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Rare Docs Show How Apple Created Apple II DOS

Posted by timothy on from the won't-be-big-and-fancy-like-gnu dept.

An anonymous reader writes with a link to this "CNET story about arguably the most important technical documents in Apple's early history: the source code, contract letters, schematics and notes for the creation of the Apple II Disk Operating System (DOS). From 1977 and 1978, these documents chronicle Apple's first OS and what made the Apple II into a serious computer for the masses, able to support killer apps like Visicalc and build the PC industry."

13 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe it was just my youth but... by TWX · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...I could never figure out what to do with an Apple-II at a prompt. It always came down to inserting the software disk and rebooting the machine.

    It probably didn't help that the Packard Bell XT that dad bought had both "Teach Yourself DOS" and an MS-DOS 3.3 full command manual, and obviously the MS-DOS commands didn't work on the Apple...

    Sometimes I shudder to think that Packard Bell instigated the turning point that led to my professional career...

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    1. Re:Maybe it was just my youth but... by drerwk · · Score: 4, Insightful

      CALL -151 the only command worth using

    2. Re:Maybe it was just my youth but... by hoggoth · · Score: 4, Funny

      HAHA Good 'ol days. I wrote a little 6502 code that intercepted the keyboard input and every time it saw an "S" it spit out a "TH" to the system. I called it "LITHP".
      It drove the teachers nuts.

      --
      - For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat /dev/random (may take some time)
    3. Re:Maybe it was just my youth but... by Tablizer · · Score: 3, Funny

      I wrote a little 6502 code that intercepted the keyboard input and every time it saw an "S" it spit out a "TH"

      Tho you're the thupid idiot who got me thuthpended from thchool! Bathtard! I'm thtuck uthing my old thythtem becauthe of that.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  2. Copied? by ozmanjusri · · Score: 5, Funny

    Were the documents Xeroxed as well?

    --
    "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
  3. here comes Bobby buzzkill! by Thud457 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is the Apple ][, not the Lisa.
    Therefore your attempt at humor is invalidated by being factually incorrect.

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    1. Re:here comes Bobby buzzkill! by moderatorrater · · Score: 4, Funny

      Looks like everything's in order. From a technical and possibly legal perspective, then, everyone is barred from laughing at GP's post until further notice.

  4. the more things change... by stenvar · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The Apple II was really only one of three massively successful PC lines: the Commodore, the TRS-80 line, and the Apple line, all introduced in 1977. The Apple II and TRS-80 both received floppy drives in 1978. The Apple II did keep production costs down, but both the machines and its disk drives were pretty expensive, so Apple really didn't do anything to help the masses with its cost savings. In terms of market share, Apple II was always a smaller player relative to the others. So, like today, Apple was had a product with a smaller market share, a lot of proprietary technology, and a large profit margin. And like today, they probably received more credit for innovation than they deserve.

    1. Re:the more things change... by pamar · · Score: 3, Informative

      You apparently forgot the fact that Apple published schematics and was built with "off-the-shelf" components, and this soon resulted in a massive "clones" market, offering good if not perfect compatibility (the ROMs were easy to copy, too) at vastly reduced prices.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Apple_II_clones

  5. A Computer For The Masses? by westlake · · Score: 4, Informative

    From 1977 and 1978, these documents chronicle Apple's first OS and what made the Apple II into a serious computer for the masses.

    The computer for the masses has to be affordable.

    The original retail price of the computer was US $1298 (with 4 kB of RAM) and US $2638 (with the maximum 48 kB of RAM). The original Apple II was discontinued at the start of 1981, having been superseded by the II+.

    An estimated 40,000 machines were sold for its 4-year production run.

    Apple II series

    What cost $1298 in 1977 would cost $4848.66 in 2012. What cost $2638 in 1977 would cost $9854.21 in 2012. The Inflation Calculator

    Following Visicalc's release, Bricklin and Frankston developed ports for the Atari 800 and Commodore PET, both of which could be done easily due to sharing 6502 CPUs with the Apple II and being able to recycle large portions of code. Other versions followed for the HP 150 and TRS-80 Model I and II. Finally, Visicalc was ported to the IBM PC and became one of the initial pieces of software available for it on its 1981 launch.

    VisiCalc

    1. Re:A Computer For The Masses? by jythie · · Score: 4, Informative

      'Masses' is a fairly relative concept, as is 'affordable'. Compared to the targeting of the IBM compatible computers it could be argued that the Apple ][ line was more a computer for mass consumers, even if at its price point it was out of the range of many people. It is kinda like today out the Canon 5Dmk3 is a FF camera for the 'masses' in that it is intended (or at least marketed to) 'prosumers' as opposed to professionals and companies. Its price point is still higher then most people can plunk down for a camera, but it is still aimed at the mass market.

      Now, it could be argued there were other 'for the masses' computers also being sold at the time, but that is why it is "A" computer for the masses, not "The" computer for the masses.

      I think people tend to forget how computers were seen and marketed at the time, and how little attention there was on anyone other then hobbyists and professionals. The Apple ][ and other computers like it really were a new push to get usable computers into the homes of a much larger audience.

  6. Slightly Relevant: Web Based Apple II Emulator by MrYingster · · Score: 5, Interesting

    running Apple DOS 3.3.
    http://porkrind.org/a2/
    For those interested in reliving the memories of Apple DOS.... This emulator is all written in javascript. There seem to be quite a few ROMs present as well to try.

  7. 35 Days to write an OS by Fool106 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Pretty crazy to think he wrote an OS in 35 days. How long did it take Linus to write linux?