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.IF DSK1.C3
^^^^^^TEXTWARE, SOFTWARE, and
ELSEWHERE
^^^^^^^^^99er Happenings
^^^^^^^^by Jack Sughrue
^^^^THE PROPHETS AND PROFITS OF
DOOM!
The two books considered in this
monologue are THE LAST WHOLE TI99/4A
BOOK: Programs and Possibilities (by
Paul Garrison, 1984, Wiley Press, a
division of John Wiley and Sons Inc.,
605 Third Ave., NY, NY, 10158;
$12.95) and THE LAST WORD ON THE
TI-99/4A (by Linda M. and Allen R.
Schreiber, 1984, TAB Books Inc., Blue
Ridge Summit, PA, 17214; $11.50).
They are as different as night and
day. Or at least as evening and
afternoon.
They are both in the 9x7-inch
range and are printed in paperback on
reasonalbly cheap paper. Not
newsprint, but greyish stock. The
Schreiber programs are computer
printouts, which are usually more
accurate but harder to read. In this
case the type is considerably larger
for the actual program listings than
the Garrison typeset listings.
Neither is ring-bound, so they don't
lie flat while you try to type in the
programs. Both have very clear and
logical tables of contents, but only
the Garrison book provides appendices
with the quick reference stuff (ASCII
codes, speech words, glossary,
resources).
There is something I want to say
about these two books that just is
not getting through to my left brain
this morning. I think I'll stop, get
a cup of coffee, go out on the deck
to watch the nuthatches and
chickadees and sparrows at the
feeder, and see if it all comes
through.
**********************
Ah, nothing like dawn and coffee
to clear the muddle from the brain.
A squirrel gave me the clue.
This is a particular brand of
pig-squirrel. He had constantly
devoured every sunflower seed I had
been putting in the feeder all
spring. Elaine, my wife, was getting
frustrated daily by this creature:
cute but unlovable. We tried moving
the feeder, tried the rounded metal
squirrel foils (Ha!), tried
everything. But The Pig (as he is
affectionately known in our house)
managed to climb or leap onto the
feeder no matter where we put it in
our little yard.
A few weeks ago my daughter Suzi
and I were playing horseshoes. She
accidently threw one that hit a
branch almost above her. Later that
day I took a horshoe and some thin,
nylon cord, tied the cord to the shoe
and hurled it over a high branch
which jutted alone into an empty area
of our side yard, not too far from
the deck. And tied the feeder on.
For days The Pig would come around,
angrily chattering and beating that
tail in frustration.
Then he did the unexpected. He
got on a higher branch on an
adjoining spruce and leaped/fell over
20 feet onto the metal squirrel foil
protecting the feeder. It must have
hurt a bit when he hit, as he
belly-flopped onto the thing with a
very loud thud. After about 10 near
wins, The Pig finally hung by one paw
to the cord without falling. And
worked his way to the sunflower seeds
below before I shooed him away. But
an attempt had succeeded, and I knew
I would have no peace and the birds
would have no food unless I could
thwart the little bugger before he
had another success. (Pavlov came in
handy. Repeated failure is what The
Pig needed.)
I smeared the rounded foil with
petroleum jelly. And watched.
During the next four days and at
least twenty attempts, The Pig
leaped, hit, and shot off into the
air for another 10 feet. It became
longer between attempts, as he spent
more and more time chattering and
scouting for other possibilities.
Now he has disappeared from our
yard, and the birds have all
returned, and life is beautiful once
again.
All of which brings me back to
the idea of computering and
word-processing (and any creative
thing). Problem-solving is what it
is all about. Problem-solving by
being open the unexpected and using
the unconventional method. Some
times the tried-and-true is really
just the tired. It's important to
build on what you know, but it is
equally important to take the step
beyond. To risk.
Risk. That's the difference
between creative and dull. And
creativity is always coupled with a
strong sense of humor. (Imagination
doesn't exist without humor.)
And there lies the real
differenes between these books. The
Schreiber book is devoid of humor;
the Garrison book is charged with it.
The Schreiber book is careful, exact,
textbookish; the Garrison book is
eclectic and electric and reads as if
he were talking to you. The
Schreibers talk at you and explain
and explain and explain. Each of
their programs accompanies a
flowchart (not the other way around).
Very much ado is made about very
little. Garrison, meanwhile, figures
you have some basic intelligence,
maybe some BASIC intelligence, and
makes very little fuss about some
profound computer thinking. He's so
reasonable!
Take the titles: they really tell
you more than the authors probably
intended.
Garrison: THE LAST WHOLE TI99/4A
BOOK: Programs and Possibilities.
Schreibers: THE LAST WORD ON
THE TI-99/4A.
I got the distinct feeling after
reading through both books that the
Garrison book had been in the process
of being written long before TI
withdrew from the home computer
market and that the Schreiber book
was written after in order to make
the last textware dollar in the
"dying" TI marketplace. Linda
Schreiber's Atari books are certainly
better than this collaboration, which
has certainly proved NOT to be the
last word on the TI.
The Schreibers obviously know a
lot about computers and how they
work. Garrison does, too. But
Garrison knows a lot about how the TI
works in ways that only a person who
has owned, operated, and loved this
machine can.
I think if I had my first
encounter with the TI through The
Last Word I would probably own
another machine (or no computer at
all). Its 246 pages are filled with
wasted space (mostly flowcharts). In
Possibilities (I prefer this last
word of Garrison's subtitle as the
reference name in this article.)
there is no wasted space (and no
flowcharts). The type is smaller and
the 460 pages somewhat larger than
Last Word.
They both provide a basic
introduction to computers and the
specifics of the TI. Both provide
lin-by-line analyses of each program.
However, there are three times as
many programs in Possibilities, which
also provides tutorials and programs
or files for Logo, TI Writer,
Personal Record Keeping, Speech
Synthesizer, and more.
I've had the books for some time
now and have learned many things from
both of them. Right now the Last
Word is collecting dust.
Possibilities is full of dog-eared
pages and losing Megabuck tickets
(perfect write-on book marks). I
have gone back to Possibilities many
times; not just to type in programs,
but to reread sections or to look for
good examples of specific
applications.
If you are striving for a
complete TI library (as I am), I
would recommend getting both books.
If you are looking for real 99er
value for your money, invest in
Garrison's excellent book.
And, despite the doom prophesy of
titles which say The Last Of...,
the 99 is far from dead. The
textware has diminished to a trickle,
but the software and peripherals and
hardware seem to be approaching
deluge level. Maybe the textware
trickle will begin to swell during
this downpour.
[Jack Sughrue, Box 459,
E.Douglas, MA 01516]
***************
If any newsletter editor prints
these articles, please put me on your
mailing list. Thanks - JS
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