its competitive ability con-
tinue to make one of its own product lines visibly noncompetitive? We
think the answer is obvious: Apple management has believed its own
Macintosh sales pitch to such an extent that it simply doesn't like the
Apple II. It has no interest in positioning the company to sell Apple
products against the competition, only Macintosh products. The Mac
ego has won over the Apple II heart and mind.
The only fall advertisement we have seen (in the November 1990
Technological Horizons in Education Journal) "featuring" the Apple II
shows a line of Apple systems (lie, Ilgs, Mac Classic, Mac LC) with the
captions "This year, the hottest topic in the classroom will be evolu-
tion." and "Introducing the new Macintosh computers." Apparently,
Apple has decided that this is the promised "appropriate" visibility of
the Apple II in Apple's advertising; obviously, the implication is that
the He and Ilgs are passe'. What a way to instill customer loyalty; it
makes me want to bring my He to Long Beach and set fire to it in
front of the AppleFest exhibition. (But I can't; air pollution and the
plastic case prohibit me.)
Which brings us to an allegory regarding a later stage in the history
of Rome...— DJD
Apple vs. ...Magnavox?
Financial publications have been questioning not whether the
Apple li will be around in a few years (indeed, Apple seems to have
succeeded in getting the Apple H entirely out of computer industry
news reports), but whether Apple Computer, Inc., will be around.
Apple is, as John Pothier of Vitesse has put it, "an 800 pound goril-
la" in the world of Apple II marketing. Apple has felt comfortable
spending its time bullying the Apple II market. But now they look up
and see they are surrounded by a lot of other 800-pound gorillas from
the MS-DOS forest; competitors have cut Apple's market share from
15 per cent to under 10 per cent in the last five years. And then there
is the awakening Ring Kong: IBM.
We received several calls after Apples fall announcements from
education purchasers who wanted to know how to handle future pur-
chases in the event Apple was actually phasing out the Apple II line.
Here's pretty much what we think Apple is facing.
"Will Apple learn from Betamax?", the October 29 issue of
Forbes asks. A short article compares the domination of MS-DOS
clones in the personal computer market versus Apple's proprietary
systems to the battle of the widely licensed VHS videotape format to
Sony's Beta format; a battle that VHS eventually won on sheer num-
bers.
December 1990
A2'CentraI 6.83
If you prefer, think of it as the "refined" Mac empire against the less
refined (but more aggressive) Huns. Apple will assert that their
machines are technologically superior and capable of superior soft-
ware. Beta video enthusiasts are also quick to opine that the Beta for-
mat quality is superior to the VHS format. We can see merits in this
argument; it's nice to have higher quality. But it's nicer to have a
wide selection of readily available software.
Beta lost the war to VHS due to wider licensing of the VHS format.
Beta was often first with new features, but VHS was often quick to fol-
low, and one feature VHS led Beta in from the start was longer taping
times. VHS prices also tended to be lower than the Beta machines,
especially the flagship Sony products. Many users were prepared to
live with slightly less quality in order to have lower equipment prices
and tape costs. As inexpensive VHS machines proliferated, stores
were more likely to carry a better assortment of software (prerecorded
cassettes) for the VHS than the Beta machines. Eventually, many
stores catered to VHS only; without easily obtainable software, the
market for Beta machines was even more severely constrained. For
home taping enthusiasts, there was (and is) no reason to move away
from Beta as long as blank tape is available, but as the major market
moved to "users" who primarily wanted the machines to play rented
or purchased tapes, availability of tapes started driving the market.
Eventually, VHS sales eclipsed those for the Beta format, and the
effect snowballed. Sony finally cried "uncle" and gave up on Beta.
Apple is dangerously close to the software imbalance situa-
tion, but not for exactly the same reasons. Like home video
equipment owners, most computer customers are consumers rather
than producers of software either because they are intimidated by the
process of programming the systems (either VCR or computer) for
home taping, or Just because their intent for the machine is to use
pre-packaged software.
Hot everyone wants to make movies, or can; not everyone wants to
program, or can. But for those who do want to produce software, the
barriers are lower compared to those for the prospective video direc-
tor. Most video rentals are movies that cost millions of dollars to pro-
duce and distribute; many useful computer programs are written by
one individual or a small group of programmers. You can become a
freelance programmer much easier than you can become a freelance
movie producer and Apple's immediate problem isn't the ability to get
new software produced.
Apple's market is constrained with a different straight Jacket. Apple
sells its computers exclusively through a relatively small number of
Apple Authorized Dealers. Most of Apple's competitors for the market
sell through several additional venues, including mail order (with the
blessings of the parent companies) and retail stores.
Apple insists their dealer network gives "added value" to the sys-
tems, and dealer support is part of the reason for Apple's pricing
structure. On the flip side, if a dealer does not do a good Job of sup-
porting Apple systems, Apple's customers don't see the positive
effects that Apple anticipates and are left wondering why they paid
"extra" for the Apple label. Meanwhile, they wander through retail
stores with rows of MS-DOS machines and wonder why a low-cost,
widely-supported machine should not be their next choice. Why, even
the "Apple" dealer may have some of these machines displayed
attractively within eyeshot of Apple's own systems, which can only
reinforce the omnipresence of MS-DOS in a buyer's mind.
Given the need to reach a broader market, Apple's competitors
have not stood still. Even IBM, which (like Apple) has fought mail-
order sales, now sells PS/1 systems through that mass merchandiser.
Sears (see "Miscellanea", October 1990). This, plus a lower price
point for a color system ($2000 retail versus $3000 retail for a Mac
LC color system) has left IBM rather comfortable with the new Apple
announcements.
Apple is making an attempt to present its systems as providing
more value for the consumer dollar. Unfortunately, Apple Worldwide
Products Manager Bill Goins's demonstration on the "Hew Product
Information" promotional tape mailed after the October introductions
seems to leave a significant gap between Apple's real competition
and what Apple thinks its competition is. In comparing the Mac LC
motherboard to a 386SX motherboard, Goins correctly points out that
the bare-bones 386SX board needs to add 256-color video, sound
input/output, and SCSI to match basic features with the LC. However,
his first contention is that there are not enough slots left to add three
cards for these features. This sounded odd; 1 grabbed an issue of FC
Magazine that reviewed twenty-one 386SX systems and the least num-
ber of slots available on any of the machines after adding video was
three (five was the normal figure). He also put the price of adding the
features at nearly $2000; even using well-recognized components, 1
could only generate a figure of about two-thirds that. During a similar
presentation at Apple's October product roll-out, a SCSI interface was
presented as costing a few hundred more than a $500 Western Digital
interface that includes on-board caching and very high throughput.
Apple may have been comparing prices with Compaq or IBM, but
these companies are not the real competition; their pricing is not rep-
resentative of the industry at large.
Apple is losing the marketing battle on sheer visibility of its
competitor's machines. As MS-DOS computer sales increase, so
does the proportion of shelf space MS-DOS software gets at stores,
feeding the cycle; it's the VHS versus Beta syndrome again. Plus,
since these stores can't sell Apple systems, why should they carry Mac
or ligs software? (Oh, but Apple Ile/IIc software is fine; while Apple
itself doesn't compete for space, often the same stores carry Laser
128 models.)
The highly discriminating user may hold out for an Apple system,
but at some point even that "discriminating" user may get uneasy
about the sheer sensory overload of MS-DOS omnipresence and
decide that it's better to have a slightly "inferior" machine with wide
support than a "superior" machine that is becoming a needle in a
haystack.
I admit to being one of these; I was within an eyelash of ordering a
new Mac Ilsi when "comments" from Apple executives, and the subse-
quent inaction in reversing them, forced my thinking to clear. These
people don't want to sell and support systems, they want to export a
philosophy without regard for their existing customer base.
"Buy CD-ROM drive, get computer free." That wasn't the way the
Montgomery Wards' ad read, but that was my immediate reaction on
seeing the Vendex headstart LX-CD package. It includes a 10 MHz
8088 CPU with 768K memory (640K for programs, with the remaining
I28R configurable as a printer buffer), a 1.44 megabyte 3.5 drive, 40
megabyte hard disk, VGA (video graphics adapter) video interface
card, three-button mouse, serial port, parallel port, 101-key keyboard,
clock, 10 manuals... and a 680 megabyte CD-ROM drive with audio
adapter and stereo output (with volume control and headphones). We
have since found these systems offered at several retail outlets at a
median price of $800, monitor not included.
But wait, that's not all. The unit also includes several CD-ROM
discs: Microsoft Bookshelf (dictionary, almanac, Bartlett's Familiar
Quotations, Chicago Manual of Style, Roget's II Electronic Thesaurus,
a 130,000 record Business Information Sources address book,
houghton-Mifflin Spelling Verifier and Corrector, houghton-Mifflin
Usage Alert (grammar verifier), ZIP code index, and a set of standard
business forms and letters). The hew Grollier Electronic Encyclope-
dia, and a combination disc containing FC Globe 3.0 (a graphic atlas
with associated information database), hot Line Two (a dialer and
phone number database), a sample-size version of the CD Guide
Optical Edition (a commercial database of audio compact discs), and
30 games. One audio sampler disc is also included.
Software supplied on the installation disk includes a menu-based
selector (you can exit to the MS-DOS prompt if you like, but you never
have to see it otherwise), two self-study tutorials (one on computers,
the other on the headstart system itself), a very basic integrated soft-
ware package (with word processor, spreadsheet, and database), disk
utilities (file/volume utilities, backup, and optimizer), several "pop-up"
desk accessories (in MS-DOS lingo these are called "terminate and
stay resident" programs, or "TSRs"). And, as they say, much much
more.
Assuming you can put up with MS-DOS, this CPU costs only about
$100 more than an average (bare) CD-ROM drive. All you need to add
to use the system is a VGA monitor (monochrome will run you about
$150; color about $350 and up) and, if you like, a printer. The unit
Justifies the price even if you're only going to use it as an electronic
reference source and never intend to use it as a general-purpose com-
puter. If you're interested, you may have to hunt around for this
6.84 A2'Central
Vol. 6, No. 1 1
system; it was marked down from about $1500, and supplies seem
to be going fast in our area.
This unit points out just how much lower in cost "main-
stream" systems are going to be than Apple tends to recognize
or represent. We've maintained in the past (and still believe) that
comparing Apple's prices to "clone" PC prices is unfair to Apple. How-
ever, the components in this PC are at least "second tier" brand
names: the video card is an ATI VGA Wonder for example, a respect-
ed name in the PC market. Vendex itself is owned by Philips, as in
"North American Philips" and "co-inventors of compact disc technolo-
gy". This is not some anonymous startup clone maker; this is a major
consumer electronics firm that has taken technology and packaged it
in a form attractive to the general consumer rather than a compart-
mentalized "target market". And you may also have heard of the com-
pany that makes the CD-ROM data/audio interface-Sony Corporation.
The Vendex points out how Apple strangles itself with "target mar-
keting". We found out the CD-ROM reference discs were in the stan-
dard High Sierra format. So we chucked them into our AppleCD SC
drive on a llgs with the High Sierra FST installed and, sure enough,
the files popped right up on the desktop (our Mac couldn't catalog
the Microsoft Bookshelf disc, but the llgs said the file system was
fine). Here we have utilities of definite interest to llgs owners, and
Apple's feeble-minded marketing hasn't been able to spawn a llgs
version of the applications to access the data. A 10 MHz 8088 is no
threat to a llgs (trust us; we've used them side by side), but the differ-
ence is that Apple wants your Apple 11 running K-8 software, while
Philips is prepared to give you every business, education, and
home productivity resource that their CPU will run, and even put
some of it in the box to use from the time you first get the system
home. Which company would you rather buy from?
At one end (Mac marketing), Apple is trying to present itself as a
competitive company. In terms of marketing, it isn't; even as Apple
projects its message that Macs are competitively priced, the con-
sumer's everyday experience tells him that MS-DOS systems are more
popular. And entry level systems are cheaper, especially if color is an
issue. They are expandable (try to add a color display to a Mac Clas-
sic). At the other end (Apple II marketing), Apple has been dissuading
new customers and frustrating developers seeking market share.
The problem with living in your own world is that you can be
trapped there. Expect to see the successors to the Philips machine
(80286 and 80386SX versions, possibly with different combinations
of the supplied software) in consumer electronics stores near you
with a Magnavox, rather than a Vendex, logo. One salesman told us
that Philips wanted to make the machines more visible and that
putting a name more recognizable than Vendex on them was an
immediate part of the plan.
Both Tom Vanderpool and 1 have these machines at home now;
mine sits right across from my llgs. The llgs System Software beats
MS-DOS 3.3 like a drum; copying or moving files on the LX-CD is like
pulling teeth, and the performance is not what you'd expect from a
turbo clone (I'm realistic about this, and plan to replace the LX-CD
motherboard with a 25 MHz 80386). The applications (other than
those supplied on CD-ROM) are pretty unexceptional, but they are
essentially free. With CrossWorks, 1 have more data compatibility with
the LX-CD than Apple has ever deigned to offer me with the Mac, and
such transfers work two ways instead of always going irreversibly
from Apple II to Mac. I can walk into any store and be inundated with
rich alternatives for new software. I'd rather have Apple II software
(and I buy Apple II versions where 1 can; MS-DOS versions of some
applications and games seem to have a knack for being bland), but
Apple has made that choice for me. I hope they and their stockhold-
ers enjoy shunting revenue to other companies.
Apple should recognize that these systems will probably be widely
available soon. Shoppers are going to be stunned by the amount of
software available with the system as well as the amount of aftermar-
ket software and hardware and many Apple II users like myself will be
more than happy to reward these consumer-oriented companies
especially if it keeps money out of Apple's MacPockets. So what's to
be said about Apple's marketing thrust?
Dumb. Very dumb.— DJD
Miscellanea
Okay, we've delivered the eulogy and the sermon. Now let's go to
the dinner and get on with life in the Apple II world. Goods things are
happening, too!
Apple has released llgs System Software 5.0.3. Revisions
include a much (make that much) faster ImageWriter driver, a real
ImageWriter LQ driver, and the usual bug fixes and feature enhance-
ments.
One very neat enhancement is in the Standard File dialog that
Desktop applications use to select files; at the volume level, instead
of using the Tab key or "Disk" button to step to each disk in agonizing
sequence, there is now a "Volumes" button that brings up a list of all
disk volumes on line. You then open the volume of interest and pro-
ceed to locate your file. For those of us who have "slow" volumes
(notably CD-ROM or AppleShare server volumes where many files may
exist in the root directory) or many disk volumes on line at once this
selection process is much more convenient than the old way.
A pesky bug in the Resource Manager has also been fixed so that
reasonably safe resource editing is now possible.
If your program checks the ProDOS 8 vl.9 global page for the
version number, the version indicated is vl.8. Since there are no
changes in the ProDOS vl.9 MLI, this shouldn't cause problems
unless you want to know the specific version in memory for some
other reason. It's just another way Apple's numbering systems leave
us perplexed.
Apple n software sales have risen 10 per cent this year
according to the Software Publisher's Association; this despite
no visible positive marketing effort by Apple for that CPU line and
dwindling Apple II (and Mac, incidentally) sections on local store's
software shelves. We assume that most Apple II products must be
selling through direct mail.
Zip Technology is shipping their llgs accelerator products. All
versions are supplied with processors running at 8 MHz. The Model
1500 ZipChip GS ($250) replaces the processor on the motherboard
and incorporates an 8R cache. The Model 1525 ZipChipGS Plus
($300) contains 16K cache memory and adds DMA compatibility. The
slot-based Model 1600 ZipGSX card ($350) has the same features as
the Model 1525 but is user upgradeable to faster processors and
more cache memory for more acceleration. Contact Zip Chip, Inc.,
5601 West Slauson Ave., Suite #190, Culver, Calif. 213-337-1313,
FAX 213-337-9337, to order or for more information. We hope to be
getting a unit to evaluate in the near future.
ASIC Technologies' Tony Fadell, designer of ASIC's fast
65816-workalike chip, reports via the comp.sys.apple2 network
that prototypes have achieved 17 MHz and that production samples
made with new 1 micron processes (the "1 micron" refers to how
small the circuit elements on the chip can be fabricated) may be able
to achieve over 25 A/Hz.
Vitesse, Inc., has been busy. Besides enhancing their Quickie
software (Tom Vanderpool has tried a similar scanner with the Quick-
ie and with MS-DOS software and says the Quickie seems to do a bet-
ter job), they've announced a suite of llgs printer drivers and a new
disk repair utility.
In addition to the Quickie software enhancements to support most
100 to 400 dots per inch (DPI) scanners with the II+, He, llgs, and
Laser 1 28, the update makes these scanners compatible with West-
Codes in Words optical character recognition software. Vitesse will
offer this "add your own scanner" package for $129 (for the con-
troller card, two software disks, and user guide).
tiarmonie ($49.95) adds support for several printers and a couple
of parallel interfaces to the llgs System Software. Supported printers
include the Hewlett-Packard DeskJet, LaserJet IIP, LaserJet III, and
PaintJet, the Apple ImageWriter, and the Epson LQ series (and com-
patibles). tiarmonie also includes its own serial port and parallel card
drivers for use with the printer drivers.
Salvation Deliverance ($49.95) is a QS/OS utility intended to vali-
date and repair disk volumes. It will check the file structures and
attempt to identify and rectify problems, and locate and mark bad
December 1990
Al'Central 6.85
disk blocks.
Need to work with files inside of GS/OS applications? Seven
Hills Software's Disk Access ($49.95) is a New Desk Accessory that
installs on your boot volume and allows you to do disk and file main-
tenance without having to exit to Finder. As a matter of fact, if you
decide you can do without Finder, a very small program launcher
(whimsically named Out To Launch) is also supplied. The combina-
tion gives you the file launcher (minus icon support) and file utility
functions of Finder, but with a faster startup time.
When opened. Disk Access’s window explodes to present an array
of function buttons above an information window (usually the file list
for the current working directory). The array of active buttons changes
depending on your location on the hard disk and your selection of
files, but basically all the file functions of Finder are available, plus a
few extra like Find File (locate a file by name) and Show File (display
the contents of a file).
Seven Hills is releasing new or upgraded versions of several prod-
ucts, including Font Factory (a ligs font editor with font sets) and
GraphicWhter III (a feature-laden desktop publishing program). We
hope to look these over in future issues.
Micol Systems is working on version 4.0 of Flicol Advanced
BASIC for the Ilgs. New features will include the ability to call all
QS/OS functions, universal availability of hex numbers, support of 4-
byte integers, use of commas in number formatting (such as "X% =
186,000"), editor enhancements, and (as they say) more.
Hardware maker ThirdWare (the FingerFrint folks) has moved
to 3300 Corporate Avenue #116, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33331, 305-
389-9009, FAX 305-389-9066.
Claris has announced an AppIeWorks GS template contest for
teachers. Entries must be postmarked no later than January 10,
1991, and will be judged by representatives of Claris, The Apple-
Works Educator, and TI Sr IE. Call 1-800-747-7483 for entry forms
and contest instructions.
Claris also announced a second edition of The AppIeWorks
Resource Guide for Teachers and Parents. It should be available
through Claris and selected education dealers as you read this.
InCider Magazine is planning to supplement its current cover-
age of the Apple II with coverage of the new Macs. Please note
the word "supplement" is not the word "replace".
Meanwhile, nibble claims to be the last Apple 11 exclusive maga-
zine. Okay, if we don't count ourselves and 05+ as "magazines" per
se...
Our plans here at Al-Central are to continue helping and
supporting Apple II users on into the next millennium. At that
time we ll reevaluate the situation. This month we decided to show
our commitment by purchasing 8/16 magazine from Ross Lambert's
Ariel Publishing Co of Pateros, Wash. Lambert started 8/16 in March
of this year to provide a monthly forum for 8- and 16-bit Apple II pro-
grammers and developers, both hobbiest and professional types.
Lambert published 8/16 in both paper and disk versions, which
were available separately. Production costs have forced us to discon-
tinue the paper version of 8/16. The disk version will henceforth be
known as 8/l6-CentraI. Subscribers to the paper version will get
disks instead, using a conversion formula that's fair to everyone.
8/I6-CentraI will be edited by Jay Jennings. Jennings was a con-
tributing editor to 8/16 since its inception and was an A2-Central
staff member even before that. See this month's catalog for subscrip-
tion details.
An Al’Central footnote. Up till now, A2-Central has been orga-
nized as a sole proprietorship owned by Tom Weishaar and his wife,
Kathy O'Connell. At our current growth rate, we should have gross
sales in 1991 in excess of $1 million. Consequently, Tom and Kathy
have decided to change the company's structure to a corporation.
Ownership won't change, as Tom and Kathy will still own all the stock.
Just the legal underpinnings.
Our Apple Il-related activities will continue under the A2-Central
banner, but the official name of the corporation, which you may
encounter from time to time, will be Resource Central, Inc. We see
ourselves as a publishing company and we intend to continue
expanding our family of publications. We are studying several differ-
ent markets that we might enter, some of them computer-related and
some not.
To beef up our Apple II customer lists, we've decided to take
the advice we've been giving Apple and do some big-budget
marketing ourselves. We've produced a red and yellow, 24-page ver-
sion of our monthly catalog (this one describes all the products in
detail) that will be mailed to our subscribers in the next few weeks.
And also to a lot of people we'd like to have as subscribers.
Now that this monthly newsletter, A2-Centrai has a whole car full
of siblings (Stack’Centrai TimeOut-Central and 8/16'CentraI) rid-
ing with it, 1 have three less ways that I have to try to split A2-Cen'
tral itself; in the past, it has been difficult to determine the direction
that A2-Central the newsletter should go. The direction 1 plan to take
now is in locating and sharing details about new products for the
Apple II. We'll continue to cover the major details of all Apple II activi-
tites, however, so keep those cards and letters coming-Uncle DOS
insists he'll continue to take on all comers.— DJD
For those of you having trouble getting
AppIeWorks OS's Page Layout module to size
your super high-res graphics correctly when
preparing to print in "Condensed" mode, disre-
gard the directions in the reply to "Apple-
Works GS draft printing" (A2-Central, p.
6.64). While importing the graphic into a page
set up to print in condensed mode, use the
Option key while placing (not resizing) the
imported image on your page. Once the image
is placed and visible, it will retain its dimen-
sions relative to the page size until you drag a
corner of the image to resize it, or until you
switch your Page Settings information. So if
you do decide to switch to "Fiormal" or "Inter-
mediate" print sizing after importing the
image, you'll need to resize the graphic manu-
ally to fit the image to the new page size. Or, if
using "Liormai", re-import the graphic without
using the Option key while placing the image.
And someone put an "Easter Egg" in the
AppIeWorks GS "About" box. Make sure you
have Cairo. 18 installed in your "Fonts" folder
on your boot disk. Launch AppIeWorks GS,
open a new word processor document, then
pull down the "apple" menu and select "About
AppIeWorks GS...". When the "About" box
appears, type the word "moof" and hit return
to see the Apple Developer Support mythical
mascot, the dogcow.
We mentioned jb Technologies last month
in connection with hard disk repairs. We
neglected their address, however; iF's 5105
Maureen Lane, Moorpark, Calif 93021, 805-
529-0908, FAX 805-529-7712.
"Can you help us Find...?" (p. 6.22) asked
about creating an AppIeWorks screen using
larger characters for visually impaired users.
We still haven't heard of a video driver to allow
AppIeWorks to use a large-scale font, but RC
Systems had a different slant on the solution:
among the adaptive technology devices they
sell is The AppIeWorks Companion ($49.95)
that modifies the AppIeWorks startup disk to
add speech synthesizer support and new
AppIeWorks commands (string search on
screen contents, editing command enhance-
ments, ten user-definable macros, narration of
documents for proofing). A utility to convert
AppIeWorks word processor files to ASCII Files
is also included.
The enhancements use no desktop space,
and are compatible with Beagle Bros' TimeOut
and most desktop expanders. AppIeWorks 2.0
or later is required, as well as a Slotbuster II
with speech synthesizer option or a Dou-
bleTalk speech synthesizer.— DJD
Mac LC and lie emulation
I have had the opportunity to read your pub-
lication several times in the past. Finally, I
decided to cough up the bucks for my own sub-
scription. While I was at it, I ordered the com-
plete set of back issues. I think I made a good
6.86 Al'Central
Vol. 6, No. 11
investment. I am now enjoying current issues as
they come in and filling in with five years worth
of interesting Information from the past. My spe-
cial area of interest is Apple II networks. On this
topic, I have questions and comments.
My main question is: will the Apple He card
for the recently introduced Macintosh LC allow
access to Apple II software on an AppleShare
file server? 1 think this would be important.
Also, what will the price be for this card? I have
heard different numbers.
My main comment is: Aristotle (Apple's Pro-
DOS 8 based AppleShare menuing system) is
the pits! How could the self-professed gods of
user interface at Apple ever have released such
a product? 1 have been amazed by it's total lack
of merit ever since first using it in 1987, prior to
it's wide release. However, to be honest, I have
a self-serving motive for stating this opinion.
The company that I work with has recently intro-
duced a menu system that is AppleShare aware.
The product, EasyShare llx, has many benefi-
cial features, but one may interest you more
than the others. It supports DOS 3.3 over an
AppleShare network! I don't mean a few select-
ed products, I mean most products from most
publishers. For DOS 3.3 products, the menu
system generally requires no product modifica-
tion, supports simultaneous network and floppy
disk access, supports the volume number
parameter, and usually returns to the menu with
just a keypress.
Brian Walker
LPC, LAHPRO Corporation
2850 Metro Drive, Suite 413
Minneapolis, Minn. 55425
800-926-EASY
612-851-3250
We saw the Apple II emulator briefly in a
Mac LC at our local Apple roll-out of the new
Macs. What we noticed is that it definitely
looked like a coprocessor, not seamlessly inte-
grated into the LC. As a "bridge" machine, the
ligs beats the Mac LC hollow, unless you're
bound and determined to "go Mac". Since the
lie card for the Mac LC isn't anticipated until
next March, and the LC itself doesn't seem to
be in local stores, detailed reports will have to
wait.
An Apple Direct article says AppleShare
isn't currently supported on the emulator, but
will be by its release date. The product infor-
mation sheet lists the final retail price at $199,
but prices have been known to change (the
article in Apple Direct had the price at $249).
Since the primary market will likely be to
schools, Apple probably will price the card as a
loss-leader to make the Mac LC bundle more
attractive, so we expect the $199 figure to
hold.
Since Apple seems determined to force our
hand to supporting coprocessors, we're plan-
ning to get a Diamond 'TrackStar (Apple lie
emulator for MS-DOS machines) and look it
over, too, just to keep your options open. We
have no immediate plans to add coverage for
either of the host machines, though (if we do,
it will be in new and distinct publications).
We've been turning our DOS 3.3 diskettes
into coasters, but there is a lot of educational
software out there that is DOS 3.3, so there
may be a mad rush for your product for that
reason.
We've heard several educational software
companies are starting to re-write their soft-
ware to work under FroDOS and with network
compatibility. Good network utilities will be in
demand as software becomes network aware;
as a program selector, Aristotle sent us back to
the shelf looking for something with a useable
interface.
We're still trying to Figure out why Apple
used number keys in some of the AppleShare
utilities with MouseText windowing interfaces,
rather than open-apple-0 (for "Open") and so
on.—DJD
Ingenuity drive repairs
I own an Ingenuity OverDrive. Any known
source of parts?
Andrew Klimas
Randallstown, Md.
Bill tieineman says he can handle most
repairs on Ingenuity drives at a reasonable fee;
you can reach him at Custom Software, Inc.,
7734 S. Broadway Road, Whittier, Calif 90606,
213-695-3966-DJD
Siot 3 Ciock
I would like to inform your readers who
might have a Slot 3 Clock from Southern Cali-
fornia Research Group (P. 0. Box 593, Moor-
park, Calif. 93020, 805-529-2082) that I have
updated the ProDOS installation software for it.
The update will install the clock driver into all
official versions of ProDOS 8 (from vl .0 to vl .9)
and is easily modifiable for future versions of
ProDOS by the user. 1 have permission from Phil
Wershba of SCRQ to distribute this software to
all those who wish to purchase it from me. Any-
one interested can call me Monday through Fri-
day from 9 AM to 5 PM Pacific Standard Time at
415-489-7024. I will determine a price for the
update based on the number of responses I get.
More responses will lower the price, as I just
want to recoup for my time spent on the pro-
ject. Any material and handling costs will be fig-
ured in also. Interested readers should call to
discuss what they would be willing to shell out
for the update and to give me their addresses
so that I can inform them of my final decision.
For use in the Apple II, Ik, or He I highly rec-
ommend the Slot 3 Clock card over the rio Slot
Clock chip. This card does not stick up in the
way of peripheral cards like the clock chip. It is
designed to plug into slot 3 in the He without
interfering with the operation of any extended
80-column text/RAM card in the auxiliary slot. It
supports Applesoft, DOS 3.3, ProDOS, Apple-
Works, and any software accessing the
date/time through the ProDOS Machine Lan-
guage Interface. Its software installs directly into
ProDOS so that a pre-boot is not necessary. It
has a long-lasting replaceable lithium battery.
(Mine is still ticking after four or five years now).
The timing is adjustable if necessary. It enables
time and date stamping of DOS 3.3 files when
saving them to disk the first time. And it
enables time and date stamping at all times in
ProDOS.
James P. Davis
Hayward, Calif.
More DMA SCSI timings
As a fellow DMA SCSI card owner, I must
reply to Udo Huth's letter ("Don't hang up",
June 1990). I have a Jasmine 40 megabyte
drive attached to the DMA card in slot 7 and I
originally thought the system was hanging if the
drive was not switched on. In practice, it "times
out" after 20-25 seconds and continues from
the 3.5 disk.
1 have some comparative times for the old
and new cards. My Hgs system has 3.25
megabytes of memory, a TransWarp GS, and my
Jasmine's seek time is 28 milliseconds. The
interleave is 1:1, which is better than 2:1 and
the (unknown) original value, but I'm not sure if
it's the best! Both times use the new drivers
(which are slightly faster for the old card as
well!). A fascinating thing is that the times often
vary up and down by several seconds under
otherwise fixed conditions. The times listed are
average timings:
Rev. C
HA
Boot to Finder
44.0
36.0
- 550K of DA' 8, etc.
i^ldfoiks GS
- HP, SS, Com
24.5
17.5
PioSel voluoe stats
■* linear read
9.5
2.2
- randcB read
28.5
31.5
- OS ovei^ead
4.5
11.1
Digitized sound files
- 200+ blocks
3.0
1.0
- 600+ blocks
6.0
1.0
- 670+ blocks
6.5
1.5
The sound files were what
convinced me to
buy the card. I can play through a directory of
sounds in (almost) real time— very impressive.
The simple fact is that the card speeds up the
transfer rate. If the drive spends its time seek-
ing, as during a boot or loading a segmented
file like AppleWorks GS, then the speed-up is
minor. Give it a large file to load and you are
talking "greased lightening". 1 am hoping Claris
will provide an installation option to allow "true"
preloading of AppleWorks GS so that people
with enough memory and a DMA card will be up
and running (all modules) in around 12seconds!
Peter Watson
Box Hill north, Vic.
The Apple High-Speed SCSI card does not
maintain an on-card cache, so it does have a
significant disadvantage when loading smaller
Files versus a card such as the RamFast, which
retains some of the disk image in it's cache
RAM. Using a drive with an internal track cache
will offset part of that advantage, but not all.
We really notice the RamFast's speed when
loading a program that uses several small files,
such as AppleWorks 3.0 plus a large number of
'TimeOut files. The lIgs boot process also loads
a large number of distinct files, and the Ram-
Fast's speed is noticable there, too.
The Apple High-Speed SCSI Card takes
advantage of a feature of the SCSI driver and
GS/OS to be able to load large files very quick-
ly; there is a command (documented in the
Apple High-Speed SCSI Card Technical Ref-
erence from AFDA) that allows GS/OS to pass
the card a buffer location and request that the
card load a number of sequential blocks from
a File to the buffer, bypassing much of the
operating system overhead. This is how the
spectacular Star Wars demo is performed.
However, this feature is only available with the
combination of the High-Speed SCSI Card and
GS/OS, so a lie user will not see an equivalent
beneFit for large files. For those users, the
RamFast provides the ultimate throughput in
all circumstances we currently know of.—DJD
December 1990
Al-Central 6.87
VT alternative
Regarding "Terminal Emulation" (Al^’Cen-
tral, Movember 1990, p. 6.76): John F. Snow's
Snowterm is a program that will do most of
what the user wants by creating his own charac-
ter set. And it's fast and ligs specific as well.
The only drawback is it only does text transfers
(no protocol transfers).
Hugh Grant Delaney
Pinawa, Man.
SnowTenn is a shareware program that
operates using the Ilgs's Super Uigh-Resoiution
display. It supports VT-52 and VT-IOO emula-
tions (minus the 132-column modes), and uses
its own customized screen font for displaying
text during communications.
Since SnowTetw uses a graphics font, sup-
port for international character sets is possible.
The shareware release uses the USA character
set for the VT-IOO emulation, but a UK set is
also supplied to users who register by paying
the shareware fee. These fonts are not stan-
dard lIgs fonts, but it may be possible to create
other character sets for the program. John
points out that SnowTenn won't switch
between the US and UK sets such as the VT-
IOO does.
SnowTenn is $20 (add $5 for shipping out-
side of north America) from Snow Software,
F.O. Box 58621, Salt Lake City, Utah
84I58.-DJD
The New Print Shop revisited
1 just received the Hovember, 1990 issue of
Al-Central (on disk) and 1 generally agree with
Mr. Barr's "review" of Broderbund's Tiew Print
Shop. 1 am especially pleased that 1 can now
run (this version of) Print Shop from my hard
drive and 1 made sure to comment on that fact
when 1 returned the owner registration card to
Broderbund— 1 encourage everyone to do the
same.
One other quirk of the Mew Print Shop sur-
faces if you use Glen Bredon's ProSel-8 as a
program selector on your hard drive. If the ProS-
el-8 file RAM.DRV.SYS is run before you launch
the new Print Shop, you will see the following:
IThe New Print Shop
/RAM Dish Required
Press any hey to r^oot
The solution is to warm boot the hard drive
(seeing that RAM.DRV.SYS does not "run") and
relaunch the new Print Shop, which then pro-
ceeds to run beautifully!
Skip Hayes
Billings, Mont.
Although harry Barr mentioned a problem
with using the new Print Shop with the Zip
Chip on his system, many readers have noti-
fied us that they haven't had such problems.
So your mileage may vary.—DJD
Revised No Slot Clock utility
I have used SMT's no Slot Clock in my Apple
He for almost a year and have been totally
happy patching ProDOS vl.7 from the no Slot
Clock Utility Disk. The patches to the utility
offered by Shirk and Broder for ProDOS v. 1.8,
and 1 .9 did not work on my disk and resulted in
ProDOS coming back with a "Relocation Error". I
called SMT (at their new number) and asked if
they had developed a patch for the latest ver-
sions of ProDOS. The SMT Tech Rep was courte-
ous, knowledgeable about Apple computers (I),
and very helpful. They have written an entirely
new utility disk that (1) installs a no Slot Clock
driver as the first ".SYSTEM" file on your disks
and (2) contains the latest versions of both Pro-
DOS and BASlC.System. The beauty of
HS.CLOCK.SYSTEM is ProDOS is no longer mod-
ified and future upgrades will not result in the
"Relocation Error" when using the no Slot
Clock. The installation of the driver went
smoothly, ending up as the first ".SYSTEM" file
on each disk, thus assuring the no Slot Clock
was available to ProDOS. Additionally, accord-
ing to the READ. ME file, if the no Slot Clock is
not installed, the driver does not load and the
next ".SYSTEM" file is executed. This is a new
utility, with a date of 16 Oct 90, and I doubt
that its existence is well known since SMT has
moved and they are not set up to deal directly
with the public (they cannot take credit card
orders and prefer checks). My order was filled in
three days.
The price of the utility disk (including ship-
ping) is $7.50. Specify that you want the new
ProDOS no Slot Clock Utility Disk. You can con-
tact SMT at:
SMT Inc.
310 Via Vera Cruz, Suite 112
San Marcos, Calif. 92069
619-591-4002
Richard Cheney
San Pedro, Calif.
Okay, okay, I plead the absence of any
experience with the ISo Slot Clock. Otherwise
I probably would have noticed that the only
change to the ProDOS 8 v 1.9 patch we pub-
lished last month and the vl.8 that we pub-
lished in February is the REM statement.
Apple prefers that utilities that add drivers
to ProDOS work in the manner you've
described for the ISo Slot Clock patches; that
is, the PRODOS file should be allowed to load
and then a program should be used to add the
driver to the ProDOS image in memory, rather
than having the patches made directly to the
PRODOS file itself This insures that the format
of the original PRODOS file remains known and
intact.
With SMT located, we'll defer the Mo Slot
Clock patch updates to them.—DJD
CloseView and friends
InfoWorld (December 11, 1989, p. 53) says
that "sticky keys.. .and CloseView... are built into
every Mac and Apple ligs sold". "CloseView" is
supposed to assist low vision users. Is it in the
"regular" ligs, built into System 5.0.2, or is it a
hardware modification only available with the
ROM 03 ligs? Can CloseView be invoked
through software?
Also System Disk 5.0.2 has a CD controller
HDA built in. Will this work with a non-Apple CD
player? Does it need a controller card to do so
such as a SCSI card or disk controller? Will it
only play music or will it read the High Sierra
standard data CD-ROMs. (Or do these CD's run
only with IBM software?)
I've asked my local Apple dealer these ques-
tions, and gotten a blank stare in response.
Larry Haukum
Fairport, H.Y.
Apple is working on several "adaptive" addi-
tions to the ligs system software, though it
looks like InfoWorld jumped the gun a bit on
CloseView. The first we've seen of it is on the
new developer CR-ROM from Apple, "Might of
the Living Disc".
When using ligs Desktop-based applications,
CloseView allows you to employ selectable
magnification to enlarge a portion of the
screen to fill the entire display. This way,
someone who has trouble working with the
size of the objects employed in Apple's graphic
interface can expand a problem section of the
display in order to see what's going on. While
in the expanded display, if you try to move "off
the edge" of the enlarged screen, CloseView
will scroll to the next portion of the actual
Desktop.
Another enhancement currently shipping in
a test version through APDA is the Video Key-
board MDA, which serves as an alternative
character input device for someone unable to
use a normal keyboard. Video Keyboard brings
up a miniature version of the ligs keyboard on
screen for access via a mouse (or mouse-
replacement pointing device). By moving the
mouse cursor to a key and clicking, the equiva-
lent keystroke is entered as if it had been
typed from the keyboard.
For someone who can use a keyboard but
has trouble pressing multiple keys at once,
"sticky keys" allows simulating the multiple
key-down keypresses by substituting a
sequence of equivalent keystrokes. Instead of
holding down Option-Shift-3 simultaneously to
type Option-#, for example, with "sticky keys"
you press Option, then Shift, then 3, sequen-
tially. This feature is part of the ROM 03 ligs;
you can enable it by striking the Shift key Five
times in succession without moving the
mouse. To disable it, press the shift key five
times in succession again, or press two "modi-
fier" keys (option, command, shift, control)
simultaneously.
Just as Video Keyboard lets you use the
mouse cursor to operate the keyboard, the
ROM 03 ligs has a "keyboard mouse" enabled
by pressing Command-Shift-Clear. The numeric
keypad can then be used to move the mouse
cursor: "8" moves the mouse up, "I" moves it
down and to the left, and so on. The increment
of movement can be changed by pressing the
keypad followed by 1-9 (or "0" for incre-
ments of 10). You click or press the mouse
with the "5" key (the duration determines
whether it's a click or a press); to drag, you
press "0" to start the drag, move the pointer,
then press "5" to end the drag. There are more
equivalents, but if you have a ROM 03 ligs
they're all in the manual (pages 15-19).
After the ROM 03 ligs, the ligs System Soft-
ware gurus at Apple realized that they could
add most, if not all, of the same functionality
to the ROM 01 machine via software. Thus,
part of the test suite sent out in the Universal
Access disk package is an Easy Access. Init ini-
tialization program that provides sticky keys
and the keyboard mouse for both the ROM 01
and ROM 03 ligs.
The Mac versions of CloseView and Easy
Access ship with the Macintosh System Soft-
ware. The ligs versions weren't present in our
licensed version of 5.0.3; we don't know yet
how they will be distributed.
The CD-ROM drivers and CD Remote MDA
that Apple supplies with the ligs System
6.88 A2-Central
Vol. 6, No. 1 1
Software are intended for use with Appie's
SCSI interface cards and a CD-ROM drive; not
an audio CD player (if you're interested in con-
trolling an audio-only CD player, see "Picture
this", in the July 1990 issue). Other peripheral
cards which won't work with Apple's SCSI
drivers will have to supply their own CD-ROM
driver software.
Until recently, the only CD-ROM player that
we've heard works is Apple's AppleCD SC unit;
since Apple has dropped the price from the
original $1199 to a more competitive $899,
this isn't quite the scare it used to be. But A2-
Central freelance Pont Librarian Mark Collins
recently discovered that a less expensive
Peripheral Land (47421 Payside Parkway, Fre-
mont, Calif 94538, 4 1 5-657-22 1 1 ) CD ROM
drive also works.
CD-ROMs can hold data in several formats:
computer data formats, audio compact disk
sound, and so on. In terms of computer data,
the Apple lie can read ProDOS partitions (if
present) within the normal constraints of Pro-
DOS (that is, only two partitions per slot are
available at any one time, and a maximum
total of four partitions split between slots 5
and 2 if the SCSI interface is installed in slot 5
and there is not another disk interface occupy-
ing slot 2). The standard CD-ROM Migh Sierra
format can be accessed by application soft-
ware running on the He; that is, the program
that accesses the CD-ROM must include driver
code to access the high Sierra format.
On the Ilgs, GS/OS can access either Pro-
DOS or High Sierra partitions of a CD-ROM via
A2-Centml
©Copyright 1990 by
A2-Central
Most rights reserved. All programs published in A2Central are public
domain and may be copied and distributed without charge. Apple user groups
and significant others may obtain permission to reprint articles from time to time
by specific written request.
Edited by:
Dennis Dorns
with help from;
Tom Weishaar Sally Dwyer Dean Esmay
Joyce Hammond Jeff Neuer Jay Jennings
Tom Vanderpool Jean Weishaar
42'Ceiitra/,— iled Open-Apple through January, 1989— has been pub-
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its File System Translator (FST) capabilities
(see "Apple vs. ... Magnavox" this issue). FSTs
to allow accessing Macintosh and MS-DOS par-
titions are possible, but such software has not
been announced by Apple as yet. There is a
close approximation to a Mac FST, though, if
you have the equipment: attach the CD-ROM to
an AppleShare server (Mac, of course), install
the CD-ROM as a network volume, and then
access it from a Ilgs workstation on the net-
work. The Mac partition will be available to the
server, and the AppleShare FST in the Ilgs will
allow you to communicate with the server.
(You could also access these from the He using
the ProDOS 8 AppleShare Filing Interface; see
"Ask (or Tell) Uncle DOS", August 1990), pp.
6.52-54
The AppleCD SC includes audio outputs for
CD audio, and the CD Remote allows you to
use the CD-ROM as a very expensive audio CD
Player from within a Ilgs desktop application; it
pops up a graphic representation of a remote
control (see "The AppleCD SC drive", February
1990, pp. 6.3-5). When you exit GS/OS to Pro-
DOS 8, the CD audio shuts off, however;
maybe it's better not to count on the CD-ROM
for your musical entertainment.
The Apple CD SC also includes a 5.25 disk
with a He standalone application that allows
you to control the CD-ROM drive as an audio
player; you can use this to start an audio CD
playing when you aren't using the drive for
data.—DJD
No business with Apple
In the early- to mid-eighties, when the busi-
ness world was racked with indecision as to
which operating system to adopt (ProDOS, MS-
DOS, etc.), our firm (which provides job cost
analysis and accounting services for builders
and contractors) opted for Apple (lie) equip-
ment. The computers were well-built and easy
to use; enjoyed a fairly broad array of business
and productivity software; and could be pro-
grammed quickly and easily with the built-in
Applesoft BASIC. Our first machine was an
unenhanced He with a DuoDisk, 10 megabyte
Rodime hard disk, 15-inch ImageWriter, and a
stack of manuals. Software was BPI Accounting
(general accounting, accounts payable,
accounts receivable, inventory control, and PR),
AppleWorks vl.O, and one or two utility pro-
grams by Apple Computer.
Today, eight years and three more He's later,
we have our machines pumped up with Ohio
Rache and RamFast SCSI drive controllers, over
100 megabytes of high performance SCSI mass
storage, 8 MHz Zip Chips, a 10 MHz Rocket
Chip, and even a TransWarp //. Our software,
too, has been upgraded whenever possible;
including some sophisticated spreadsheets
we've designed (using AppleWorks 3.0, power-
fully enhanced by Beagle Bros), used in job cost
analysis and financial performance.
Sadly, we now face a changeover to cheaper,
faster, and more supportable 386 clones and
face as well the time-consuming, expensive,
and frustrating transition to the world of MS-
DOS, OS/2, and Windows 3.0.
The reasons must be obvious to you, as you
are closer to the industry than we. We have
maxed out our equipment. We have maxed out
our software. Long ago, Apple Computer rele-
gated the He to R-12 and the teenager's bed-
room, and then insulted the injured in an
attempt to salve the Apple 11 crowd by creating
the industry's slowest and least useful new com-
puter, the Ilgs. The bulk of business software
developers, witnessing the sad demise of the
"business Apple" generally, and the Apple 11 and
HI market specifically, gave a quick shrug and
turned their attentions to the business market
(read: IBM compatible).
Apple Computer meanwhile, in keeping with
its incredibly short-sighted and arrogant views
that the pricey Macintosh was the only "true"
graphics interface computer for business, is
now throwing cheap Macs at the market in the
vain hope that prospective buyers will not opt
for the spectacular new windowing operating
system from Microsoft. (Too late, Apple, they
already havel See Business Week's cover story
regarding Apple of a few weeks ago (October
15, 1990 issue).)
How, only outfits like Zip Technology (aided
and abetted by guys like Andy Vogan of C. V.
Technologies, and possibly the folks at Cirtech
and Applied Engineering) can keep small busi-
nessmen like me in the Apple H business. And
don't talk to me about the Ilgs. Our next
$12000 worth of computer systems will not
bear the Apple trademark. But a fully DMA com-
patible accelerator card or chip with a 10 MHz
or 12 MHz processor would enable me and
thousands like me to stay with our systems a
year or two longer. Ho, the cost of going to a
bunch of 386 machines is not in the hardware,
it's in the software, the training, and the transi-
tion time. That cost can only be measured in
the thousands of dollars. I'll pay quite a lot to
ward off that expense and trouble, and so
would thousands of others.
Thanks to Zip, C. V. Technologies, Cirtech,
Applied Engineering, and others (and no
thanks to Apple Computer) for keeping us in
the Apple H business up to now. But
Zip.. .please offer us just one more product that
will keep us here just a while longer. We'll be
watching and waiting; but please, not too long.
Tom Thomas
Thomas Associates
Topeka, Rs.
We'll continue to defend the Hgs; I'll only
stop here long enough to say that the Hgs is
not as "slow" as is rumored. But without seri-
ously designed business software taking advan-
tage of the enhanced features of the Hgs (you
are better off running 8-bit software on 8 MFIz
He's in terms of speed), there's no way to illus-
trate it.
Current Apple H owners shouldn't feel that a
dark cloud has suddenly settled over them;
other than the significant contributions Apple's
Apple H technical staff has offered in develop-
er support and operating system and peripher-
al upgrades, if Apple Computer were to be
blasted off the face of the earth tomorrow we
doubt the average Apple H user would notice
anything except a clearing of the air. Certainly
the amount of pro-Macintosh and anti-Apple 11
advertising would shift dramatically in the
Apple H user's favor. Apple hasn't shown the
ability to lead or follow it's user base, maybe
they'll now (Finally) at least get out of the way.
Or, if Apple's business performance doesn't
improve, maybe the stockholders will force the
necessary changes.— DJD
