Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: The Quake Guy Talks

Author:Dave Winer
Posted:1/11/1999; 8:18:18 AM
Topic:The Quake Guy Talks
Msg #:1974 (In response to 1972)
Prev/Next:1973 / 1975

Phil, if I were a fresh developer, one with no investment in the old APIs and no customers committed to the old APIs, I *would* want Apple to throw out the Mac OS and start over. Almost anything would be preferable for new development. It's an ancient creaky design, evolved over many years, with real roadblocks to the memory protection and better task management features that other OSes have.

That's the faceoff. They're listening to guys like Carmack now, and also if I were a Next guy (like the architects at Apple are) I'd consider the Mac OS a painful legacy. I take him at face-value, and it makes sense.

There's a tough choice coming for Apple, cutting the connection to the past or living with its limits indefinitely. If there's a transition in the works it should be across the divide between developers and the people working on the OS, if and only if they want to take the apps with them.

Now I know that Apple works with non-game developers, such as Adobe and Macromedia. I just wonder how many other developers they're working with. A good signal would be if they started marketing the platform in the web publishing market. That would signal to me that they're committing something to users in this market. But the news on MacInTouch about them blowing off retailers is not a good sign! I wonder if it's true that if you buy an iMac at a retailer you can't buy an Apple modem? And since when are Macs only capable of using Apple modems? This is scary stuff! Partially reported for sure, but I wonder if it's true.

As I piece it together, with nothing but tea leaves to go by, Apple must already know that they can't bring the Mac OS apps with them without a painful expensive transition that most developers won't make. They're doing the smart thing, given that decision, milking our investment for as long as they can, and making no promises about future compatibility.

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