President's Message

When I first stared into the information age, it was through a dark screen with a flashing cursor. Computers were just another tool— like a pencil or a typewriter—that always started with a blank page and a blank stare into the distance. It was up to the operator to decide what information or instructions to type onto the page and up to the computer to print or carry them out. At the time, Apple Computer was pushing a desktop that was supposed to be a lot friendlier and a lot easier to learn. I didn’t want that. I wanted to do it the hard way—sort of like learning Latin in order to speak French. There were even stories going around that IBM users had higher IQ’s.

Back in 1988, Apple was a real contender for the desktop market, having solidified its position in schools, graphics studios and publishing houses. While IBM had been the standard for business applications and mainframes, it had stumbled into personal computing with a product that was difficult to learn and had little utility for the home user. It could take weeks to master the basic DOS commands or the unnatural process of formatting a page or crunching data.

Times change. In two decades, the IBM PC and the Windows operating system have taken on the look and feel that was the signature of the Macintosh. While Apple has continued to forge ahead with new features and applications, it has been matched at every turn by the next version of Windows. Today, with less than 4 percent of the desktop market, it would seem that Apple won the battles, but lost the war.

You’d hardly guess that from talking with a Mac user. In recent years, Apple has solidified its market as a provider of style, convenience and quality. Although still a niche player, the company has stabilized its finances with a strategic alliance with Microsoft, and with an ability to capitalize on its strengths and weaknesses. It continues to hold onto a fanatically loyal following, and could begin to make inroads into the PC market, as the Internet and mobile computing grow increasingly blind to specific platforms. At a time when Windows users seem to be wearying of upgrade fever, Apple is coming out with new ideas and refreshing new products.

At our next General Meeting, DACS goes Macs, with a presentation on the latest unveilings from MacWorldExpo. This month’s issue of dacs.doc will focus on Apple’s latest offerings, with bylines from Mike Kaltschnee and Matthew Greger. Come and see what this technology has to offer for you.

Stop the whirl
I want to get off

I was half way through the president’s column, staring blankly into the distance, when the message "write error" and a little hourglass came up on the screen. I tried to save my work and back out. No dice! The system hanged, and I had to reboot. Then the enormity of my predicament became apparent. The system could not find my C: drive.

"I hope you’ve got a back-up" was Ed Heere’s first remark when I showed up at AMSYS. Ed doesn’t like to mince words. "Don’t tell me you were using Norton! . . . Only run that from disk, and only to analyze problems and recommend solutions. NEVER let it take over your system and try to fix everything for you."

I’ve known experienced carpenters whose finger tips were summarily shortened by a misused skil saw; so it shouldn’t be surprising that the president of a user group would crash his computer without a recent back-up, or a recovery plan.

I was lucky. Although the hard drive was damaged, my working files survived. I now have two drives installed, with the second used as a back-up to the first. Now, if one drive crashes, I should be able to reboot and start over.

But then, I’ve heard of a business consultant in Michigan who took daily back-up tapes home for safe keeping. Spring storms and resultant floods left both his office and his home under water.

--Allan Ostergren
dacsprez@aol.com