Re: [NTLK] Platform crap...

From: Sushi (Sushi_at_ragingbull.com)
Date: Sun Nov 04 2001 - 02:52:50 EST


>On 11/4/01 @ 2:44 PM, The Compulsive Splicer wrote:
>
>For what it's worth, the Quadra had its hard drives
>hanging off the Nubus (is that right?)

Uh, which Quadra.

I can tell you with 100% accuracy that the 660av 800, and 840av had SCSI
built in to the motherboard.

While not completely sure as memory fades with time, I believe that the
rest of the Quadra line did as well.

Of course, once you max out your SCSI chain, you could expand to a new
one via a NuBus card. And if you needed to upgrade to faster SCSI, you
could do that by adding a NuBus card.

The Quadras up through the 8100's were also known, except the 660av Pizza
Box, as the bloody knuckles machines. You would usually scrape off some
skin upgrading memory since you had to remove the entire motherboard --
and all the connectors as well. I used to help a VID office with their
Macs. Sometimes I really hated my 840av.

That's why when Apple went to their new design with the drop down
motherboard, some of us were very happy to see it.

>while the Pentium-90 had its hard drives on a PCI
>SCSI adapter.

I had by Quadra 840av in December 1993.

If memory serves, that was pre-Pentium days.

>In those days, 32MB was a lot of RAM

Yes it was. A year prior to purchasing my Quadra, 32MB RAM was $3,200.

When I purchased my 840av, 32MB RAM cost around $1,000.

And now 32MB RAM cost...oh, never mind why rub salt in the wounds.

>As far as the stability of the OS, OS/2 is/was/whatever
>more stable than *any* version of MacOS with the exception
>of OS X. That's not an opinion, that's a fact. Never mind
>that in those days, running Photoshop filters was a
>time-intensive process, and having an OS that would
>actually multitask was magical.

In honor of Rich, I'll abstain my comments here!

>The Quadras across the way in the prepress shop were
>totally flaky, too. I'd restart each of those machines
>several times in a shift. Even the G3 I ran at my
>last job couldn't be relied upon like you should be
>able to rely on a computer. Of course, I wouildn't
>and didn't recommend replacing it with any other kind
>of computer.

Okay, I've waited long enough.

If a computer is not set up correctly, what makes you think that the darn
thing will keep working over time?

Having maintained a VID that had about 10 Macs, I only got called over to
help out when they needed to upgrade or when something died such as a HD,
RAM (1 time), or the system got trashed by someone trying to fix the
system that didn't know how.

BTW, I did this as a favor (voluntary) because the IT department had no
Mac expertise. I usually went over on my lunch hour, after work or on
the weekends. These Macs ran very well and had few problems.

>The point is just that for every time someone throws
>an OS-based blanket statement at me, I get mad.

Uh, like you just did!

>There's a whole lot of stuff that I can't do with a Mac.

Like what for example?

Who knows, maybe someone in this group may have the expertise to help you
out.

>OS X has helped that situation tremendously, but it's
>still a situation where there is no one single computer
>that's best for all purposes, and such discussions are
>inflammatory, useless, and potentially insulting.

True.

As for myself, if someone does not have cross platform (DOS, Windows,
Mac, Unix, etc.) experience, I tend to take their comments with a large
grain of salt.

Especially when the platform wars begin.

It's interesting to see the number of folks who badmouth another
platform, who have never used it.

Reminds me of when I first got to Japan, and asked a fellow who had been
here a few years, if he like sushi. He said no. Curiously, I asked him
why? He went on about this and that. So then I asked him what sushi he
had tried and didn't like (as I was new, I didn't want to have the same
experience). He told me, that he had never tried sushi. So then I asked
him, how did he know he didn't like sushi. And he replied, "I just know."

I see the same argument with computer platforms as well, and software.

The key is to use the tool that gets the job done.

Sure we all have our preferences, but it's best to be as open minded as
possible.

>I had a job interview where the interviewer looked at
>my portfolio first, seemed to like what was in it, and
>then looked at my resume second. The resume listed
>(then, in 1992) ten years experience using DOS-based
>computers and eight years experience using Mac-based
>computers. Her face fell, and she told me point-blank:
>"We're looking for a Mac person."

Sorry to hear this.

FWIW, I've seen the opposite situation as well where they were looking
for a person with PC experience.

Why does this happen. Various reasons for sure. Sometimes it has to do
with approach.

Take a look at your typical PC Magazine. It has a certain flavor to it.
Conservative, informative, thick, sometimes boring with all the
information they have.

Then look at MacAddict. Bight colors, thin, weird articles. A humorous
and fun approach.

Both are good rags. It's just they have a different approach to things,
that's all. Neither is better than the other, but each has it's own
flavor and taste, and biasing.

Heck, take a look at the Newt community. We are definitely not
mainstream. We expound an attitude whether we want to or not. And
sometimes that attitude might not be the best for the situation.

Sushi

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