🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1128@tekigm2.UUCP> wrd@tekigm2.UUCP (Bill Dippert) writes:
>From the sounds of recent messages, I am not the only one who would rather be
>using an Atari at work rather then an IBM.  Whether a ST or a XE/XL is, I
>think, a moot point.

   I don't think it's such a moot point.

>What is so bloody frustrating about the IBM is that
>everything that I can readily do at home on my 130XE takes a change in dip
>switch here, a new ... board there, etc.  My Atari's are set up for color, the
>IBM requires a special color card; the Atari is set up for graphics, the IBM
>requires a special graphics card!  Who says that the IBM is better?  Arghh!!

   As a workstation, the 8-bit Atari lacks one thing that is essential: 80
characters per line.  Unless things have changed since I bought an 8-bit
Atari, you still need to get "a special card."  Color is nice (I don't like
doing without it), but that's just icing on the cake for a workstation.
   But what about the capabilities as a microcomputer, you ask?  Well, the
IBM has the 8-bit beat here, too.  Say you want to hook a standard printer
up to your 1200XL; what do you do?  Call mail-order place after mail-order
place, trying to find somebody who knows what kind of cable you need; then
pay $59.95, only to discover that the 1200XL is different somehow than the
rest of Atari's 8-bit machines, so you have to go through the whole cycle
again.  Oh, and what about a modem-- you know, a standard Hayes-compatible.
Well, you can spend another $59.95 for a gizmo that you stick in the
joystick ports, but you need to use the software that comes with the gizmo.
And speaking of software, the IBM has just about every micro I know about
beat cold in both public domain software and commercial software, in both
quality and quantity.  That may be only because of the perceived usage of
the respective machines, but frankly, I would not even *think* of trying
to market a serious program for the 8-bit Atari, if only because of what
I know about the, um, "habits" of local Atari users with regard to software
piracy.  There's a guy who gets pissed when, for example, Analog states
that there isn't much Atari software because of piracy, but who has a
veritable library of questionable software.  I ran into that problem again
when trying to *give* away my used 8-bit software-- everybody just gave a
little smirk, a knowing wink, and said they already had all that 
software ("Know what I mean?  Know what I mean?  Wink-wink!  Nudge-nudge!").
Of course, I'm not saying that all 8-bit Atari users are blatant pirates,
nor that no IBM PC users are; but given the sheer number of IBM PCs and
compatibles out there, there *has* to be a larger selling potential.

>I hope that the above will generate some discussion, particularly
>discussion of experiences with using non-IBM in work environments.

   However, after all that, I'd much rather have an ST on my desk.  It
solves all the terribly frustrating connectivity problems I had with my
1200XL, has (or at least had) an *extremely* crisp 80-column color monitor,
and has software and hardware capabilities unquestionably more sophisticated
than the 8-bit line.
[[
Short digression:  Owners of 8-bit machines can take that as snobbery
if they wish (somebody always does, regardless of how tactfully it's
expressed), but it's a plain and simple fact that the 8-bit microprocessor
is nowhere near the present state of the art in cheap microcomputing.
For some uses, the 8-bit micros can perform as well as the owner of the
machine wants or expects it too; however, I personally could not tolerate
using most of today's 8-bit offerings for the kind of things I do, both
here at the office and while "playing" at home.
]]
And now, back to the ST:
  It still doesn't have as much good, cheap software as the IBM PC (unless
somebody can show me an emulation/communications program as good and
cheap as ProComm), but it's got enough already to do most of what I do
every day, it's cheaper, and I like the environment better (using 
Micro C-Shell, not the standard GEM desktop).  If Atari could afford to 
provide a bit of IBM-style support, it would be an ideal machine.  Instead,
it's "merely" the best thing around in terms of cheap home computing.
Unfortunately, my superiors don't want to believe it, so I'm using this
XT.  As you so eloquently stated above: Arghh!
--

 - Joel Plutchak, former 1200XL owner
   uucp: {allegra,ihnp4,seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!oyster
   ARPA: oyster@unix.macc.wisc.edu

Can you say "opinion"?  I *knew* you could!