The History of 8BS Article.
I would like to comment on the conclusions of this article which was a
light weight attack on the Archimedes and a somewhat defeatist attitude to
the takeover of computing by PC compatibles. As a 486 PC owner and an
Archimedes owner I feel I can compare and contrast both fairly. I
certainly understand the attitude that perhaps children should be taught
to use PCs in favour of any other system as they are widely used in the
adult business world. The PC is definitely the safe bet in computer terms.
This however doesn't mean its the best computer or the best in value for
money terms. I recently sold an old Opus 386 through an ad which I placed
in Micromart. I posted it off when the cheque had cleared. It arrived in
good condition but unfortunately the purchaser not being familar with PCs
had got into problems, although I supplied the PC with full manuals which
in this case was a ring bound manual about the Opus and DOS plus a getting
started with Windows book. He had erased or modified the system files and
corrupted the CMOS settings. It was sent fully set up and soon
after arrival he had altered or removed many important files. Plus he had
got out the system setup disks and used them. There wasn't a lot I could
do for him as he was 200 miles away or more. Anyway after pestering people
locally who owned PCs he managed to set it up. My point is, not only are
PCs not user-friendly they're postively user-hostile. Apple were pleased
when an independent body in the United States assessed Macintosh computers
as far more efficient. The Macintosh models didn't need ultrafast
hard-drives or processors, just an operating system which was more logical
and friendly and didn't create problems for the user. The PC compatible is
a mess and should be always cheaper than computers like the Archimedes or
the Macintosh. The Archimedes is a joy to use. Its the best computer I
have ever owned. I can honestly say that the PC is about ten times as much
hassle. The one major headache I have had with my Archimedes is trying to
get an Apple CD300 CDROM drive working with an Atomwide printer/SCSI
interface. I have never achieved this but in all fairness I don't blame
the Archimedes at all, it's all down to Atomwide and their lousy driver
software. Atomwide are a very nice company that sadly has a poor product
to sell. The PC however has given me so many problems with viruses,
configuring, doublespace, printer drivers needed for different
programs. I'd also better mention that I bought a SCSI interface to work
with the Apple CD300 for the PC and it worked first time no problems
whatsoever. My PC's hard-drive has just been sent off as its duff, a 540
meg Maxtor model. Again this has nothing to do with the PC as such as any
computer that I fitted it to would have had the same problem. But in
summary forget the specs and software availability, go for the Archimedes;
its a wiser choice if you value your sanity. Also at the end of the day if
you have any computer which you're happy with which does what you ask of it,
why upgrade? There are many people still happy with their Beebs, Electrons,
Spectrums, C64s and Amstrads etc.