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From that story is sounds like MacBasic wasn’t a priority at all to Apple, even on the Mac team. The fact they let MacBasic slip from the launch window is a pre

From that story is sounds like MacBasic wasn’t a priority at all to Apple, even on the Mac team. The fact they let MacBasic slip from the launch window is a pretty big red flag, I’d be interested to hear why Bryan Stearns decided to leave(I feel the author is saying a lot by not touching on this more) I think the idea that Microsoft or Apple were founded for any reason but money is pretty much a joke. Every action and reaction in the story revolves around money and how to get it.

GeekyBear 3y ago
> From that story is sounds like MacBasic wasn’t a priority at all to Apple Did you miss the part about Microsoft threatening the hardware line that produced the vast majority of Apple's profits at the time? It sounds to me more like the priority was not having their profitability decimated. They killed a Mac native version of Basic that had been completed because Microsoft forced their hand. >The fact they let MacBasic slip from the launch window is a pretty big red flag, As mentioned in the article, they needed to wait for the system APIs to stabilize. > Basic still had a hard time getting traction, especially since the system was evolving rapidly beneath it.
- turndown 3y ago
  >Did you miss the part Did you miss the part where I said what everyone did here was motivated by money? >It sounds to me more like the priority was not having their profitability decimated. See above. >They killed a Mac native version of Basic that had been completed because Microsoft forced their hand See above. >As mentioned in the article, they needed to wait for the system APIs to stabilize See above. Did you miss that part?
  - Nevermark 3y ago
    So I guess you did? You did miss that part?? — Sorry for seeing humor in your non-response repeating refrain, and then adding my own poor attempt at humor. But, what you wrote was obviously read. And responded to directly with a good point that you seem to have missed twice now.
hakfoo 3y ago
I suspect it might have been a timing/market positioning thing. By 1984, "boots to BASIC" was reserved for low-end kit: C64, Atari XL, and increasingly Apple II. The IBM PC and clones were rapidly defining what a high-end personal computer was, and for them, the BASIC was an useless appendix (Casette BASIC on IBM kit) or a bullet point at the back of the pack-in software list (BASICA/GWBASIC)-- it might be there, but commercial boxed software was the primary selling point.

GeekyBear 3y ago

> From that story is sounds like MacBasic wasn’t a priority at all to Apple Did you miss the part about Microsoft threatening the hardware line that produced the vast majority of Apple's profits at the time? It sounds to me more like the priority was not having their profitability decimated. They killed a Mac native version of Basic that had been completed because Microsoft forced their hand. >The fact they let MacBasic slip from the launch window is a pretty big red flag, As mentioned in the article, they needed to wait for the system APIs to stabilize. > Basic still had a hard time getting traction, especially since the system was evolving rapidly beneath it.

turndown 3y ago
>Did you miss the part Did you miss the part where I said what everyone did here was motivated by money? >It sounds to me more like the priority was not having their profitability decimated. See above. >They killed a Mac native version of Basic that had been completed because Microsoft forced their hand See above. >As mentioned in the article, they needed to wait for the system APIs to stabilize See above. Did you miss that part?
- Nevermark 3y ago
  So I guess you did? You did miss that part?? — Sorry for seeing humor in your non-response repeating refrain, and then adding my own poor attempt at humor. But, what you wrote was obviously read. And responded to directly with a good point that you seem to have missed twice now.

hakfoo 3y ago

I suspect it might have been a timing/market positioning thing. By 1984, "boots to BASIC" was reserved for low-end kit: C64, Atari XL, and increasingly Apple II. The IBM PC and clones were rapidly defining what a high-end personal computer was, and for them, the BASIC was an useless appendix (Casette BASIC on IBM kit) or a bullet point at the back of the pack-in software list (BASICA/GWBASIC)-- it might be there, but commercial boxed software was the primary selling point.