Re: Dylan in the news

[shebs@apple.com (Stan Shebs)]

In article <1992May28.145848.180@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>, tjohnson@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Todd R Johnson) writes:
> 
> In article <19920528071615.2.YORK@TEX-AVERY.west.dialnet.ila.com> York@CHUCK-JONES.west.dialnet.ila.com (William M. York) writes:
> >From the business section of the San Jose Mercury News, 5/27/92:
> >
> >"Newest Dylan sings in different language"
> >
> >Subtitle: "Dylan to serve as heart of Apple's PDAs"

The important detail about this article is the byline.  Rory J. O'Connor
is the Mercury News' idea of a computer reporter, but his background is
weak to say the least, and he's always trying to tell "Apple" what to do
or not to do - as if "Apple" were a single mind rather than 15,000 people
with 15,000 different goals, agendas, and personalities.

> >To make Dylan suitable for PDAs instead of the huge computers LISP
> >prefers, Apple researchers added a feature called "garbage collection"
> >that regularly clears out disused segments of a PDA's memory and frees
> >the space for other uses.
>
>[...] "garbage collection" is a standard feature of lisp and other
> heap-based languages---it is not new. 

This was pretty funny - perhaps O'Connor will do us all a favor and
become a fulltime comedian instead...  Then again, maybe he knows more
than he appears to, and it was a really subtle dig at the old-time Symbolics
users who routinely disabled its collector... nahhh!

Stan Shebs
Apple ATG System Software
shebs@apple.com