(Editor's preface: The following first appeared about 1990 and is presented here for its historical
interest to the Commodore world, although the disease described is still prevalent, and is chronic
among users of high-end PCs)

TECHNOLUST THREATENS AT PC SIG MEETING

by Dick Estel

Technolust (n): An unreasonable desire to purchase the "latest and greatest" hardware for your hobby,
regardless of your true needs.

If you fear this disease, stay away from the Fresno Commodore User Group/64UM PC SIG meetings. 
Never was an event more likely to inspire that dangerous feeling. 

In January, Ken Brown demonstrated geoWorks Ensemble, the GEOS of the PC world.  This is a
program that offers the Commodore 64/128 user an easy transition into the PC world, but goes well
beyond what can be done with the Commodore.  

With greater speed and a finer monitor dot pitch, there is a major improvement in the sharpness and
clarity of the screen display.  On the '286 machine used for the demo, the screen redraw was not
significantly faster than with Commodore GEOS in a RAM expander.  But Ken assured us that speed
was noticeably greater on his '386 PC.

The major features of Commodore GEOS have been improved and added to in the PC version.  For
example, in the drawing program, the tool box may be moved around.  Pull-down menus may be
"locked" open, and can then be moved around if they are in the way.  You can switch back and forth
instantly from one data file to another.

The PC GEOS drawing program is object-oriented, which means there is no pixel edit and no erase
(somewhat similar to geoPublish).  Of course, you can get a PC paint program and import the edited
artwork into GEOS.  You can also convert all your present Commodore GEOS art to PC GEOS
format, so you could even do your editing with the Commodore.  

The printout on a dot matrix printer is laser-quality; in fact, reviews of Ensemble in the major magazines
have praised its print quality as one of its best features.  We were fortunate to see it demonstrated with
a Laser printer, and the output is outstanding.

Now, how do I go about conquering that dangerous desire I feel stirring?  All I have to do is look
around at the excessive number of Commodore computers I own, and realize that I have to wait till I
use them up before I get anything new.

(Editor's epilog: PC GEOS of 1990 sounds a lot like Windows 98!)