The Apple II At 30

turnitover sends us to eWEEK for an appreciation of the Apple II on the 30th anniversary of its shipping. An overview of the history of the Apple II puts it in context. A nice tidbit: how important the floppy drive was to sales. The article quotes Sellam Ismail, the proprietor of VintageTech, which maintains archives of computers, documents, and software: "You could think of the Apple II's importance on two levels — the Woz level and the Steve Jobs level." The former refers to its allure to hackers, and the latter to its appliance-like polish, a first for its time, There is also an interview with Woz, who says, "[A]t the start there were no computers in the home — we had to make the word computer compatible with homes."

The first computer I owned

[Purity Of Essence (1007601)]

I got an Apple ][+ with 48k back in 1981. I had a chance to use a couple of computers before then, but this was the first one I spent any real time with. I taught myself to program on it and it sparked my life long interest in computer graphics and game development (which I attempt to do professionally today). I have the awesome manuals that came with it to thank. That's the way to do a computer right. And now it makes me feel very, very old. I wish I still had that particular computer, I should have never given it away. I still have an Apple IIe, two Apple //c's, and a Laser 128. What Woz did with Apple is the most inspiring and amazing thing. What an engineer!

Re:The first computer I owned

[statusbar (314703)]

I feel old too [jdkoftinoff.com]

My Apple ][ was something that challenged and taught me.

Woz is brilliant and I spend countless hours pouring over the big red book with the fold out schematic of the Apple ][. Not only open source but open hardware too. The Apple ][ was fundamental in my development as a computer programmer.

Computers now have lost the special aspects of the Apple ][... simplicity and understandability.

--jeffk++

Re:The first computer I owned

[wall0159 (881759)]

That's what I love about Linux. I know the hardware is still closed, but one can go into /etc and look at the scripts that control the system - in (almost) human readable form!
Now I'm no hardcore hacker (basic bash is as gritty as I get) but it's beautiful that the system is configured by a heap of text files and scripts.

Having said that - /etc could certainly be better and more logically organised!

The Call That Changed a Life

[reporter (666905)]

What is the call that changed a life?

call -151

Yeah, UCSD p-code Pascal! :)

[PaulBu (473180)]

My first real computer (not to count my very dear hex-codes programmable calculator, though at that time I did not know it was hex codes, just some numbers and first couple letters, in 4th or 5th grade :) ) was a Bulgarian clone of Apple ][. Yes, with (equally pirated) p-code system written in that strange unknown place called UCSD, had something to do with mythical California... I still do not understand how did they fit p-code interpreter, compiler, libraries (including graphics), editor and file browser runnable on 32K and loadable from a 5" floppy (it was not 360K, more like 128K, right?)... Eat THAT, JVM! :)

Moscow, 1984, I think... (Hmm, interesting year... ;) ).

Paul B.

What's changed in 30 years?

[Whiney Mac Fanboy (963289)]

What's the big thing that seems to have changed at Apple over 30 years?

In 1977, Apple Computer included the schematics for all of the motherboard and CPU design for the Apple ][.

In 2006, Apple Ceased & Desisted [macobserver.com] a site for merely linking to a service manual.

Please come back Woz, we miss you.

Re:What's changed in 30 years?

[TheRealMindChild (743925)]

The face of computer business has changed. It is all about patents and copyright now... not providing a good product to the consumer.

Re:What's changed in 30 years?

[Whiney Mac Fanboy (963289)]

The face of computer business has changed. It is all about patents and copyright now... not providing a good product to the consumer.

Yup. Companies like MS & Apple seem to prefer buying out other companies & suing competitors rather than actually innovating.

We need some engineers like Woz back in positions of importance again....

Re:

[servognome (738846)]

The face of computer business has changed. It is all about patents and copyright now... not providing a good product to the consumer.

That's what happens when you change something from a hobby to a means for survival.

Re:

[Whiney Mac Fanboy (963289)]

That's what happens when you change something from a hobby to a means for survival.

Means for survival? I think you mispelt enormous high-margin profit.

Re:

[rbanffy (584143)]

"not providing a good product to the consumer."

Problem is, the market is more about buying shiny things than being good, knowledgeable, customers.

For the clueless, good enough suffices.

Re:What's changed in 30 years?

[westlake (615356)]

What's the big thing that seems to have changed at Apple over 30 years?
In 1977, Apple Computer included the schematics for all of the motherboard and CPU design for the Apple ][.

In 1935 your Grandad's Hallicrafters shortwave set came with a schematic. In 1965 your Dad's RCA Color TV did not. What begins as the private preserve of the technical hobbyist becomes domesticated and mass market.

Re:What's changed in 30 years?

[Ucklak (755284)]

My 1981 13" Mitsubishi ColorTV came with schematics.
My 1983 JVC VCR ($500 retail) came with schematics.
My 1989 19" Panasonic Stereo TV ($700 Retail) came with schematics.
My 2001) 43" Hitachi Projection HDTV (monitor 1080i/540p) has schematics available that I used to replace the convergence chips with.

It is true that most electronics - especially the Wal*Mart disposable type - do not have schematics. I was actually shocked that my 43" TV has them available for the public.
What I find offensive is that some appliance parts (refrigerator and dishwasher) from some manufacturers are not available to the general public - at least in my experience. I've read that some specialty ICs for TVs are only available to contract holders (repair shops) for said manufacturer.

Re:

[profplump (309017)]

I don't disagree with the principle you're arguing, but the example it silly. First, the schematics for a modern computer would be A) huge and B) useless to anyone who doesn't own a fabrication plant. You physically can't build a modern computer at home, not matter what kind of mad soldering and taping skills you have, and it would be a waste of time and disk space to include a complete schematic.

I'm guessing that the C&D has more to do with protecting their currently fragile channel sales and service m

Re:What's changed in 30 years?

[Mattintosh (758112)]

Macs have always been PC's. They are computers, and they are personal (except for the servers, and even then, the recent ones could be used as a workstation). They are not and never will be "IBM PC Compatible", though right now is the closest they've ever been.

Just to remind you... the IBM PC lived and died by its BIOS. Without a BIOS, it can't be an "IBM PC Compatible". The Mac used to live (and potentially die) by its ROM, but Apple wisely turned it into an intangible brand and got rid of that thing.

The D5 clip of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates is good..

[CatOne (655161)]

SJ gives a good overview of the original goals of the Apple ][ and later the Mac. He gives interesting details of the Apple ][... "we wanted people to be able to code themselves," and on Woz's implementation of Integer Basic and how broken it was (and that Woz knew he needed to fix it with something that supported floating point, but never got around to it). Was pretty neat.

There are some clips on the "All things Digital" conference site, and I believe on iTunes as well.

RTFM = Best Evar.. BASIC, etc, etc

[j-stroy (640921)]

The BEST thing about starting with the Apple ][ was the manuals. They explained clearly and with examples how to use the computer and write BASIC programs. Nothing since has been as comprehensive, or easy to use.

There are so many layers and problems which todays desktop make difficult, and were easy back then. A much better introduction to computers couldn't be had.

Re:

[Kadin2048 (468275)]

The BEST thing about starting with the Apple ][ was the manuals. They explained clearly and with examples how to use the computer and write BASIC programs. Nothing since has been as comprehensive, or easy to use.

Totally agree. I actually keep a set of Apple ][c manuals around on my bookshelf, as an example/reminder of what good technical writing (and illustrating!) is.

The authors of those manuals managed to take a subject that was completely and utterly foreign to many of their readers, and make it comprehe

uh huh

[by Anonymous Coward]

But does it run Vista?

*duck*

Good old times...

[Illogical Spock (1058270)]

Like any geek 30+, I had an AppleII too (in fact, the computer's name was TK2000, a brazilian clone). And I must say that the world of computers were sooo funnier then... Obviously I'm takking from a romantic point of view, where typing 500 lines of BASIC code to save it in a K7 tape (after 3 hours debugging your mistypings) is real fun! I remember a book called "the black book of TK2000" that contained several hard-to-find informations that allowed me to really explore my machine, and the assembly programs that made it read even bugged tapes without errors. :-) And, last but not least, Karateka! :-)))

After that, I had a MSX (I don't know if this japanese computer was famous in other countries, but here in brazil it was) with a single-sided drive, and some years later my first 386SX. :-) IRQs, DMAs, conflicts, fun, fun, fun! :-) But since then, everything went downhill (or uphill). From 64Kb to 4Gb of RAM in 10 years...

Today, you buy a computer, connect it to your 8Mb internet connection, download a 2Gb game in half an hour and play games that are almost real... You don't need to worry about tapes, typing, basic, anything. It's obviously better... But it's sad too. There's no fun anymore...

Yes, I know I'm getting old... But I really think that I was happy and I didn't knew...

Re-release it!

[m0nkyman (7101)]

Seriously. Re-release it as a kit for kids to learn computers on. I remember getting a 'computer kit' from Radio shack as a kid that was basically a bunch of resistors and transistors and wires. (the 150 in 1 from here - http://musepat.club.fr/sfair.htm [musepat.club.fr] ) An Apple II would be a nice modern equivalent....

Re:

[colinrichardday (768814)]

As a freethinking Atheist I feel all religions should be banned globally. The quicker religions are banned, the quicker we will achieve peace globally.

As an atheist, I must ask by what means do you hope to achieve such a ban, let alone enforce it? Are you willing to be more tyrannical than Stalin?

Re:Zonk 1, 2, and 3

[SickLittleMonkey (135315)]

Zork [wikipedia.org], not Zonk. I'm assuming that's a braino, since the 'N' key is nowhere near the 'R' key.

All those text-only Infocom games had the best graphics ... the graphics in your head.

SLM

Re:Again forgetting Commodore

[the_arrow (171557)]

Well, at the trade show where both the PET and the Apple II were anounced, what do you think got the most attention? A dull grey box that showed random data on the screen when turned on and then just a blinking prompt and had no functioning BASIC, or a futuristic nice-looking box with built-in monitor and tape-drive and a working BASIC that you could work with immediatly?

Apple was good at deceptive commercials, like saying that the Apple II was the best-selling computer of all time, when both Commodore and especially Tandberg (with the TRS/80) outsold them plenty. It wasn't until VisiCalc that the Apple II became really popular, and then mainly in business. In the term of number of sold units Commodore beat everyone, first with the VIC-20 and then with the C64.

Re:Revisionist History?

[Purity Of Essence (1007601)]

I don't think anyone would argue that the Apple II was technically inferior to the machines that came later from other companies. The Commodore 64 was released five years after the Apple II, that's ages in computer years and features several custom chips for its special features. Apple stuck to the same off-the shelf mentality for a long time, because that's what their customers wanted. The Apple /// was a complete flop, so was the Lisa. People liked their Apple IIs. The Apple IIGS was late to the party, if they had moved in that direction sooner, maybe it would have made a difference, but technical superiority isn't everything in mass marketing. Ask Sony.

While the Mac was buoyed by the desktop publishing revolution, the Amiga did manage to capture a niche: video and graphics. Amiga computers are still used today by many video professionals. There is a Video Toaster sitting eight feet from me (and its PC successor, the VT[4], in the box I'm using right now). Unfortunately for Commodore, the potent Amiga / Toaster combo were way too far ahead of their time; home video was nowhere near reaching the mass market revolution that is going on right now. In those days, printing out really, really nice documents was something people could get their heads around, especially in the ugly reality of dot matrix printers and fanfold paper. These days, thanks mostly to good timing and savvy purchases, Apple all but owns the video and graphics niche as well.

Commodore failed simply because of horrible management, just like Atari. Hell, the Amiga never even should have been a Commodore product, it was designed by Jay Miner, the Atari engineer behind the Atari VCS and the Atari 400/800. Atari was offered the Amiga and payed for some of its development, and for some reason decided not to see it to completion. No doubt the same kind of idiocy that lead Atari to pass on the rights to the Nintendo Entertainment System. When Commodore slipped in and sneakily purchased the Amiga out from under them, a livid Jack Tramiel, president of Atari, (who founded Commodore and introduced the PET/VIC/C64 series and eventually got all pissy and left Commodore to purchase a money hemorrhaging Atari) sued Commodore and scrambled to slap together the Atari ST as a competitor, practically out of spite. Engineered in something like 6 months, while the Amiga languished in legal limbo, the Atari ST (dubbed by some, "the Jackinstosh") actually wasn't too bad (if quirky) and featured a single-tasking OS from Digital Research, the guys who passed on the IBM PC operating system allowing Microsoft to step in to save the day. While slightly faster than, and sharing the same CPU as the Amiga and the Mac, the Atari ST was nothing compared to the much more complex and amazing multi-tasking Amiga. The ST would eventually sport an inexpensive laser printer (two years after Apple) and the ability to run Mac and PC software better than the real thing. Atari tried to compete in desktop publishing, and some big name publishing software got their start on Atari, but Atari couldn't shed its gaming stigma and refused to spend the marketing dollars to correct that. Commodore didn't fare much better in the image department and didn't even bother to make a laser printer or try to compete with Mac at all it seems, although the Amiga outsold the Atari by a substantial margin. Maybe that's all they cared about. They later tried to get into the game console business with a dumbed down Amiga with a CD-ROM, but it was too late for Commodore and the faded away in all but the video realm. Atari eventually did find their niche in music thanks to built in MIDI and sequencer software like Cubase, and it is still used by a few musicians, although nothing like it was in its heyday.

Apple made it out almost by default because Atari and Commodore were so inept ... and because they developed an affordable laser printer before anyone else. Not unlike how Apple were the first to develop a fast and affordable floppy system -- engineered by who? W