Author Topic: A new Mac for Avon-Weather.com  (Read 5989 times)

Steve

  • Global Moderator
  • Storm
  • *****
  • Posts: 1555
    • DW8454
    • KOHAVON11
    • Avon Weather
  • Station Details: Davis Wireless VP2 Plus w/24 hr FARS, Leaf & Soil Station, 2023 Mac mini M2 Pro, 32GB RAM, Mac OS 14, WeatherCat 3.2
Re: A new Mac for Avon-Weather.com
« Reply #15 on: January 09, 2018, 02:59:53 PM »
I do wish I lived where Internet speeds were significantly greater than dialup modem.

Yep, I can't even comprehend the speed increase of online access over the 300 baud modem I used on Compuserve back in the early '80s.

110 Mb/s X 1024 = 112,640 Kb/s X 1024 = 115,343,360 b/s divided by 300 b/s = 384,478 times faster. Does that work out correct?

All I remember is waiting several minutes for a nude made from ASCII characters to download from Usenet. I downloaded TurboTax from Amazon a couple of days ago, and chuckled at the notice under the download button. "Download times: Broadband: under a minute, Dialup: 4 hr 55 min."
Steve - Avon, Ohio, USA


CWOP: DW8454 - WU: KOHAVON11 - AWEKAS - CoCoRaHS
PWSweather - WeatherCloud - Twitter - Facebook

elagache

  • Global Moderator
  • Storm
  • *****
  • Posts: 6494
    • DW3835
    • KCAORIND10
    • Canebas Weather
  • Station Details: Davis Vantage Pro-2, Mac mini (2018), macOS 10.14.3, WeatherCat 3
Lot of code is slowing things down. (Re: A new Mac for Avon-Weather.com)
« Reply #16 on: January 10, 2018, 12:38:12 AM »
Dear Steve, Blick, and WeatherCat old-timers,

Yep, I can't even comprehend the speed increase of online access over the 300 baud modem I used on Compuserve back in the early '80s.

110 Mb/s X 1024 = 112,640 Kb/s X 1024 = 115,343,360 b/s divided by 300 b/s = 384,478 times faster. Does that work out correct?

All I remember is waiting several minutes for a nude made from ASCII characters to download from Usenet. I downloaded TurboTax from Amazon a couple of days ago, and chuckled at the notice under the download button. "Download times: Broadband: under a minute, Dialup: 4 hr 55 min."

You are 100% correct.  The raw capacity of our technology has been growing exponentially.  Like processing capacity, storage, and so on, our computers are incredible compared to what we used in the 1980s.  However, I think we'll all agree that our experience isn't an exponential increase in performance.  Microsoft Word on a Mac is about as responsive as Word Perfect was on my Texas Instruments PC of the 1980s.

Software has gotten bloated over time and the pressure to innovate is basically precluding much effort to really optimize performance.  Until now, hardware improvements are more than enough to compensate for the increasingly sloppy way in which software was being written.  Finally, Moore's law is no longer being achieved and hardware and software developers are starting to feel the heat.  It will be interesting to see if finally software gets the serious performance overhaul it needs.

Cheers, Edouard

xairbusdriver

  • Storm
  • *****
  • Posts: 3126
    • EW7115 (E7115)
    • KTNGERMA20
    • Mid-South Weather
  • Station Details: Davis VP2 wireless + remote Anemometer/2014 Mac min - 10.15.7/WC 3.0.5
Re: A new Mac for Avon-Weather.com
« Reply #17 on: January 10, 2018, 12:51:05 AM »
Quote
Microsoft Word on a Mac is about as responsive as Word Perfect was on my Texas Instruments PC of the 1980s.
Why are you using Word? Is there any Mac word processing app that can't Save as...Wurd? [banghead] ThU32:-)
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system


Steve

  • Global Moderator
  • Storm
  • *****
  • Posts: 1555
    • DW8454
    • KOHAVON11
    • Avon Weather
  • Station Details: Davis Wireless VP2 Plus w/24 hr FARS, Leaf & Soil Station, 2023 Mac mini M2 Pro, 32GB RAM, Mac OS 14, WeatherCat 3.2
Re: A new Mac for Avon-Weather.com
« Reply #18 on: January 10, 2018, 04:14:29 PM »
I saw an interesting movie on Netflix last week about the Voyager program. Fascinating stuff! One of the notable points was an interviewee talking about the room sized computers used then, and noting that today we have more computing power in our pocket. I anticipated what he was going to say next, and I was wrong. He said, "Not your smart phone, but this, your car's key fob."  :o
Steve - Avon, Ohio, USA


CWOP: DW8454 - WU: KOHAVON11 - AWEKAS - CoCoRaHS
PWSweather - WeatherCloud - Twitter - Facebook

elagache

  • Global Moderator
  • Storm
  • *****
  • Posts: 6494
    • DW3835
    • KCAORIND10
    • Canebas Weather
  • Station Details: Davis Vantage Pro-2, Mac mini (2018), macOS 10.14.3, WeatherCat 3
Unlucky with word processors (Was: A new Mac)
« Reply #19 on: January 10, 2018, 11:33:30 PM »
Dear X-Air, Steve, and WeatherCat old-timers,

Why are you using Word? Is there any Mac word processing app that can't Save as...Wurd? [banghead] ThU32:-)

Actually I've been unlucky when it comes to word processors.  I was a big Word Perfect fan since there was a version for the TIPC.  I wrote my PhD using Word Perfect for Mac.  That means I can't open that document anymore!  :(

I used Word a bit since I had MS-Office for Excel.  I didn't like it and gravitated back to Mariner Write.  Alas, I assume this too is a mistake.  I'm sure Mariner Write is 32 bits and won't be updated.  So I'll have a new document opening problem. . . . .

I saw an interesting movie on Netflix last week about the Voyager program. Fascinating stuff! One of the notable points was an interviewee talking about the room sized computers used then, and noting that today we have more computing power in our pocket. I anticipated what he was going to say next, and I was wrong. He said, "Not your smart phone, but this, your car's key fob."  :o

Indeed a fascinating point.  I suppose the German Enigma machine codes were broken with less computing power than we have in our car key fobs.  It does suggest that perhaps we find ourselves a wee bit spoiled!  ;D

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

xairbusdriver

  • Storm
  • *****
  • Posts: 3126
    • EW7115 (E7115)
    • KTNGERMA20
    • Mid-South Weather
  • Station Details: Davis VP2 wireless + remote Anemometer/2014 Mac min - 10.15.7/WC 3.0.5
Re: A new Mac for Avon-Weather.com
« Reply #20 on: January 11, 2018, 01:22:20 AM »
I don't even have a copy of MarinerWrite on my two computers. My wife does still use it occasionally, but you know how difficult it can be to ever change a woman's mind... [lol] She actually uses Word and I shudder any time she asks me how to do some thing or even explain where a menu item might be! Heaven help the noobie trying to decipher the hundreds of tiny icons!

I very rarely write on any word processor now. I do use TextEdit almost every day. If I need to create/send (even snail mail!) something, I'll use Pages (the original version, of course). The fact is, the world standard text document file format is .doc/.docx, so it's probably wise to always save at least one copy of anything important in that format. Personally, I find .rtf to be just as useful and universal.

Proprietary formats (although .doc/x is one) are always dangerous. Who would have thought the Encyclopedia Britannica would ever become obsolete?! OK, bad example, most folks younger than 30 have never even heard of that publication. I doubt they have any idea where the "pedia" part of Wikipedia comes from. [rolleyes2] [banghead]
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system