 |
 |
Re: Self-publication -- a costing.Richard: " It used to be " What's your time-line on this? I hit on computers in Glasgow in the sixties, and THEN they were running the buggers on vacuum-packed bulbs. Crazy, and they took up five rooms to run. Problem was the cooling system. " that the platform was called _The IBM_ type of computer. This platform begins its evolution with the _DOS_ language. " Then I went a bit dspsy, plugged back in via Sinclair's ZX80 [sic!] and the Trash80 when it went Welsh (you could run OS9 on a Dragon 64), and [as everyone did] switched to Atari when Dragon went bankrupt. At some point, it occurred to me that trying to program in unix on a stand-alone when 95% of the world was Gatesworld was a Bad Idea. So I went for IBM (cleap clones, usually) " Wintel is the term that replaced IBM Platform at a certain point. " MACs +cost+. Then and now. MACs had/have a better OS, no argument, but ... " It is the Mac which created the iconic environment which makes it possible for people like us to use a computer. " Phoof -- eat your quiche. I could write C programs, I could write sphagetti Basic [on a good day, with the wind behind me, I could even stretch to machine code] -- what I +couldn't+ do was program in an "iconic environment", either MAC or Gatesworld. " Then the ! Mac ! appears and its platform is based on proprietory technology that cannot be appropriated or stolen by people like Gates. " Hm ... Think both Jobs and Gates ripped this. Who "invented" the iconic environment? A Brit, wasn't it it? Bit like The Nation taking the credit for cracking The Enigma Machine. " (Gates does support the Mac OS with new software development.) When you open a Mac you see a far more sophisticated hardware setup " Uh. DON'T do hardware. " It doesn't require the software that the IBM/Wintel/DOS " Hey, I've a REAL cool DOS joke, but I'm too tired at the moment ... " rooted platform employs to emulate the pictoral language Apple/Steve Jobs launched in history with the Mac and earlier prototypes in the 1970s. " Richard, get your history straight -- sixties was Apple and Commodore fighting it out for The Personal Computer Market. Apple (and Steve Jobs) won (before IBM joined the fight) -- but that was +well+ before Windows. " It is compelling how deeply people are invested in their computer on an emotional basis. Arguing about computers - strange thing to do, but we do it. I guess they really are extensions of our nerve/mind systems. " True. ALL too true. " You sound like you really do have your project under control. " Alas (alas!) no. No. No. no ... " And, no, I do not believe I know as much about setting up a magazine as you do - or much else, for that matter. " Liar. You're the professional in this area. Don't self-deprecate. Robin (PS -- to everyone who's bored out of their skulls, I think Richard and I better go backchanennel on this. Hereafter. D2)