🚀 go-pugleaf

preece@urbana.mcd.mot.com (Scott E. Preece) writes:
> In article <SBB.91May4133625@laplace.eng.sun.com> sbb@laplace.eng.sun.com
> | Go ahead, try to name something that the Mac has that wasn't done by someone
> | earlier, like PARC
> Well, how many things can you name about any other micro product that
> weren't done by someone else earlier?

Translation: "Okay, so Apple haven't done anything original, but nor have a
lot of other companies."

>                                           I would say that Apple has done
> better than most at getting innovations into common use.  Certainly they
> did an excellent job of turning the PARC desktop innovations into a
> smooth, integrated product.

Translation: "Certainly Apple made a good job of using someone else's ideas."

>                             I think the idea of the resource fork/data
> fork division of files is reasonably novel.

In the microcomputer world, yes. In the mainframe world, no.

>                                              I think the organization of
> the operating system interface is reasonably innovative.

What exactly do you mean?

>                                                         Innovation is
> a tricky word -- turning a concept into a product deserves a lot more
> credit than you seem to be willing to give it.

Oh, I'm quite willing to credit Apple for turning concepts into products of
excellent quality.

BUT if some other company wants to take those same concepts and turn them
into products independently of Apple, then they should be able to do so.

I think there are very good reasons to buy a Mac _apart from_ the GUI. The
choice of processor springs to mind (as I'm sure you'll agree :-)

If both Mac and PC had the same look and feel, I'd STILL prefer a Mac. But I
won't buy a Mac whilst Apple carries on with its anti-social behaviour.

>                                                  Just where do you see
> innovation in companies other than Apple, who presumably are operating
> on a business model you find preferable?

Well, Acorn's development of the Acorn RISC Machine was pretty innovative.
Microwriter's development of the microwriter chord keyboard was an innovative
and clever development of an idea by Douglas Engelbart.  Visicorp's Visicalc
was an innovative product in its time (I'm not sure whether they tried to
stop other companies from producing spreadsheet programs.)  The NeXT machine
is innovative, although I don't think it contains any one design element which
is entirely new. And, of course, Xerox's graphical workstations were
innovative; if only they had marketed them properly.


mathew