ElectronicHangul(TM) versus HangulTalk(TM)

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ElectronicHangul(TM) HangulTalk(TM)

Usability Over 8,000 commercial Macintosh applications are all guaranteed to work with ElectronicHangul(TM), including those localized for any language. Special "localized" applications are sold at premium prices. The number of worldwide applications which have been ported to HangulTalk currently numbers under a dozen and is declining. (Microsoft in particular has disavowed all of Apple's "WorldScript" platform.) HangulTalk is sold "as is" meaning it is NOT guaranteed to work with any particular application software, not even that of Apple origin.

Hardware Requirements
Any Mac ever made and sold anywhere in the world can run ElectronicHangul(TM).
Most Macintosh models lack the horsepower to run HangulTalk. (If you purchase a recent model of Macintosh in Korea, you may pay inflated import prices and in addition receive "beta" software, as Apple's Korean programming effort is apparently stalled.)

Authorship
Wayne Bostow, president of Bostow International, is the author, owner, and publisher. Any registered user may communicate directly with Mr. Bostow at any time for any reason.
A variety of American, Japanese, and Korean programmers and executives are rumored to have been involved with Apple's Korean product development and marketing. Neither Apple nor Elex (Apple's exclusive Korean distributor) will comment on the status of individual employees past or present, nor will they comment on who is doing work, where it is being done, or what, if any, bugs are being recorded and/or fixed.

Technical Support
Any registered user, anywhere on earth, is eligible for Technical Support directly from the owner/author Wayne Bostow. (Many users never need support.)
Officially, support is available only in Korea and only through Elex. There are many horror stories especially in regards to printing difficulties not being solved. Those who choose to purchase outside of Korea do so at their own risk and are dependent on the viability of their dealer as SOS-APPL will not support HangulTalk. (Pacific Demand, a seemingly well-financed enterprise is famous for having disappeared from San Francisco, leaving many HangulTalk purchasers stranded.)

Future
As ElectronicHangul(TM) for the Mac is the only product of Bostow International, its continuance is unquestioned. Bostow International is small but stable and remains profitable due to low overhead.
Apple's Korean efforts have never come close to the guidelines set by its new president Gilbert F. Amelio for return on investment (ROI). After nearly a billion dollars of losses since the introduction of Windows '95, it seems unlikely Apple will have any choice but to eliminate subsidies for 60+ languages most of which are well outside of Apple's "core competencies". It should be noted that this does not mean Korean will be dead on the Mac. In fact, if Apple gets out of the way, Korean on the Mac will likely blossom.

Structure
ElectronicHangul(TM) adds to a system via extensions and fonts that can install onto any Macintosh system (including HangulTalk). It can be used with any Macintosh system and any Macintosh application because it is built to English standards. ElectronicHangul(TM) does not affect the base language of the system in use, that is, menus and dialog boxes would read in English, unless you had a localised system such as KanjiTalk. In that case, they would read in Japanese (well--most of the time). ElectronicHangul(TM) has a private file structure so as to be fully compatible with English usage. Hangul and English are readily convertible to the KSC5601 file structure used by HangulTalk as well as various PC software, sometimes via their own conversion utilities.
HangulTalk is based on Apple's "WorldScript" technology, a lofty concept which attempts to use "two-byte" fonts for far eastern languages. Actually, there has never been a purely two-byte system in commercial distribution on any computer platform, and confusion as to which operational mode is in effect plagues the computer system at the deepest levels. At one time it was thought that by the turn of the century all computers would operate as "two-byte", but American and European users, under the pressures of color, multimedia, and the internet, have shown no tolerance for additional speed hits for the sake of world technology and the trend has been away from generic "two-byte" construction, and increasingly toward selective retrofitting of applications for Japanese, and sometimes Chinese, but rarely Korean. Apple's WorldScript in general and HangulTalk in particular have met with developer response over the last nine years that can only be characterized as failure. HangulTalk makes KSC5601 files. This seems to be more reliable than printing, in fact, HangulTalk files frequently end up being converted and printed under ElectronicHangul(TM).

Price
ElectronicHangul(TM) sells for $295 plus shipping and possibly tax. Assuming a user already has hardware and software for English or any other language, the only "hidden" cost would be to pay Adobe a shipping and handling fee for Adobe Type Manager for those who don't have ready access to it. The cost of upgrading has never exceeded $50.
The price of HangulTalk ranges from $695 to a premium of around $1,200 - $1,500 for purchasing a computer in Korea with HangulTalk pre-installed. (Lower prices have been reported but users need to be on the lookout for unlicensed product.) Additional hardware and software purchases can easily add thousands of dollars. (Localized Korean software sells for about three times American mail-order prices.) The upgrade path for either HangulTalk or localized applications is uncertain.

Language Kits
ElectronicHangul(TM) is often used in conjunction with Apple's language kits such as for Chinese and Japanese. It is not necessary to reboot to get in or out of Korean mode with ElectronicHangul(TM).
Apple has been promising and "testing" a Korean Language Kit for a period of time that now exceeds the original development time for the Macintosh. Obviously there are major problems with either development or commitment, probably both, which keeps Apple promising this software in 3-6 months year after year. In the increasingly unlikely event such a product is ever released, it will still be limited to "WorldScript compatible" or Korean localized applications. In some cases you might be able to enter Japanese via the Japanese Language Kit, and Korean via the Korean Language Kit in the same document, but you would need to reboot the computer to change language scripts. The "beta" version of the Korean Language Kit is licensed for development of compatible applications only, and is, of course, not supported.

	ElectronicHangul(TM)	HangulTalk(TM)
Usability	Over 8,000 commercial Macintosh applications are all guaranteed to work with ElectronicHangul(TM), including those localized for any language.	Special "localized" applications are sold at premium prices. The number of worldwide applications which have been ported to HangulTalk currently numbers under a dozen and is declining. (Microsoft in particular has disavowed all of Apple's "WorldScript" platform.) HangulTalk is sold "as is" meaning it is NOT guaranteed to work with any particular application software, not even that of Apple origin.
Hardware Requirements	Any Mac ever made and sold anywhere in the world can run ElectronicHangul(TM).	Most Macintosh models lack the horsepower to run HangulTalk. (If you purchase a recent model of Macintosh in Korea, you may pay inflated import prices and in addition receive "beta" software, as Apple's Korean programming effort is apparently stalled.)
Authorship	Wayne Bostow, president of Bostow International, is the author, owner, and publisher. Any registered user may communicate directly with Mr. Bostow at any time for any reason.	A variety of American, Japanese, and Korean programmers and executives are rumored to have been involved with Apple's Korean product development and marketing. Neither Apple nor Elex (Apple's exclusive Korean distributor) will comment on the status of individual employees past or present, nor will they comment on who is doing work, where it is being done, or what, if any, bugs are being recorded and/or fixed.
Technical Support	Any registered user, anywhere on earth, is eligible for Technical Support directly from the owner/author Wayne Bostow. (Many users never need support.)	Officially, support is available only in Korea and only through Elex. There are many horror stories especially in regards to printing difficulties not being solved. Those who choose to purchase outside of Korea do so at their own risk and are dependent on the viability of their dealer as SOS-APPL will not support HangulTalk. (Pacific Demand, a seemingly well-financed enterprise is famous for having disappeared from San Francisco, leaving many HangulTalk purchasers stranded.)
Future	As ElectronicHangul(TM) for the Mac is the only product of Bostow International, its continuance is unquestioned. Bostow International is small but stable and remains profitable due to low overhead.	Apple's Korean efforts have never come close to the guidelines set by its new president Gilbert F. Amelio for return on investment (ROI). After nearly a billion dollars of losses since the introduction of Windows '95, it seems unlikely Apple will have any choice but to eliminate subsidies for 60+ languages most of which are well outside of Apple's "core competencies". It should be noted that this does not mean Korean will be dead on the Mac. In fact, if Apple gets out of the way, Korean on the Mac will likely blossom.
Structure	ElectronicHangul(TM) adds to a system via extensions and fonts that can install onto any Macintosh system (including HangulTalk). It can be used with any Macintosh system and any Macintosh application because it is built to English standards. ElectronicHangul(TM) does not affect the base language of the system in use, that is, menus and dialog boxes would read in English, unless you had a localised system such as KanjiTalk. In that case, they would read in Japanese (well--most of the time). ElectronicHangul(TM) has a private file structure so as to be fully compatible with English usage. Hangul and English are readily convertible to the KSC5601 file structure used by HangulTalk as well as various PC software, sometimes via their own conversion utilities.	HangulTalk is based on Apple's "WorldScript" technology, a lofty concept which attempts to use "two-byte" fonts for far eastern languages. Actually, there has never been a purely two-byte system in commercial distribution on any computer platform, and confusion as to which operational mode is in effect plagues the computer system at the deepest levels. At one time it was thought that by the turn of the century all computers would operate as "two-byte", but American and European users, under the pressures of color, multimedia, and the internet, have shown no tolerance for additional speed hits for the sake of world technology and the trend has been away from generic "two-byte" construction, and increasingly toward selective retrofitting of applications for Japanese, and sometimes Chinese, but rarely Korean. Apple's WorldScript in general and HangulTalk in particular have met with developer response over the last nine years that can only be characterized as failure. HangulTalk makes KSC5601 files. This seems to be more reliable than printing, in fact, HangulTalk files frequently end up being converted and printed under ElectronicHangul(TM).
Price	ElectronicHangul(TM) sells for $295 plus shipping and possibly tax. Assuming a user already has hardware and software for English or any other language, the only "hidden" cost would be to pay Adobe a shipping and handling fee for Adobe Type Manager for those who don't have ready access to it. The cost of upgrading has never exceeded $50.	The price of HangulTalk ranges from $695 to a premium of around $1,200 - $1,500 for purchasing a computer in Korea with HangulTalk pre-installed. (Lower prices have been reported but users need to be on the lookout for unlicensed product.) Additional hardware and software purchases can easily add thousands of dollars. (Localized Korean software sells for about three times American mail-order prices.) The upgrade path for either HangulTalk or localized applications is uncertain.
Language Kits	ElectronicHangul(TM) is often used in conjunction with Apple's language kits such as for Chinese and Japanese. It is not necessary to reboot to get in or out of Korean mode with ElectronicHangul(TM).	Apple has been promising and "testing" a Korean Language Kit for a period of time that now exceeds the original development time for the Macintosh. Obviously there are major problems with either development or commitment, probably both, which keeps Apple promising this software in 3-6 months year after year. In the increasingly unlikely event such a product is ever released, it will still be limited to "WorldScript compatible" or Korean localized applications. In some cases you might be able to enter Japanese via the Japanese Language Kit, and Korean via the Korean Language Kit in the same document, but you would need to reboot the computer to change language scripts. The "beta" version of the Korean Language Kit is licensed for development of compatible applications only, and is, of course, not supported.

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