User`s guide

not, in five or six pages plastered with computer ads, neither the PS/1 nor the
Mac LC were listed. The word "Apple" did
not appear even once! (Yes; I have, in the past, found an 'LC ad. Prices were
NOT listed.)
Today's home programmer/ game-player/ composer/ author/ educator... is
learning to shop for speed, power, and upgradability (i.e. slots!) regardless of
brand name. Any suggestion that he or she is willing to settle for PS/2-1's,
"Low Cost" Macs, or other sub-business-class machines is not merely off-target,
it is the reverse of the actual situation. Typical office applications have
little need for quality sound, large color palettes, or exceptional speed-- all
areas under continual pressure from desig
ners of entertainment products. The home computer MUST be a relatively 'hot',
versatile performer; and, there are all sorts of reasons why the home purchaser,
in particular, aims for the 'most machine' he or she can reasonably afford.
First, of course, he or she is buyer AND user. Shopping for five or ten
word processor/office machines someone else will use is one thing; buying the
one YOU and family members will be using is quite another matter. Other home
user motivators include an interest in a wide range of steadily more demanding
software, peer pressure, and concern that younger family members truly have 'the
power to be their best'.
In the same broadcast, "'Chronicles" notes that home markets are becoming
more attractive because "business markets are becoming saturated". Again, we are
dealing with THEIR business markets. One can expect to sell just so many $4000-
$6000 name brand units when more powerful machines are available at half the
price. Eventually, buyers for oil corporations, universities, etc. were bound to
wise-up. (Does anyone still blow $49.95 on a box of ten For-Sure-Certified
diskettes?)
I do not doubt that IBM, Commodore, Apple, Compaq, etc. WANT to sell piles
of machinery to home users. I do doubt that any of them knows what this market
looks like. If the big guys and their media placidly presume home computists to
be both less demanding AND less informed, it does not augur well for their home
market showdown with the gruds.
Where Are You?
You are here! Should "here" mean "primarily a II+ (IIe, IIc, II clone)
user", then you are acutely aware of being out of the mainstream of personal
computing. (Either that, or you've been 'out' for so long that you're starting
to think you're 'in'!) Not only is very little new software coming from the
major vendors; but nothing looks as good as the super-res and VGA stuff you've
seen on other machines. You CAN upgrade the II, even to the point of adding a
VGA display; but the biggest problem isn't YO
UR hardware. It's the thousands of other 'old II' users who must be persuaded to
make the same changes-- that is, if you wish to create a recognizable 'super II'
user base, develop and trade programs, attract vendors, etc., etc..
Recommendations: Keep your II, use it, enjoy it; and, when opportunities arise,
improve it if the costs are not too steep. Hardware experimentation is a
valuable, time-honored II owner activity. Given the rapid pace of microprocessor
and component advances, there really is no telling what you might be able to
achieve. Should you decide to sample the era of modern store-bought personal