146 lines
7.4 KiB
Markdown
146 lines
7.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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created_at: '2014-01-24T20:14:10.000Z'
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title: Personal Computers – Hardware Review – Apple Weighs in With Macintosh (1984)
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url: http://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/24/science/personal-computers-hardware-review-apple-weighs-in-with-macintosh.html?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=SC_PCH_20140124&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1388552400000&bicmet=1420088400000
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author: bananacurve
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points: 51
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story_text: ''
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comment_text:
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num_comments: 9
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story_id:
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story_title:
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story_url:
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parent_id:
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created_at_i: 1390594450
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_tags:
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- story
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- author_bananacurve
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- story_7117644
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objectID: '7117644'
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year: 1984
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---
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WHEN it comes to apples, I've always preferred tart, crisp ones like
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Granny Smiths or Idas to McIntoshes. It seems to me, therefore, that as
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a new name in Apple Computer's growing orchard of machines one of those
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would have done admirably. What could sound more ''user friendly'' than
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a Granny Smith computer around the house. Then again, maybe Apple had
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hamburgers on the mind in naming its new computer - in hopes of its Mac
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becoming as much a part of the American mythos as the golden arches are.
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Names, and their concomitant marketing strategy, aside, today's
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launching of the Macintosh by Apple, unlike I.B.M.'s recent introduction
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of the rather unexceptional PCjr, presages a revolution in personal
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computing. Like all major innovations, this one entails a high risk of
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failure. Apple lost the first battle, begun with its $10,000 Lisa. The
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second assault is with a machine only a fourth the cost of its big
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sister and almost as versatile.
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One computer the Mac definitely cannot be compared with, though many
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people will try, is the PCjr. That would be like comparing apples and
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peanuts. It just cannot be done. The PCjr is a more limited product
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offered at a lower price. The only real connection between the two
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machines is that the introduction of both computers was anxiously
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awaited for what seems a decade.
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The roughly 17-pound Macintosh comes in a square bushel-basket-size
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canvas tote bag with an oversized zipper. The preproduction version I
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saw did not sport the Apple-with-a-bite logo. The addition of this
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emblem could well turn the bag into a classic status symbol, and even if
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the computer stayed home, the bag would accompany people on the move,
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stuffed with picnic goodies or laundry.
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As to the computer itself, unpacked, it sits like a towering, square,
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robotic Cyclops, its single disk drive an off-center mouth. The machine
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definitely has personality, though its high profile, designed, no doubt,
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to reduce the amount of desk space needed, is a bit startling.
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The first thing to take me by surprise as I sat down at the Macintosh
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was not the mouse pointer used to move the cursor on screen, which
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everyone has been expecting, but the size of the screen itself. With a
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scant nine-inch diagonal, it presents a diminutive five-by-seven viewing
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image. My personal dislike for small screens made me chalk up an
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immediate minus on the Mac's scorecard, particularly since I found
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myself, as I usually do when confronted with a miniscreen, hunkering
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right up to the computer, much closer than comfort called for, as I
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flicked it on. Then came the second surprise.
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The Mac display makes all the other personal computer screens look like
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distorted rejects from a Cubist art school. With a 512-line horizontal
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by 342-line vertical, the display conveys an image that is refreshingly
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crisp and clear. The use of square dots rather than the standard
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rectangular ones at each of the almost 200,000 line crossings adds even
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more to the sharpness of the picture. After a couple of hours of looking
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at this screen, going back to the Apple IIe at home brought tears to my
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eyes. What the Mac adds in visual clarity, however, it takes away in
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chromatics. At present, only a black-and-white screen is available.
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Apple appears to be aiming this computer at the small-business and
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educational markets rather than the home entertainment segment, so
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perhaps the company feels that color is not necessary. Certainly the
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machine could not be delivered with the rainbow at the current price of
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roughly $2,495. Even so, I suspect the absence of color capability is a
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mistake, one which, along with the diminutive screen size, will
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hopefully be rectified eventually by add-ons for those wanting them. As
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it is, if you can live with the small screen, and the lack of color does
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not bother you, there is simply no personal computer that comes close to
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the Mac in display quality.
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Another startling feature that I became aware of after a few minutes,
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although it may be a minor point to some people, is the absence of fan
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noise. The vacuum cleaner sound effects so annoying to many people and
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so prevalent in small computers is totally nonexistent. The reason is
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simple: The Macintosh has been engineered to cool itself. There is no
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fan to drown one's thinking. In fact, at 60 words per minute, the only
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sound you will hear is the clicking of the keyboard.
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Keyboards are a very subjective matter. This one is certainly more
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comfortable and responsive than those to be found on the Apple II
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series. It is also light enough to rest comfortably on one's lap, which
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is what manufacturers seem to think people do with these things,
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although I personally have never seen anyone work that way. Furthermore,
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it solves one of the minor mysteries of personal computer engineering
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that has long bothered me; namely, why does the keyboard cord always
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have to plug into the rear of the computer so it inevitably becomes
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snarled coming around the side? The answer is that it does not. The
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Mac's keyboard plugs quite naturally into the front of the computer and
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never seems to get hung up.
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That is one plus for the Mac's design - followed by a negative. There is
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no numeric keypad on the board. A separate one may be attached, but
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then, counting the mouse's tail, you have three cables snaking their way
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back to the machine. All in all, I get the feeling, as I do with I.B.M.
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PC products, that a lot of outside manufacturers are going to be
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cranking out modified keyboards for owners who do not like the standard
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model.
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As to the mouse, it is part and parcel of the Mac revolution, and it
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will probably be the reason you either sign up for or turn your back on
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this machine. To a large extent, the Macintosh works with what has been
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termed a ''finder environment.''
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YOU find either a word or an icon or pictogram on the screen
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representing what you want the computer to do, then slide the mouse on
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your desk to move the cursor into position over that screen object, then
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press the button on the mouse to activate that particular part of the
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program.
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For instance, there is a menu bar at the top of the screen with the
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words ''file,'' ''edit,'' ''U,'' ''special,'' and so on. Slide the
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cursor over to ''file,'' click the mouse button, and a window beneath
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the word opens up with such commands as ''open,'' ''duplicate,'' ''get
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info,'' ''close'' and ''print.'' To print what is in a file, all you do,
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essentially, is bring the cursor down to ''print,'' press the mouse
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button and release.
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The fundamental difference between the Mac and other personal computers
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is that the Macintosh is visually oriented rather than word oriented.
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You choose from a menu of commands by simply pressing the wandering
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mouse's button rather than by using a number of control keys or by
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entering words.
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More on the pluses and minuses of the innovative Mac software, such as
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side orders of Macwriter, Macpaint and Macpascal, will appear in next
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week's column.
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Drawing
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