Washington Apple Pi Journal, July 1986

only reasonable for a programming language.
I told you so. A column or so ago. I said that the Mac
Plus' SCSI (I refuse to call it the "scuzzy" interface-for me,
it's the "ess-see-ess-eye") port would promote cheap hard
disks. Well. lately I've seen at least three 20 MB hard disks
for under $900. Hopefully. as more are developed. the price
will drop even further (like to $395. which is the price of a
good 20 MB drive for the IBM PC and its clones).
By the way... Has anyone noticed a particularly scruffylooking
group hanging around the Mac parts of the WAP
meetings. wearing beige T-shirts emblazoned with a mystical
design? Who are these rogues? What do they want? Can
they be stopped? (Why do monks have Macs in their faces?)
Copy protection. My views on this subject were
expressed in my fU'St column. nearly a year ago (August
1985). but for the benefit of new readers and new members.
I'll state them again. (Also. the fact that "Flight Simulator"
is rather well-protected is annoying me at the moment.) I
think that copy protection in any form is harmful to the
individual user and to the software industry as a whole--the
very people protection is supposed to help. Legitimate users
cannot back up their software. at least not easily. so many
won't back it up at all. Everyone who's had a computer long
enough has learned to back things up-disks are just too easy
to foul up. (Me. I learned the hard way: I lost a 2000+ line
database program that I was writing for my Atari 800. No
backup. I also get reminded now and then: last month I lost
all of myoId "View from Durham" columns when my disk
suddenly developed problems. No backup. Lord, what fools
these mortals be...) Copy protection won't stop a pirate
determined to "break" a protected program; it just ain't possible.
Witness the fact that the people who write protectionbreaking
programs are able to crack every new scheme within
a few weeks. Finally, copy protection raises the price of
software--which none of us need. My personal recommendation:
if you buy software which is protected (and most
everyone has to at some time or other. especially with the
Apple machines). buy a program that will allow you to make
backup copies of your master disk. ("Copy n Mac" and
"Locksmith" are two that spring to mind.) Don't give copies
of the software away. but do protect your investment You
might write a letter to the offending company. too; every little
bit helps.
More on copy protection. While I'm on the subject,
I want to complain about the form of copy protection that I
hate most--not the worst form. necessarily. but the one that
I've encountered that bugs me the most--keyed-disk protection.
That's where you can make all the backups you want, but you
need to insert the original master disk in order to run the
protected program. Microsoft uses this form of protection
extensively. I understand: they certainly use it on "Flight
Simulator." Not only is this kind of protection annoying (if
you're like me and have about a hundred disks in four boxes,
you spend a couple of minutes searching your desk for the
offending master disk), but if you lose or damage the master,
you're out of luck anyhow. Also, you can't put this type of
program on a hard disk (though I'm not certain about that. not
having a hard disk...yet). Arrgh!
Yet another old topic. A while back, I discussed
surge protectors and their relative merits. Some people
disagree with my view that surge protectors are an ounce of
protection (an ounce being about $35) as opposed to a pound
of cure (my particular pound was $170.70. if I recall
correctly), but I got a little pamphlet in the mail from the
Baltimore Gas and Electric Company. which supplies the
power for beautiful Bowie. Maryland. It's a brief explanation
of what surges are and why they occur. and it includes a
section on how to prevent sensitive electronic equipment
(such as home computers) from damage; number one on their
list of suggestions? "Use Surge Protectors." (Also mentioned
is Bernie Urban's suggestion to unplug such equipment
when leaving it unused for a period of time or when a
thunderstorm threatens.) I say again: GET A SURGE
PROlECfOR! (I will have an article in next month's
Journal on this subject)
My modem. My modem. a Prometheus Promodem
1200 which died inexplicably last Christmas. is back from
Prometheus. I mailed it to them on May 7. and it came back
on the 22nd--a fairly reasonable time for warranty repair. It
works perfectly (actually, it works a little better than it did
before: it now beeps when I turn it on, which it didn't do
before). and once again, I'm a happy telecomputcrer
(erer...yeah, right). Prometheus' explanation of my problem:
the number one voltage regulator (a little IC with only 4 pins)
had blown. All I know is that it works just fine.
Nostalgia. My Mac is two years old this month. (I'm
one of the Macintosh pioneers: I bought my machine before
Apple dropped the price from its original $2495 and before
there was such a thing as a Fat Mac.) It's been a long two
years, full of changes--most of them for the better. The Mac
got more memory, more software, and fmally. more speed.
Jeery Pournelle of BYTE turned from snobbish distaste to
grudging support of the machine. Apple lost a visionary but
gained a manager. The LaserWriter became Apple's most
successful product overnight The funny-looking, multicolored
apple became as acceptable as three large blue letters
in the business world. It's been a long and interesting two
years; I. for one. shall be very interested to see what turns up
in the next two.
(In)famous last words. Recommended reading:
Joanne Greenberg's In this Sign. A book about deaf people in
the world of the hearing-absolutely fascinating as well as
thought-provoking. Guaranteed to change the way you think
of deafness. Recommended listening: Philips' digital Compact
Disc recording of Bach's six "Brandenburg" Concertos,
perfonned by I Musici. An incredible recording of some
incredible music. The harpsichord has to be heard to be
believed.
Next month... The one-year anniversary of this
column! (yeah, yeah...big deal.)
my summer address:
12400 ICembridge Drive
Bowie, maryland 20716
CompuServe ID: 72437,3267
Washington Apple Pi July 1986 45