[Ham-Mac] quadra 630 software

[Steve Muncy]

On 10/11/02 21:10, "Carl Menne" <cmenne@seidata.com> wrote:

> You simply rephrased what I said; there isn't any money in writing for the
> few thousands who still use old computers as opposed to the millions of new
> computer owners.
> 
> Like it or not ( I don't) our society has become conditioned to want the
> "new" primarily because it IS the "new", not because the old no longer does
> the job , and life cycle costs are routinely ignored.

Well, I guess I had better weigh in here on this topic.

I agree with what Don and Chris have said, but I also have a different
perspective.....

I've written a few ham-oriented programs, and they are freeware -- no cost
to anyone. I wrote them for myself, and have shared them with others. I made
the decision this year not to release any more software that does not
require MacOSX, for the following reasons:

1) my software simply does not run well on older machines;

2) I just don't want to support more than one OS. Remember, I write this
stuff for myself and share it. I no longer have pre-OSX systems on my
machine so I can't test it properly.

3) For me, OSX has been a wonderful, wonderful improvement. In over a year,
I have crashed MAYBE five times. Our entire office (sixteen people) have
converted to OSX and everyone prefers it to the older systems.)

I think your statement that "there isn't any money in writing for the few
thousands" of old machines is not logical. The older machines can't support
current requirements. Software already exists in some cases for the older
machines. The REAL challenge, as Don and Chris already know, is in
developing software for a NEW OS (OSX) when most hams are still using older
systems. You must be a real leader to do this.

BTW - I used Don Agro's MacDopplerPro X under OSX. It is a WONDERFUL program
and absolutely required if you are interested in the satellites, but I can't
imagine trying to run a program that complex on an old system! It simply
would not be possible.


-- 
Steve Muncy, NI5V         <mailto:smuncy@mac.com>
Dallas, TX USA           <http://homepage.mac.com/smuncy/hamradio/
QRP-ARCI #10330  QRP-L #2191  FISTS #7412  QCWA #30705  AMSAT #33939
ARRL Life Member