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To: Lee Nelson who wrote (14282)	6/4/1998 12:28:00 AM
From: Dirk Dawson	Respond to of 213177

Great. Another proprietary bus. I finally thought that Apple had come to it's senses by standardizing on the PCI bus. So just what am I going to plug into this proprietary slot, a Firewire card? <sarcasm>Did I miss the fact that Apple invented USB and shut out the rest of the world?!!!</sarcasm> Dirk

To: Lee Nelson who wrote (14282)	6/4/1998 12:41:00 AM
From: soup	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213177

Previous Posts on iMac. Lee; Assuming your sincerity, I suggest you do some homework (plenty of info out there) before mouthing off. PCI itself is a means by which to add expansion cards. It has nothing to do with peripherals. USB is the upcoming standard for PCs which AAPL decided to adopt so Mac users would have the widest, cheapest source of peripherals. soup --------------------------------------- Reply to LaTimes on iMac Pan. latimes.com Mr. Piller; IMO, your article on the iMac is unfair and inaccurate. I'm a long time Mac-user and have sold and supported Macs to both professional and SoHo users, so I speak with some experience. >This wouldn't be a big deal except that the iMac renders previous Mac peripherals obsolete, not a small problem for the small fry.< Newer Technologies has already announced a multi-port USB adapter for old devices. Expect it to sell for well less than $100. And that price should come down. Also because it will be the new PC standard, prices for new peripherals should be significantly lower. >Instead the iMac goes to universal serial bus--the new PC standard, which does have advantages over SCSI. Unfortunately, USB works only sporadically due to rampant software-driver problems, and, pathetically enough, it's slower than SCSI. ... Windows 95 doesn't support USB effectively< There's nothing inherently wrong with USB. (Just because Win '98 is shipping with 3000 documented bugs, you shouldn't tar Macs with that brush.) No reason to expect the iMac wont retain Apple's famed plug-and-play. Yes, it's slower than SCSI but certainly adequate for Zip-type storage devices and scanners and its certainly faster than the serial/ADB ports. >The iMac gets rid of SCSI--a reliable, genuinely plug-and-play technology that supports many hundreds, if not thousands, of peripherals, from scanners to printers to storage drives.< SCSI is dated technology fairly finickly, with ID #conflicts, 7 device limit, 7' max length, all devices must be turned on before booting computer, no hot-swap-ability. My 9500 has a maze of SCSI, serial and adb cables in back. A single USB port is simpler. For a consumer level device like the iMac, the USB is a much better idea. (The new FireWire technology will become the standard for the high-end "Pro" line.) Note: For those with an investment in SCSI peripherals, Apple roadshow reps have said that the an adapter for the iMac's 100/10BASET ethernet connection would be available. macsonly.com >All this reminds me of my painful little modem experience. What small-business Mac user needs the potential hassle of setting up a USB floppy drive?< Current Macs that use external floppies - the Powerbook 2400 only need to be turned off to connect. USB devices wont even need that much consideration. Bottom Line, an iMac buyer's getting a 500 mhz Pentium II (equivalent), great 15" monitor, ATI Rage Pro graphics, SRS sound, 100BT and USB compatibility, 33.6 (highly likely 56K) modem top quality keyboard and mouse and to-die-for styling for $1300. In addition, the software will include Apple(nee-Claris)Works, Filemaker, Quicken, Explorer, AOL 4.1 and a games bundle. This is a very good deal. C'mon in the interests of balanced reporting you should be including this stuff. ------------------------------- I'm Getting My iMac Together and Taking It On the Road. (Report on AAPL taking the iMac on a User Group tour.) via Macsonly >A few members of the audience gave Mike and J.D. a bit of a hard time over the iMac not having a floppy drive and described how, in their view, that and the lack of a 56K modem were marketing strategy goofs. The Apple guys held their ground. The arguments are that floppies are yesterday's technology and are dying out and the 33.6K modem is what most of the ISPs support today and will in the near future, i.e. 56K modems are a waste of money at the dead end as its better to have the 100Mbps Ethernet for the future--cable and ADSL (asynchronous digital subscriber line). I think they convinced me.< >On USB, he assured the audience that there would be every kind of USB peripheral available when the iMac ships in August. Visit the USB web site to see for yourself. This includes floppy drives, scanners, modems, printers, etc. He extolled the virtues of USB being cross-platform, hot swapable, faster than serial and ADB and SCSI-2 ports and supporting up to 127 connected devices. In the Q&A period, it was stated that there will probably not be a USB to SCSI interface but there might be an ethernet to SCSI interface developed by a third party.<

To: Lee Nelson who wrote (14282)	6/4/1998 12:46:00 AM
From: Eric Yang	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 213177

Went by the local CompUSA...and they got a shipment of WallStreet PBs. I didn't have access to their inventory computer (with national chain statistics) this time but I saw their inventory log. They were shipped a total of 11 WallStreets machines since the introduction. One G3 250/13 inch came 1.5 week ago the other 10 just arrived today. 2 were the base configuration of 233/12.1 inch 4 were G3 250/13 inch (plus the one already sold 1.5 week ago 4 more of an unknown configuration Only the two 233/12 inch machines didn't have a name next to the inventory list so it looks like most of these machines already have buyers. A friend of mine wants to get the G3/233 on the spot but I told her to wait since the same configuration is about $200 cheaper from UCLA (I doubt it's in stock) MacWarehouse is saying that they are expecting shipment of WallStreets on June 19th. I also counted the G3 MTs. Last time I was there (1.5 week ago) there were 12 machines. Today there are 7...don't know if they were shipped any more since last time I was there. Eric

To: Lee Nelson who wrote (14282)	6/4/1998 8:55:00 AM
From: soup	Respond to of 213177

Magic Bus. >Yup, by the end of the year 90% of printers will be USB. All a vendor would have to do to support the Mac is write a driver. In fact, they don't even need to do that. Apple has generously provided generic printer drivers (such as Laserwriter 8) for years. The number of Mac-compatible printers, particularly on the low end, has been disappointing for a long, long time. Some Mac users have even called on Apple to add one of those PC-style parallel ports. I say: "Think Different; think USB".< macnow.netmug.org Also a good rundown on FireWire, SCSI, USB, etc.

To: Lee Nelson who wrote (14282)	6/4/1998 3:43:00 PM
From: Zen Dollar Round	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213177

Great. Another proprietary bus. I finally thought that Apple had come to it's senses by standardizing on the PCI bus. So just what am I going to plug into this proprietary slot, a Firewire card? Precisely. Apple is rumored to be working on just such a card. I believe that other third party companies like Newer Technologies will also step up to the plate and offer cards for this slot, especially if the iMac is a big hit. USB is not expansion, not yet. What can I go out and buy today that connects to USB or Firewire... a digital camera? What iMac can you buy today that needs any USB peripherals? Why are you whining about a product that won't be out for two months and telling us there aren't any USB add-ons for it? Please, be reasonable. In case you haven't been following the news, Windows 98 fully supports the USB standard, and its release this month is supposed to open the gates for USB devices. Imation and Panasonic have also committed to a USB floppy device that reads 1.44MB and new 100MB+ disks at the same time the iMac rolls out.