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You do realize most of those features didn't come from the Mac? Apple ripped all of the features you describe straight from the Amiga. It could barely do sound

by kunai 13y ago

You do realize most of those features didn't come from the Mac? Apple ripped all of the features you describe straight from the Amiga. It could barely do sound because Apple Corps kept suing them for trademark infringement. It's nice to look back at the Macintosh's history with rose-colored glasses. Unfortunately, it isn't true, nor is it even remotely indicative of the technology at the time.

chipotle_coyote 13y ago
The history of both desktop publishing and image processing, at least, is very intimately tied to the Macintosh via Aldus Pagemaker and Adobe Photoshop, respectively. There really wasn't anything like them before they shipped -- there were typesetting programs like TeX and "paint" programs like Deluxe Paint (and for that matter, MacPaint!), but TeX and competitors used a much more arcane non-GUI paradigm and, as good as Deluxe Paint was for what it was, it was not designed for the kind of image retouching work that Photoshop could do out of the gate. I see comments sneering about the "democratization" claim, and while I wouldn't have chosen that word, it's worth keeping in mind that Pagemaker and Photoshop enabled Macs to rival $25K+ dedicated, single-task workstations of the day. They really did revolutionize industries. And they both started their lives as Mac exclusives. I liked the Amiga, too, and it really was ahead of its time in certain respects, most notably video processing. And it kicked the Mac's ass for years in anything relating to multitasking. And it really did revolutionize video production the same way the Mac revolutionized DTP and image processing. But let's not go overboard and claim that everything the Mac was doing by 1986-87 was somehow "ripped off" from the Amiga. The Amiga certainly got capable layout and image software, but that software wasn't creating markets the way the Toaster was -- or the way Pagemaker and Photoshop did. (As for sound, well. There's no one hardware/software combination that strikes me as a real paradigm shift in the music sequencing or recording field, certainly not in that era; cheap MIDI interfaces drove that across all platforms. Apple didn't make sound software back then but that certainly didn't mean the Mac wasn't used extensively for it with third-party tools.)
- gonzo 13y ago
  Comparing TeX to desktop publishing is pure category error.
coldtea 13y ago
>You do realize most of those features didn't come from the Mac? Apple ripped all of the features you describe straight from the Amiga. Good try, but no. Graphics and DTP professionals used the Mac. Heck, Photoshop debutted there -- it took several years to even be released for Windows, and several more to be used by proffesional studios on that platform. Very few used the Amiga. It was mostly used for title work in small TV/video productions in Europe.

by kunai 13y ago

chipotle_coyote 13y ago

The history of both desktop publishing and image processing, at least, is very intimately tied to the Macintosh via Aldus Pagemaker and Adobe Photoshop, respectively. There really wasn't anything like them before they shipped -- there were typesetting programs like TeX and "paint" programs like Deluxe Paint (and for that matter, MacPaint!), but TeX and competitors used a much more arcane non-GUI paradigm and, as good as Deluxe Paint was for what it was, it was not designed for the kind of image retouching work that Photoshop could do out of the gate. I see comments sneering about the "democratization" claim, and while I wouldn't have chosen that word, it's worth keeping in mind that Pagemaker and Photoshop enabled Macs to rival $25K+ dedicated, single-task workstations of the day. They really did revolutionize industries. And they both started their lives as Mac exclusives. I liked the Amiga, too, and it really was ahead of its time in certain respects, most notably video processing. And it kicked the Mac's ass for years in anything relating to multitasking. And it really did revolutionize video production the same way the Mac revolutionized DTP and image processing. But let's not go overboard and claim that everything the Mac was doing by 1986-87 was somehow "ripped off" from the Amiga. The Amiga certainly got capable layout and image software, but that software wasn't creating markets the way the Toaster was -- or the way Pagemaker and Photoshop did. (As for sound, well. There's no one hardware/software combination that strikes me as a real paradigm shift in the music sequencing or recording field, certainly not in that era; cheap MIDI interfaces drove that across all platforms. Apple didn't make sound software back then but that certainly didn't mean the Mac wasn't used extensively for it with third-party tools.)

gonzo 13y ago
Comparing TeX to desktop publishing is pure category error.

coldtea 13y ago

>You do realize most of those features didn't come from the Mac? Apple ripped all of the features you describe straight from the Amiga. Good try, but no. Graphics and DTP professionals used the Mac. Heck, Photoshop debutted there -- it took several years to even be released for Windows, and several more to be used by proffesional studios on that platform. Very few used the Amiga. It was mostly used for title work in small TV/video productions in Europe.