Cy Stapleton' HOTLINE Newsletter #4

Copyright January 8, 1996

I'm taking a poll of readers as to what type of computer equipment they are using. If you haven't completed my brief questionnaire and would like to, please simply respond by saying Fax Questionnaire and leave your fax number and I will immediately fax you a copy.

Basically I am attempting to find out whether you are on the Mac or PC platform, the various periferals you have and what your favorite software programs are. It will take only a couple of minutes to fill out.

One of the questions I get asked more than any other is why I selected the PC platform rather than the Mac. In my younger years I used to argue about it but I finally figured that to argue was not unlike a conservative trying to convert a liberal or a Baptist trying to convert a Presbyterian. Nothing is gained other than making another enemy.

I actually started out using Apple computers many years ago. I started with the very first Apple and graduated to the Apple III (which I loved). It had a whopping 72k of RAM and a huge 5 meg Corvus hard drive. I didn't think I would ever be able to fill up that much space. Today I run have 32 meg of RAM and am constantly having to move files off my two 1.6gig hard drives because I am constantly running out of space.

I went through the Apple II, II, Lisa, IIc, etc. The problem I had was that every time Apple came out with a new computer they came out with a new operating system and none of my software would work. I was excited when they came out with the Mac because I was told that this problem would never happen again. Everything would be backward compatible. Apple again spoke with forked tongue. When they came out with System 6 many programs wouldn't work with it. It was even worse with System 7. Finally I threw up my hands and said I've had enough.

I bought my first PC about the same time I bought my new Mac II. DOS was confusing at first, but it didn't take me too long to get comfortable with it. The wonderful thing about the PC was when they came out with DOS 2.1, 3, 4, 5, and 6, all of my old programs worked perfectly. Some even worked better.

Over a period of time I weaned myself from the Mac and finally sold it. The only thing I miss about that Mac is the 21 monitor and a wonderful program introduced by LetraSet called LetraStudio. I've learned to live with my tiny 17 monitor but I really do miss LetraStudio.

I suffered through the early and very unstabled versions of Windows but the change was still worth it.

The advantages I see in the PC are several. First of all, the DOS platform with its command line requirement forces you to learn more about your computer. Its frustrating at first but has many rewards. Soon you learn how to use some of the incredible utilities, many of which are available only to DOS users. You learn enough about what's in that box so that you can easily add many of the very inexpensive periferals that are available. I have actually upgraded one of my systems from a 286 to the 386 to the 486 and now to the Pentium. About the only thing left of the 286 is the disk drives and the case, but I would like to see an Apple user upgrade an Apple III to a Mac, or even a Mac Classic to a Mac II.

The Mac is a great machine to easily get up and running. Like Windows, when you learn the basics of one program you know the basics of almost every program available. But it's so easy that you don't take the time to really learn your computer. I have local Mac users call me to help them install something as simple as a memory upgrade. You don't see much of that with DOS users.

The Mac system is a closed system where the PC is open. Apple has been very tight about controlling what makes the Mac work.

There is no question but what the Mac is ahead of the PC when it comes to graphics, but the PC is catching up. With the exception of that one favorite Mac program my PC has been able to do everything I needed it to do in my shop.

I learned a great deal about Mac programmers when I attempted to find one to create a Mac version of my Helene's Hotline database. I put the word out all over the country for someone who might be interested in taking on the project. I got scores of responses, but found that the vast majority of Mac programmers are not what we think of as programmers in the PC world. They simply write overlays for existing programs and the user must own that program in order to be able to use the overlays. In the PC world there are hundreds of thousands of programmers who write outstanding programs from scratch. The few Mac programmers who are able to do that are so pricey that I simply can't afford them. I even have a friend who is a district manager for Apple and he wanted to take on the project. He gave up looking after about six months and said that it would be far less expensive for the Mac user to purchase a copy of SoftPC and run my DOS version of the database on their Mac. With the potential market, a Mac version would have to sell at 5 to 6 times the combined cost of SoftPC and my DOS version of the database.

Even so, I bought another Mac. I got one of the earlier versions of the Mac Classic and a copy of SoftPC just to test my software to make certain it would work. The only problem is that my little Classic is a monochrome and I can't see what the blazing colors in the database looks like on the Mac. I think that later this year I may purchase one of the new Macs that has the dual chip - both PC and Mac. The upside to that will be that I will be able to test some of the interesting looking Mac software that I receive to review. I've got a shelf full of it now that hasn't even been taken out of the original wrappers because I don't have anything to run it on.

On another subject...

It's too late for this year, but if you want a really neat little Valentine program to give to your one-and-only next year, send me a self-addressed stamped diskette mailer and I will send you a copy. Dr. Terry Montgomery of PrinterNet shared this program with me. My four gals - bride, Libby, and daughters Michelle, Happy, and Jennifer - were impressed. It made their day. Send the diskette mailer to Valentine at P.O. Box 151107, Lufkin, TX 75915-1107. It's free.

How about a little politics?

I have been reading a great deal in the media about how a flat tax is nothing more than an additional perk for the wealthy. The current issue of Newsweek had a letter from a CPA who said it would cut the tax of millionaires down to 17% (or whatever the final rate might be) at the expense of the working person. Another was in favor of a flat tax if the wealthy had to pay 50% on everything over $500M and 90% on anything over $1MM.

I have thought a lot about this and have looked at figures after major tax cuts in the past. Without exception, when taxes were cut the economy got a shot in the arm.

What the liberal media does not seem to understand is that our present tax laws punish the achievers. The current tax law can in no way be considered fair. The present tax laws do nothing but offer perks to certain segments of our society. Government cannot make money unless government goes into competition with the private sector. Entrepreneurs make money. Tax cuts allow those entrepreneurs to keep more of what they earn. When government goes into competition with the private sector costs are subsidized by the taxpayer because there are very few areas that the bureaucracy is as efficient as is the profit motivated private sector.

The elimination of the IRS would certainly put a large number of people on the street looking for jobs in the private sector, but Gutenberg's gift to mankind did the same to the scribes and Mergenthaler's Lin-o-type did the same to hand typesetters. These inventions actually created more jobs - as would the elimination of the tax laws we have today.

I feel that it is doubtful that a flat tax would be a windfall to the very wealthy. They already can afford high priced CPAs and Attorneys to find loopholes in the tax laws so that they can protect their earnings. Many, or at least so I read, now pay little or no tax on their income. Closing those loopholes and subjecting them to a flat tax would encourage them to pump their money back into the economy so that it will make more money for them. When they do that, everyone benefits.

I ran my income through my tax program based upon a flat 17% tax and found that my savings would be substantial. I did the same for my father, who is a retired Army officer who has made some very good investments over the years and is what most would call wealthy and found that Dad would actually pay about the same or a little more than he is paying now using Forbes proposed program.

The one thing that a true flat tax would do would assure that those large corporations who now pay little or no tax (remember the oil company's janitor who paid more in federal taxes than did the corporation) is that they would pay their fair share - and that fair share should be the same percentage for the minimum wage earner as it is for Bill Gates.

A flat tax should also include a major downsizing of the government. I haven't done enough reading on the balanced budget question so I don't know whether or not I am in favor of a balanced budget amendment, but my gut feeling is that government should be forced to operate like businesses in the private sector - if you don't have the money you don't spend it.

Enough of that. Til next time, God bless you and yours...

Commercial...

I will be appearing at the George Bush/Paul Harvey fund raiser for the Printing History Museum in Houston on February 21.

I will be presenting one of my outsourcing seminars in Houston on February 22.

I will be in Atlanta for the convention on March 7,8, and 9 and will be presenting my outsourcing seminar in North Atlanta on March 10.



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Date inserted: Tuesday, February 27, 1996 1:11:58