X-Message-Number: 2962
From:  (Thomas Donaldson)
Subject: CRYONICS: Re: formats
Date: Fri, 5 Aug 1994 23:47:04 -0700 (PDT)

Hi again:

I remember vividly the period when various cryonics figures traded insults 
back and forth over the net. I also know how hard it is to keep quiet when 
you are the target of the insults or the misunderstanding. So I hope very much
that Mike's policy can be carried out not just by Mike but by everyone else
too. It is a good one, but virtue is hard to attain.

About formats for images:

This is really a comment on Perry Metzgar's message. No, Perry, even though
there are significant computers that CAN view postscript files, there are 
others than simply cannot. This is not a problem intrinsic to the computer,
but one of what software exists. 

I don't know just what computers people on Cryonet are using, and in the end
this MAY not be an issue. Perhaps a survey would be useful. But I've not heard
of any postscript viewers on ANY of the Apple series (Apple II+ to Apple IIGS).
And to get onto the net, basically all you need is a modem and a VT100
emulator, both of which can be easily done by almost any 8 bit computer. 
I KNOW that there are a significant number of CPM computers still in use;
I strongly suspect that there are people accessing the net with a Commodore
128 -- or even 64, or one of the old 8-bit Atari's. Not only that, but 
machines using the same CHIP as the latest PCs need not have the same 
circuits or critical memory positions: so that they too need not have any
such Postscript viewers (I am referring to various older Japanese computers,
in particular).

I'm sure that some people will think I'm riding a hobbyhorse here, but I will
point out that many schools still have AND USE computers of the Apple series.
If you doubt this, notice that at least in the San Jose MERCURY NEWS there
are DAILY display ads by a small company which wants to buy Apple series 
computers of all kinds. Sure: no one tries to solve 3 dimension hydrodynamics
equations in real time on Apples. But for lots of ordinary purposes they're
quite efficient, just as 86, 286, and other earlier PCs are and have been.
It doesn't even need more than 8 bits to put up a reasonable graphic interface.
(For those who don't know me: I'm using an Apple IIGS for this reply. It
was the last of the Apple series, and uses a 16-bit processor ... not that
I have a problem with Postscript files, since I have a Laserwriter Plus 
hooked up to it). A significant number of computer hobbyists still build
and use S-100 CPM computers. and so on.

The real point is this: Cserve's GIF exists for all of these, at least for
those with any ability to display graphics at all. (Yes, some CPM computers
could handle graphics, particularly those from Japan).

No matter what graphics standard we might choose, I think a poll of those
on Cryonet would be quite useful and informative --- though I do keep 
thinking of other people on the net who one day "drop in" to see what's 
going on... I thought one purpose of Cryonet was to specifically allow this.

So that's why I argue for GIF.

	Long long life,

		Thomas Donaldson

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=2962