August 1984 — Vol 6 No 8
Source
Open original PDF • August 1984 • Vol 6 No 8 • 56 pages • $2
Overview
David Morganstein continues as President (in his final year — Warrick takes the gavel Aug 1985). ★ WAP Election Results (p9) — the May 1984 vote's full slate published. ★ Membership Directory (Dana J. Schwartz, p7) — Schwartz writes on the new directory (companion to the redacted 1984-10 — Membership Directory). ★ Mac-onboarding cluster: - Macintosh Software Availability Update (p18) — survey of what's actually shipping for the Mac six months in - Mac Mailing List Management (Brooks Leffler, p19) - Glossary For New Mac Owners (Robert C. Platt, p20) - A Letter to St.Mac (David Morganstein, p22) — Morganstein's commentary on St.Mac magazine
Also: "When is a Data Base a Data Base?" (Alexander E. Barnes, p23). "Playing the Market with StockSIG" (Robert Wood, p24) — Stock SIG's investment-club piece. "Apple-Oriented Telecomm. Tutorial" (George V. Kinal, p28). "Specialized Data Management" (Bob Oringel, p35). "Permutation Generator in LISP" (Bill Wurzel, p38) — LISP at Pi! "Apple Writer Printer Glossary" (Al R. Rumble, p40). "Premium Softcard //e: A Review" (Robert C. Platt, p48) — Microsoft's CP/M card for the //e. "Low-Cost Cooling Idea" (George V. Kinal, p17) — DIY hardware tip. "Feeding at the Trough" (Michael Hartman, p32) PIG SIG column continues.
Table of contents (selected)
| Article | Author | Page |
|---|---|---|
| President's Corner | David Morganstein | 4 |
| Membership Directory | Dana J. Schwartz | 7 |
| WAP Election Results | — | 9 |
| Q & A | Bruce F. Field | 10 |
| A Page From the Stack | Robert C. Platt | 12 |
| Low-Cost Cooling Idea | George Kinal | 17 |
| Macintosh Software Availability Update | — | 18 |
| Mac Mailing List Management | Brooks Leffler | 19 |
| Glossary For New Mac Owners | Robert C. Platt | 20 |
| A Letter to St.Mac | David Morganstein | 22 |
| When is a Data Base a Data Base? | Alexander E. Barnes | 23 |
| Playing the Market with StockSIG | Robert Wood | 24 |
| Apple-Oriented Telecomm. Tutorial | George Kinal | 28 |
| Feeding at the Trough | Michael Hartman | 32 |
| Specialized Data Management | Bob Oringel | 35 |
| Softviews | David Morganstein | 36 |
| Permutation Generator in LISP | Bill Wurzel | 38 |
| Update of Auto-Repeat Dialing | George Kinal | 39 |
| Apple Writer Printer Glossary | Al R. Rumble | 40 |
| Apple Tracks | Richard Langston III | 42 |
| Apple Tech Notes | Richard Langston III | 46 |
| Premium Softcard //e: A Review | Robert C. Platt | 48 |
Highlights
Mac-onboarding cluster
Six months after the Mac's launch, Pi has settled into a steady "how do you actually use this thing" rhythm. Platt's Glossary For New Mac Owners is the canonical Pi vocabulary primer (Finder, Desktop, Trash, etc.). Leffler's mailing-list piece is a practical workflow.
Morganstein's "A Letter to St.Mac"
Pi's editorial relationship to the broader Mac press takes the form of a published letter to St.Mac magazine. Continues the genre of Pi-vs-outside-publication exchanges that began with the 1983 Software Merchandising dust-up (1983-07 — V05 N07).
Premium Softcard //e — Robert C. Platt
Microsoft's Z-80 CP/M card for the Apple //e, reviewed by Platt — a late-stage CP/M-on-Apple piece as CP/M was already losing to MS-DOS in the broader market.
Entities
People: David Morganstein, Dana J. Schwartz, Brooks Leffler, Robert C. Platt, Bruce F. Field, Jay Thal, Peter Combes, George V. Kinal, Alexander E. Barnes, Robert Wood, Michael Hartman, Bob Oringel, Bill Wurzel, Al R. Rumble, Richard Langston III, Ludwig Benner Jr. Topics: Mac Onboarding 1984, Pi 1984 Officer Restructure, Premium Softcard, LISP at Pi References: St.Mac magazine, Premium Softcard, Macintosh
Connections to other issues
- Closes Vol 6 entirely (only the same-month Aug 1984 issue was previously missing from 1984)
- WAP Election Results here formalize what the 1984-11 — V06 N11 masthead shows in effect
- Mac glossary by Platt complements his MacSoftware piece (1984-02 — V06 N02)
- Permutation Generator in LISP is one of Pi's rare LISP pieces — LISP didn't take at Pi the way Pascal/Forth did