It's the Apple II that made the company, kept it afloat, and even made it a cult success -- but it was also the Apple II that Steve Jobs tried so hard to kill off with the Mac. It's the little machine that could, did, and for its fans, still does.
Still does? Not seeing much evidence of that in the article. Is anyone still using an Apple II for anything other than nostalgia?
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Before we make the Apple II sound like a machine you would want to buy today, you wouldn't. For all its firsts, it had a major deficiency in that only supported uppercase letters. If you bought an Apple II in 1977, you could only type on it in capitals. It wasn't until 1983 and the Apple IIe that it shipped with the ability to show lowercase too.
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But then suddenly it was the 1990s, and still the Apple II was selling. By this point, it had gone through very many variations, but the final one was the Apple IIe. It ceased production in November 1993.
How could the Apple IIe have been simultaneously launched in 1983 *and* the “final” model? The final one to be actually in production, standing alone, after a 10-year-long run? You’re meaning to tell me Apple discontinued the more capable Apple IIGS even before the IIe, and not the entire remaining lineup at the same time? I mean, I know Apple is no stranger to selling really old hardware for years without updating it – the Macintosh Plus, the iPod Classic, the iPod Touch, the Mac Mini and the infamous 2013 Mac Pro come to mind –, but jeez, ten years?
Edit: ooooh, I see. That would’ve been indeed the Apple IIe Platinum. And judging from its specs, it wasn’t that different from the other IIe models. Still extremely weird, IMHO.
Yep, I often wonder what it would've been like if Apple simply discontinued the IIe in 1987 or so, and all current and future orders for IIe's were simply filled by IIgs machines. Since the GS is highly compatible with the IIe, almost all software and hardware works. I guess the obvious answer is cost- Making a IIe in 1989, which wasn't much different than it was in 1983, must've only cost Apple "pennies" compared to making the relatively complex IIgs.
I feel empty because the article made no mention of the apex of Apple II, the IIgs. It was a great machine and could have been even greater if not for infighting at Apple. It was an example of Apple (Jobs) sabotaging one product to ensure the success of another.
It also is an early example of the insanity of the recording industry as the IIgs was idiotically targeted for a lawsuit by Apple Records... because, the IIgs had a music chip in it, and Apple Records declared that meant Apple Computer was breaking its agreement to not be involved in the record industry... and yet look at Apple’s music activities today: They actually look way more like a music publisher now than when they merely put a 32-voice Ensoniq sampler chip in a computer.
I never had an Apple computer up until the first core solo (Intel) Mac mini. I started in 1979 with a Tandy TRS-80 with expansion cabinet and 64KB of memory that my father bought in the US and imported to the Netherlands (probably the first personal computer -not kit computer - running at that time in Holland). It was a phenomenal computer with the Z-80 (Zilog remember that) which had a very nice (and regular) instruction set. I did incredible things on that (invented lots of software).
>It wasn't until 1983 and the Apple IIe that it shipped with the ability to show lowercase too.
Accurate but there lots of third-party 80-column terminal cards that allowed upper and lower case that were available before the IIe in 1983. They generally went into slot #3 and were kind of standardized. Doing a brief search, it looks like the availability started around 1980.
Indeed, I bought a third-party 80-column terminal card around 82-83, it was required to be able to use Pascal at the time.
I still remember the tactile feel of the Apple II+. The way the floppy disk latch was stiff at first and then popped open. The rough texture of the very thick plastic case. The lumpy paint texture. The wonderful clack of the keyboard. The way the top popped off with the odd velcro like pads at the back (like an array of small knobs that fit into each other). Seems like just yesterday.
Still have my //c+ Still have a working //e And a IIGS (or three) Ran a ATG external research site for the AVOC, for head-to-head IIGS vs MacSE use cases, for Hypercard GS, and for the Apple II MacLC Card. Amazing what they got out of that product line.
My school had a whole room full of Apple IIc machines, but the library had an Apple II which we played Karateka and Carmen Sandiego on. I remember making banners on it with Print Shop, too. Good memories.
Always wanted a IIe, too expensive, went with a Commodore 64 - a tremendous value with great integrated graphics and sound for the time ... tons of software ... apparently Commodore sold 15 million of them.
We started with a Vic 20. I wanted an Apple so bad because that’s what we had in school. For obvious reasons the Vic was soon replaced with a 64. At least Commodore did it right. All of the accessories; printer, Data-cassette, and 300 baud Vicmodem, worked on the 64.
Not all those first were first... commodore pet had basic in rom and was released before the Apple II
Came here to say the same. People forget what a competitor Commodore was back in the day.
Unfortunately they sat too long on the success of the 64 before moving on to the Amiga. Makes you wonder what the computer landscape would look like now if Commodore management and investors were as smart as Steve who knew it was time to move on to a new platform. A lot of the early CGI you see in early 80’s shows and movies was done on Amiga’s. They owned that market at one time.
Amiga wiped the floor with Macs at the time. It was a multitasking monster.
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What platform do you think his comment section runs on?
I kid, I kid.
It also is an early example of the insanity of the recording industry as the IIgs was idiotically targeted for a lawsuit by Apple Records... because, the IIgs had a music chip in it, and Apple Records declared that meant Apple Computer was breaking its agreement to not be involved in the record industry... and yet look at Apple’s music activities today: They actually look way more like a music publisher now than when they merely put a 32-voice Ensoniq sampler chip in a computer.
I started in 1979 with a Tandy TRS-80 with expansion cabinet and 64KB of memory that my father bought in the US and imported to the Netherlands (probably the first personal computer -not kit computer - running at that time in Holland).
It was a phenomenal computer with the Z-80 (Zilog remember that) which had a very nice (and regular) instruction set.
I did incredible things on that (invented lots of software).
Still have a working //e
And a IIGS (or three)
Ran a ATG external research site for the AVOC, for head-to-head IIGS vs MacSE use cases, for Hypercard GS, and for the Apple II MacLC Card.
Amazing what they got out of that product line.
My only request to Apple is for another 15" MBPR. (The others don't fit...)
I thank both the Steves.. and Tim... for their talent, intelligence and oversight.
May I be using a Mac many years from now...