On Wed, Apr 14, 2004 at 08:01:24PM -0700, Robert Little wrote: > Darren is most indeed correct; from its inception, the PC was meant
Now I like a platform flame war as much as the next rabid OS advocate but this isn't the right place, as you yourself pointed out. > just a look at the simplicity of an [censored] logicboard Just to ensure I stay platform generic: certain logic boards look cleaner because they use a lot of custom chipsets. Certain platforms are produced in sufficient quantities these days that those custom chipsets can be bought off the shelf, but that is beside the point (they are built for a certain application regardless). The company which made the [censored] computer simply used custom chipsets for a larger number of purposes at an earlier stage of the game. They had to in order to ensure the computers would fit into those adorable cases which I'm sure all of us adore (it is either that, or I'm in the wrong place). It also kept manufacturing costs down, although it undoubtedly drove design costs up. Then again, that may not have mattered to the forementioned company because (if I recall correctly) they were one of the top computer manufacturers for years. They simply slipped down the list because the competing platform shifted from the hands of many small manufacturers and mom-and-pop type shops to the megacorporations we see today. > My primary astronomy computer is an old Toshiba > 586/120 Satellite laptop running Windows 98SE 'You obviously aren't a professional astronomer,' I mutter under my breath. One of the core tools in observational astronomy (IRAF) has run on the Macintosh for many years. In fact, I'll try running it on an SE/30 if I ever find a copy of A/UX. :-) > (I'm not a big fan of the full, immersive planetarium programs. I'm not a fan of immersive anythings, which is why I love the 68k Macintosh: most of the software targetted for this market was beautifully designed. The Mac which won me over was the SE. Up to that point, most of my experience was with Wintels and the Apple II (the SE was replacing an Apple II, which was replacing a high end 486 -- needless to say I was pissed off with the Wintel platform by that point). Well, I still try to convince myself that I could live with just an Apple II or an SE. But truth be told, I hunger power as much as the next person. I only wish that they tucked G4's into SE cases and it would run System 7.1. :-) Besides, it will be impossible to recreate the magic of my first Mac. It was a world of exploration and discovery, and it was one which changed my ideas about how computers should work. (Up until that point, I was an OS/2 hugging 'you need preemtive multitaking with a well designed scheduler, memory protection, object oriented graphical shell, blah, blah, blah' type of person. Then I discovered simplicity. It truely ruined my life because I now lust after something I cannot have -- re: the System 7.1 G4.) > I work in a planetarium. Cool. What type of experience do planetariums look for? I do teaching for a university, and some public outreach. It is fun. :-) > I could go on, and in fact have go on too long. The same goes for me! Byron. -- Compact Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/>. Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Compact Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/compact.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/compact.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
