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The Apple II At 30

Posted by kdawson on from the hacker's-dream-and-appliance dept.

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."

5 of 299 comments (clear)

  1. The first computer I owned by Purity+Of+Essence · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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!

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    +0 Meh
  2. What's changed in 30 years? by Whiney+Mac+Fanboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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 a site for merely linking to a service manual.

    Please come back Woz, we miss you.

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    There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
    1. Re:What's changed in 30 years? by TheRealMindChild · · Score: 5, Interesting

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

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      "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
    2. Re:What's changed in 30 years? by westlake · · Score: 5, Interesting
      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.

  3. RTFM = Best Evar.. BASIC, etc, etc by j-stroy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.