4 ms·
The assertion that denial of text files killed SmallTalk isn't true. What killed SmallTalk (and really limited Unix growth) was this: Hardware cost + software
by indymike 5y ago
The assertion that denial of text files killed SmallTalk isn't true. What killed SmallTalk (and really limited Unix growth) was this:
Hardware cost + software cost compared to emerging cheap commodity computers. SmallTalk was expensive, and required very expensive equipment to run. So most of us either just ignored SmallTalk or viewed it as a utopian ideal that our PC IDEs could never really deliver on... but... we were making software for computers with MILLIONS of users.
So what about Unix? It wasn't until the 386 and 68030 in the later part of the 80s that the hardware finally had the features Unix really needed to be great (Xenix on a 286 was... meh but worked).
So, the idea that somehow a graphical Unix based on smalltalk would emerge... well... would have been cool... and it kind of did happen when NeXT came out with their computer... but it was Objective-C instead of SmallTalk, but most of the smalltalk on Unix dream was there.
- igouy 5y agoMarch 7, 1988 — "Smalltalk/V 286 is available now and costs $199.95, the company said. Registered users of Digitalk's Smalltalk/V can upgrade for $75 until June 1." https://books.google.com/books?id=CD8EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA25&ots=jiXJNN0ii3&dq=digitalk%20v%2F286&pg=PA25#v=onepage&q=digitalk%20v/286&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=CD8EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA25&ots=...
- indymike 5y agoI remember this one - they had a neural network add on (all things old are new again). I seem to remember this one having it's own GUI... which was more bad timing. Windows 2.0 came out in 87, and it was pretty clear the future looked a lot like Windows (obtainable) or OS/2. In July of 88 Windows/286 & Windows/386 came out (really Windows 2.0 v2.0) and started carving market away from Desqview and some of the other real mode multitasking shells and being bundled with new PCs. The big advantage of supporting Windows over a bespoke GUI was application integration - things like printer support, a shared clipboard, a unified format for help files... all really made building for Windows attractive.
- igouy 5y ago> Hardware cost + software cost… $100 just for MS Windows/286. May 28, 1991 — "$499.95 Smalltalk/V Windows" https://books.google.com/books?id=hpmavHER2VIC&pg=PP59&lpg=PP59&dq=digitalk+smalltalk+/v+windows+1.0&source=bl&ots=zuFSPd9FwJ&sig=ACfU3U0h7CHPV-Ito6CQj3mJezrXmAiE-w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwin5aGe-rb1AhVOJ0QIHVAuCMEQ6AF6BAgaEAM https://books.google.com/books?id=hpmavHER2VIC&pg=PP59&lpg=P...
- igouy 5y agoHere's some grist for the mill Sept 21, 1987 — "Smalltalk-80 costs from $2,995 to 3,995 on Unix workstations and from $695 to $995 on the Macintosh." https://books.google.com/books?id=ldk7z4Q-WWYC&pg=RA4-PA4&lpg=RA4-PA4&dq=parcplace+systems+smalltalk+unix&source=bl&ots=wu-wjvvhER&sig=ACfU3U0OVJz47CQJVgfudtu9NlAonZ7wDQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjc8dDK87n1AhVVH0QIHV50Alc4ChDoAXoECA8QAw#v=onepage&q=parcplace%20systems%20smalltalk%20unix&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=ldk7z4Q-WWYC&pg=RA4-PA4&lp...