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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1991, Zonker Software
(PART 2 -- THE APPLE I)
[v1.1 :: 12 Dec 91]
THE APPLE I: DEVELOPMENT
At the Homebrew Computer club in Palo Alto, California (in Silicon Valley), Steve Wozniak, a 26 year old employee of Hewlett-Packard and a long-time digital electronics hacker, had been wanting to build a computer of his own for a long time. For years he had designed many on paper, and even written FORTRAN compilers and BASIC interpreters for these theoretical machines, but a lack of money kept him from carrying out his desire. He looked at the Intel 8080 chip (the heart of the Altair), but at $179 decided he couldn't afford it. A decision to NOT use the 8080 was considered foolhardy by other members of the club. Consider this description of the microcomputer "world" as it was in the summer of 1975:
"That summer at the Homebrew Club the Intel 8080 formed the center of the universe. The Altair was built around the 8080 and its early popularity spawned a cottage industry of small companies that either made machines that would run programs written for the Altair or made attachments that would plug into the computer. The private peculiarities of microprocessors meant that a program or device designed for one would not work on another. The junction of these peripheral devices for the Altair was known as the S-100 bus because it used one hundred signal lines. Disciples of the 8080 formed religious attachments to the 8080 and S-100 even though they readily admitted that the latter was poorly designed. The people who wrote programs or built peripherals for 8080 computers thought that later, competing microprocessors were doomed. The sheer weight of the programs and the choice of peripherals, so the argument went, would make it more useful to more users and more profitable for more companies. The 8080, they liked to say, had critical mass which was sufficient to consign anything else to oblivion."<1>
Another chip, the Motorola 6800, interested Wozniak because it resembled his favorite minicomputers (such as the Data General Nova) more than the 8080. However, cost was still a problem for him until he and his friend Allen Baum discovered a chip that was almost identical to the 6800, while considerably cheaper. MOS Technology sold their 6502 chip for $25, as opposed to the $175 Motorola 6800. Wozniak decided to change his choice of processor to the 6502 and began writing a version of BASIC that would run on it. A friend over at Hewlett-Packard programmed a computer to simulate the function of the 6502, and Wozniak used it to test some of his early routines. When his BASIC interpreter was finished, he turned his attention to designing the computer he could run it on. Except for some small timing differences, he was able to use the hardware design he had earlier done on paper for the 6800.<2>
To make the computer easier to use, Wozniak favored a keyboard over the front panel switches that came on the Altair. He also made it simple to use a television for a video terminal. (Recall that at this time the most common mechanism used for input/output was a teletype, which consisted of a keyboard, typewriter, and if you were lucky, a paper tape reader/puncher). Functionally, it was a television terminal attached to a computer, all on one printed circuit board (another enhancement over the Altair). Wozniak used two 256 x 4 PROM (programmable read-only memory) chips to create a 256 byte program (called a "monitor") that looked at the keyboard when the computer was turned on. This monitor program could not do much more than allow entry of hex bytes, examine a range of memory, and run a program at a specific address.<3> (The Altair needed these "bootstrapping" instructions to be entered by hand each time the computer was turned on).
Because there were no cheap RAMs available, Woz used shift registers to send text to the TV screen. Consequently, his video terminal was somewhat slow, displaying characters at about 60 characters per second, one character per scan of the TV screen. (This speed would be similar to watching a computer communicate via a modem at 1200 baud). It was slow by 1991 standards, but an advancement over the teletypes that could only type 10 characters per second. The computer had 8K of dynamic RAM. You could load BASIC into 4K of memory and have 4K left over for your own programs. It had a video connector, but you had to connect a monitor on your own. You also had to buy the keyboard separately and wire it into a 16-pin DIP connector. The power supply had to be connected to two transformers to get 5 volts and 12 volts for the motherboard. There was no speaker, no graphics, and no color. There was a single peripheral slot, and when it was first released there was nothing available to plug into this slot. It was entirely contained on a single printed circuit board, about six by eight inches in size (most hobby computers of that time needed at least two boards), used only 30 or 40 chips, and because it could run BASIC programs it got people's attention.<4>
THE APPLE I: MARKETING
Let's adjust our time circuits for 1976, and jump forward in time. By now, Steve Wozniak had completed his 6502-based computer and would display enhancements or modifications at the bi-weekly Homebrew Computer Club meetings. Steve Jobs was a 21 year old friend of Wozniak's and also a visitor at the Homebrew club. He had worked with Wozniak in the past (together they designed the arcade game "Breakout" for Atari) and was very interested in his computer. During the design process Jobs made suggestions that helped shape the final product, such as the use of the newer dynamic RAMs instead of older, more expensive static RAMs. He suggested to Wozniak that they get some printed circuit boards made for the computer and sell it at the club for people to assemble themselves. They pooled their financial resources together to have PC boards made, and on April 1st, 1976 they officially formed the Apple Computer Company. Jobs had recently worked at an organic apple orchard, and liked the name because "he thought of the apple as the perfect fruit--it has a high nutritional content, it comes in a nice package, it doesn't damage easily--and he wanted Apple to be the perfect company. Besides, they couldn't come up with a better name."<5>
Jobs approached the owner of a new computer store in the bay area called "The Byte Shop." This businessman, Paul Terrell, expressed an interest in the Apple Computer (to be known later as the "AppleI"), but wanted only fully assembled computers to sell. If they could provide this, Terrell told them he would order fifty Apples, and pay cash on delivery. Suddenly, the cost of making (and selling) this computer was considerably more than they expected. Jobs and Wozniak managed to get the parts on "net 30 days" (30 days credit without interest), and set themselves up in Job's garage for assembly and testing of the AppleI. After marathon sessions of stuffing and soldering PC boards, Jobs delivered the computers to the Byte Shop. Although these "fully assembled" computers lacked a power supply, keyboard, or monitor, Terrell bought them as promised. In July of 1976 the AppleI was released and sold for $666.66, which was about twice the cost of the parts plus a 33% dealer markup.<6> Two hundred AppleI computers were manufactured, and all except twenty-five of them sold over a period of ten months.<7>
Although the AppleI was easier to begin using than the Altair (thanks to its built-in ROM code), it was still a time consuming process to set it up to do something useful. Steve Wozniak would have to type in about 3K of hexadecimal bytes before BASIC was ready to use. He could do it in about 20 to 30 minutes, but he almost knew the code by heart. The typical user was more limited in ability to use BASIC on the AppleI. To broaden the appeal of the AppleI (and at the insistence of Paul Terrell), Wozniak designed a cassette interface. It was mounted on a small two-inch-high printed circuit board and plugged into the single slot on the motherboard. The card sold for $75 and a cassette tape of Woz's BASIC was included with it. The advertisement Apple included with the card stated, "Our philosophy is to provide software for our machines free or at minimal cost." The interface worked, but worked well only with cassettes running on expensive tape recorders. To further try to enhance sales, the Byte Shop stores found a local cabinetmaker that made some koa-wood cases for the Apple computer (so it would no longer be just a "naked" circuit board).<8>
Interestingly, although most of the action in the micro world was going on in Silicon Valley, news of the AppleI made its way east. Stan Veit, owner of the east coast's first computer store, bought an AppleI and took it to a meeting of the Association of Computer Machinery. Those attending were quite skeptical that a REAL computer could fit into a small briefcase; they were sure that the machine was just a portable terminal, attached by a hidden phone line to a mainframe somewhere!<9>
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NEXT INSTALLMENT: The Apple II
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTES
<1> Michael Moritz, THE LITTLE KINGDOM, p. 123.
<2> Moritz, pp. 124-127.
<3> Williams & Moore, p. A69.
<4> Gregg Williams and Rob Moore, "The Apple Story, Part 1: Early History", BYTE, Dec 1984, pp. A68-A69.
<5> Frank Rose, WEST OF EDEN: THE END OF INNOCENCE AT APPLE COMPUTER, p. 33.
<6> Moritz, pp. 138-144.
<7> Williams & Moore, pp. A69.
<8> Moritz, pp. 147-149.
<9> Chien, Philip, "Apple's First Decade: A Look Back", THE APPLE II REVIEW, Fall/Winter 1986, p. 12.

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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1991, Zonker Software
(PART 3 -- THE APPLE II)
[v1.1 :: 12 Dec 91]
THE APPLE II: HARDWARE AND FIRMWARE
Moving our time machine on to 1977, we can now look at Steve Wozniak's next generation Apple. Even as the AppleI was completed and was slowly selling, Wozniak was already working on making enhancements that would make his computer faster and more functional. He wanted to make it display in color. He worked to combine the terminal and memory functions of the AppleI by moving the display into main memory, allowing instant screen changes. Many of his changes were not added with the end user specifically in mind. Wozniak stated:
"A lot of features of the AppleII went in because I had designed Breakout for Atari. I had designed it in hardware. I wanted to write it in software now. So that was the reason that color was added in first--so that games could be programmed. I sat down one night and tried to put it into BASIC. Fortunately I had written the BASIC myself, so I just burned some new ROMs with line drawing commands, color changing commands, and various BASIC commands that would plot in color. I got this ball bouncing around, and I said, 'Well it needs sound,' and I had to add a speaker to the AppleII. It wasn't planned, it was just accidental... Obviously you need paddles, so I had to scratch my head and design a simple minimum-chip paddle circuit, and put on some paddles. So a lot of these features that really made the AppleII stand out in its day came from a game, and the fun features that were built in were only to do one pet project, which was to program a BASIC version of Breakout and show it off at the club."<1>
Wozniak added other features that he felt were important for a computer that was useful, one that he would want to own. Since the 6502 processor could address a total of 64K of memory, he designed the computer with the ability to use either 4K RAM chips, or the newer (and more expensive) 16K RAM chips. The first AppleII's came standard with 4K of memory, and more could be added, to a maximum of 12K (if using the 4K chips) or 48K (if using the 16K chips). Specially wired strapping blocks attached to the motherboard told the AppleII how much memory was present and where it was. According to the 1981 edition of the APPLE II REFERENCE MANUAL, the Apple could have memory in the following sizes: 4K, 8K, 12K, 16K, 20K, 24K, 32K, 36K, or a full 48K. (These sizes were determined by the different ways that three RAM chips, either 4K or 16K, could be installed). The strapping blocks were even designed with the flexibility of allowing blank spots in memory if there were no RAM chips available to fill those spots.
The first 4K of memory always had to have RAM present, since it was used by the 6502 processor, the ROM routines, and the text screen display. If, for example, you only had two other 4K RAM chips to install and you wanted to display hi-res graphics, you could strap one chip to the lower half of hi-res memory from $2000-$2FFF, and the other to the upper half of hi-res memory from $3000-$3FFF.<2> Since 16K RAM chips cost about $500 when Wozniak designed the AppleII, not many users could afford them. Whereas the Commodore PET and the Radio Shack TRS-80 could not easily be expanded beyond the 4K they came with, the AppleII from the beginning was designed with expansion in mind.<3>
The row of eight expansion slots was another feature about the AppleII that was a strong selling point. Unlike the TRS-80 or PET, you could easily expand the AppleII by simply plugging a card into one of these slots. This degree of expandability made it more expensive to build, however. Steve Jobs didn't believe that anyone would ever need more than two slots, one for a printer and one possibly for a modem. Wozniak knew from his experience with computers at Hewlett-Packard that computer users would always find SOMETHING to fill those extra slots, and insisted that they keep the number at eight.<4>
One problem Apple had to deal with was getting FCC approval for the computer. The RF (radio frequency) modulator that had been designed gave off too much interference, and it was probable that the FCC would not approve it. (The RF modulator allowed a user to attach the Apple to a standard television receiver, instead of requiring the purchase of an expensive computer monitor). Rather than have the release of the AppleII delayed for re-engineering of the RF modulator to get that FCC approval, Apple gave the specifications for the RF modulator to Marty Spergel. He ran a small company (called M&R Electronics) that specialized in obtaining hard-to-get parts that electronics and computer hackers wanted for their projects. Their agreement allowed M&R to make and sell the RF modulators, while Apple could concentrate on making and selling the AppleII. Dealers would sell an AppleII with a "Sup'r Mod" (costing about $30) if the buyer wanted to see the graphics on their color TV. Jobs assured Spergel that the item would sell well, maybe as many as fifty units a month. (Years later Spergel estimated that he had sold about four hundred thousand Sup'r Mods).<5>
Other features that Wozniak (and Allen Baum, who helped him with the project) included in the AppleII ROMs included the terminal software to do screen text display, expanded Monitor functionality, and cassette input/output routines. They added the ability to split the screen into different sized windows. They also wrote a disassembler, which was one of the most important features of the AppleII from the beginning and a significant part of its open design. It allowed ANYONE to view the 6502 code that ANY program used, and matched the philosophy of the Homebrew Club of making all computer knowledge available to everybody. In the AppleI days, when Apple was supplying software "free or at minimal charge", Wozniak and Baum published an early version of their 6502 disassembler in a hacker's magazine. It was designed to be loaded in memory on the AppleI from $800 to $9D8 and the routine could be executed from the monitor. This early code was quit similar to the disassembler that was later included in the AppleII ROM.<6>
Having an expanded Monitor program in ROM and color graphics were not the only features in the AppleII that attracted people to it. Having Wozniak's BASIC language in ROM, available immediately when the power was turned on, made it possible for non-hackers to write programs that used the AppleII's color graphics.
An interesting bit of trivia about Wozniak's Integer BASIC was that he never had an assembly language source file for it. He wrote it in machine language, assembling it by hand on paper:
"I wrote this BASIC processor, and I wrote a little ALGOL simulator and got it simulated. It looked like it would work, but I had forgotten to build the machine. I had no assembler, that was another thing. To use an assembler, they figured that somebody was going to buy this processor [the 6502] to use for a company, and their company can pay a few thousand dollars in time-sharing charges to use an assembler that was available in time-share. I didn't have any money like that, so a friend taught me that you just sort of look at each instruction, you write your instructions on the right side of the page, you write the addresses over on the left side, and you then look up the hex data for each instruction--you could assemble it yourself. So I would just sit there and assemble it myself. The [Integer] BASIC, which we shipped with the first AppleII's, was never assembled--ever. There was one handwritten copy, all handwritten, all hand-assembled. So we were in an era that we could not afford tools."<7>
Even to this day there is not an official source code listing of Integer BASIC at Apple. And interestingly, the only error I am aware of in the Integer interpreter is one involving a single byte. If a line is entered that has too many parentheses, the "TOO LONG" error message is displayed instead of the "TOO MANY PARENS" message.<8>
NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR: BACK TO THE BASICS...
I want to take a short break in this discussion of the AppleII firmware to look at some other items that will make further descriptions easier to understand. If you are a programmer already, you may want to skip this section, since you probably already know this stuff. First we will examine some definitions of terms that are commonly known to programmers, but possibly not to you. Next will be a brief excursion into the realm of hexadecimal, and finally a look at the memory map of the original AppleII.
First, let's look at definitions of some words that I have been loosely throwing around:
BIT The smallest piece of information that a computer can deal with, it is either a "0" (off, clear) or a "1" (on, set).
BYTE The most convenient piece of information (for humans) that computers use. One byte consists of eight bits, and ranges from "00000000" (0 decimal) to "11111111" (255 decimal).
NIBBLE (also spelled "nybble"). One half of a byte, consisting of four bits, ranging from "0000" (0 decimal) to "1111" (15 decimal).
WORD Two bytes (or four nibbles, if you prefer), consisting of sixteen bits, and ranging from "00000000 00000000" (0 decimal) to "11111111 11111111" (65535 decimal). Not used much in microcomputers.
BINARY A system of counting using only two digits, "0" and "1" (base 2). Computers speak in binary at their most basic level; anything else is translated into binary, so the computer can understand it.
DECIMAL A system of counting using ten digits, "0" through "9" (base 10). Most of the Western world uses this system.
HEXADECIMAL A system of counting using sixteen digits, "0" through "9" and "A" through "F" (base 16). Programmers use this system as a convenient way of organizing groups of binary numbers.
KILOBYTE Abbreviated "K", "KB", or "Kbytes", it refers to 1,024 bytes. A 64K computer has 64 x 1024 = 65536 bytes.
MEGABYTE Abbreviated "M", "MB", or "meg", it refers to 1,024 Kbytes, or 1,024 x 1,024 = 1,048,576 bytes. A 32 MB hard disk, the largest size volume that ProDOS can handle, holds 32 x 1,024 = 32,768 Kbytes, or 32 x 1,024 x 1,024 = 33,554,432 bytes.
GIGABYTE Abbreviated "G", "GB", or "gig", it refers to 1,024 MB, or 1,048,576 Kbytes, or 10,737,441,824 bytes. The AppleII Smartport (which will be mentioned later in this history) can handle disk devices up to 4 gig in size (although the software to handle that type of size has yet to be written).
RAM Random Access Memory. Any data stored in this memory disappears when the computer is turned off.
ROM Read Only Memory. Data cannot be stored in this type of memory, but instead it usually contains programs or other information that does not disappear when the computer is turned off.
HARDWARE The physical electronic components and mechanical parts that make up a piece of computer equipment. Examples would be the keyboard, disk drive, or television monitor (also called CRT, or Cathode Ray Tube).
SOFTWARE The digital instructions executed by the computer in RAM. They may act on the hardware that is attached to the computer. Examples would be a BASIC or Pascal program, an assembly language routine to read a clock, or a disk operating system. Since software is executed in RAM, it disappears from memory when the computer is turned off.
FIRMWARE The same as software, except it is executed from ROM, and does not disappear when the computer is turned off. Almost any software could be in ROM, except programs that modify themselves as they run.
Next, let's look at hexadecimal numbers in more detail. Since computers deal in binary (base 2), the true language of computers is either in terms of "0" (off) or "1" (on). However, it quickly becomes cumbersome to refer to large numbers in binary; the base 10 number "458" is "111001010" in binary. So programmers have decided to group numbers in such a way as to make it easy to convert part or all of that number to binary if necessary, but still have numbers (almost) as easy to deal with as our standard base 10 system.
Now, in the familiar base 10 system there are ten digits, 0 through 9. When counting, after you pass 9, you add one to the digit to the left of the 9, change the 9 to a 0, and continue. So, "09" becomes "10", "19" becomes "20", and so on. However, in the base 16 system there are sixteen digits, 0 through 9, and then A through F (representing decimal 10 through 15). When counting, then, you go 7, 8, 9, then A (not 10), B, C, D, E, F, 10, 11, 12, and so on. In the Apple world we have traditionally used a preceding dollar sign to signify a hexadecimal number, so "25" means twenty-five, but "$25" means thirty-seven (2 x 16, plus 5). To translate a hexadecimal number to decimal, use powers of 16:
$B65F = (11 x 16^3) + (6 x 16^2) + (5 x 16^1) + (15 x 16^0)
= (11 x 4096) + (6 x 256) + (5 x 16) + (15 x 1)
= 45056 + 1536 + 80 + 15
= 46687
The same thing can be done in reverse to convert base 10 to hexadecimal, starting by dividing the number by 4096, then the remainder by 256, then 16. If the number is greater than 65536, you need a bigger power of 16 (and you are probably not dealing with an 8-bit AppleII!) Or you can just get a programmer's calculator like mine that automatically does the conversion for you...
When dealing with memory addresses on an AppleII, we usually designate them as four digit hex numbers (such as the $B65F example above). Numbers less than $1000 often are printed without the leading blank ($400 instead of $0400), and numbers less than $100 are treated the same way ($32 instead of $0032).
THE APPLE II: MEMORY MAP
To understand the memory layout of the AppleII, consider this analogy: Imagine a cabinet with sixteen shelves, and sixteen separate slots or pigeon holes on each shelf (similar to those found in old roll-top desks). Each slot refers to a specific address in memory on the computer, and each slot can hold a number between 0 and 255. (Since a byte is eight bits wide, the largest number that can be represented by eight binary bits is 255). The bottom shelf is row "0", and the leftmost slot in that row is slot "0". The address of that slot, then, is $00. As we move to the right, the addresses increase, $01, $02, $03, and so on to $0F at the end. We then go up to the next row, (row "1"), and the addresses continue in the same fashion with $10, $11, $12, and so on as before. The sixteenth row is row "F", the rightmost slot in that row is slot "F", and the address of that slot is $FF. This cabinet has, then, 256 slots (16 x 16), and represents what is called a "page" in the Apple memory. The cabinet itself has an address (since computers need addresses for everything), and this one's address is "00". The full address of row "5", slot "A" on cabinet "00" is $005A.
Only the Altair 8800 came with just 256 bytes of memory, so we have to account for the entire 64K memory space that the 6502 chip in the AppleII can handle. There is a cabinet sitting on top of cabinet "00", and it is laid out in the same fashion with its 256 slots in sixteen rows. This is cabinet "01", and on top of that one is cabinet "02"; this continues on up until we reach cabinet "FF" way up at the top. Apple programmers refer to these cabinets as "pages" of memory. There are 256 pages of memory, each with 256 bytes on a page, making a grand total of 256 x 256 = 65536 bytes of memory (or slots that can hold a number, if you prefer the analogy).
In discussing the memory map on the AppleII, we can refer to pages of memory with a hexadecimal two-digit number for shorthand if we wish. The general layout of the AppleII memory is as follows:
Page $00: used by the 6502 processor for storage of information that it can access quickly. This is prime real-estate that is seldom available for general use by programmers without special care.
Page $01: used by the 6502 for internal operations as a "stack."
Page $02: used by the AppleII firmware as an input buffer when using the keyboard from BASIC, or when a program uses any of the firmware input routines.
Page $03: general storage area, up to the top three rows (from $3D0 through $3FF) which are used by the disk operating system and the firmware for pointers to internal routines.
Pages $04-$07: used for the 40 column text screen.
Pages $08-$BF: available for use by programs, operating systems, and for hi-res graphics. Within this space, Woz designated pages $20-$3F for hi-res "page" one, and pages $40-$5F for hi-res "page" two.
Page $C0: internal I/O and softswitches
Pages $C1-$C7: ROM assigned to each of the seven peripheral cards
Pages $C8-$CF: switchable ROM available for any of the seven cards
Pages $D0-$D7: empty ROM socket #1
Pages $D8-$DF: empty ROM socket #2
Pages $E0-$F7: Integer BASIC ROM
Pages $F8-$FF: Monitor ROM
The memory space on the AppleII between $C000 and $CFFF was assigned to handle input and output. From $C000 to $C0FF the space was reserved for various soft-switches used to control the display, and various built-in I/O devices, such as the keyboard, paddles, annunciators, and the cassette port. (A soft-switch is simply a memory location that, when a number is stored there, changes something in the computer--such as switching on graphics mode). From $C100 to $CFFF the space was reserved for ROM on the plug-in peripheral cards for each of the seven slots. Slot 1 was given the space from $C100 to $C1FF, slot 2 from $C200 to $C2FF, and so on. The $C800 to $CFFF space was special slot-selectable ROM that was uniquely available for each of the seven peripheral cards. For example, a program running on the card in slot 6 to control a device could use the $C800-$CFFF space for its own purpose. When control passed to the card in slot 3, that card could use a program of its own that ran in the same $C800-$CFFF space. This was accomplished by allowing each card to have ROM code that covered pages $C8-$CF, and making that space "switchable", depending on which card wanted to use it. Having this space available made writing ROM code simpler, since it would not have to be capable of running at various memory locations (depending on which slot a card was plugged into).
The memory from $D000 to $D7FF and $D800 to $DFFF was empty on all early AppleII computers. On the motherboard were two empty sockets that were available for the user to plug in their own ROM chips. The $D000-$D7FF space was most often used by a plug-in ROM chip sold by Apple, known as "Programmer's Aid #1." It contained various utilities for Integer BASIC programmers, including machine language routines to do the following:
Renumber BASIC programs
Append one BASIC program to the end of another
Verify a BASIC program that had been saved on tape (to confirm it was an accurate save)
Verify non-program data that had been saved on tape
Relocate assembly language routines to a different location in memory (most would only run in one place in memory)
Test the AppleII RAM
Generate musical tones through the built-in speaker
Handle hi-res graphics from BASIC, including code to clear the hi-res screen, set colors, plot points and lines, draw shapes, and load shapes from tape.
All the routines on the Programmer's Aid #1 ROM were written by Wozniak between June 1977 (the RAM test routine) and April 1978 (program renumber and append), except for the music routine, which was written by Gary Shannon.
The other empty ROM socket (covering memory from $D800 to $DFFF) was never filled by Apple. Various third-party vendors sold ROMs for that socket (or for the $D000-$D7FF socket used by the Programmer's Aid #1 ROM), but none made enough of an inroad to be preserved in the INTBASIC file that would later be included on the DOS 3.3 System Master disk. In fact, the $D800-$DFFF space in the INTBASIC file on that disk contains an image of that same space taken directly from the Applesoft ROM! It is completely useless to Integer BASIC, of course, but disk files being what they are, Apple had to fill that space with SOMETHING!
The Integer BASIC interpreter lived in the ROM space between $E000 and $F7FF. However, BASIC only used the space up to $F424. Between $F425-$F4FB and $F63D-$F65D could be found a floating-point math package that was not used by Integer BASIC, but was available for BASIC programmers who were astute enough to figure out how it worked. (An early Apple user group, the Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange, or A.P.P.L.E., sold a tape and notes by Steve Wozniak they called "Wozpak", that documented some of the secrets of the Integer BASIC ROM). Between $F500-$F63C there was code that was known as the "miniassembler", which was executed starting at the ominous address $F666. The miniassembler allowed you to enter short machine language programs using the standard 6502 mnemonics (the three letter codes that referred to a specific type of operation; for example, "LDA #" represented the 6502 opcode $A9) instead of entering the program byte by byte in the monitor. The $F689-$F7FC space contained Woz's SWEET16 interpreter. Wozniak wrote SWEET16 to simulate a 16-bit processor; it simplified some routines he wrote for the AppleII ROMs, including the Programmer's Aid #1 renumber, append, and relocate routines. Simply put, he took a series of hex bytes, defined them as "opcodes" the way HE wanted them to function, and when executing the code used his SWEET16 interpreter to translate the code into legal 6502 operations. It ran slower than standard 6502 code, but when memory space was at a premium it was better to have a slow program than to not have enough room for the program at all.
For those who are keeping count, there are a few unreferenced bytes in the latter part of the Integer ROM. Those bytes contained filler bytes that were not used as any program code.<9>,<10>,<11>
The last part of the AppleII memory, from $F800-$FFFF, contained Wozniak's Monitor program which has already been discussed above.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NEXT INSTALLMENT: The Apple II, cont.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTES
<1> Jack Connick, "...And Then There Was Apple", CALL-A.P.P.L.E., Oct 1986, p. 24.
<2> -----, "Memory Organization", APPLE II REFERENCE MANUAL, 1979, 1981, pp. 70-73.
<3> Val J. Golding, "Applesoft From Bottom To Top", CALL-A.P.P.L.E. IN DEPTH #1, 1981, p. 8.
<4> Michael Moritz, THE LITTLE KINGDOM, p. 157.
<5> Steven Levy, HACKERS: HEROES OF THE COMPUTER REVOLUTION, pp. 260-261.
<6> Steve Wozniak and Allen Baum, "A 6502 Disassembler From Apple", Dr. Dobb's Journal of Computer Calisthenics & Orthodontia, Sep 1976, pp. 22-25.
<7> Jack Connick, p. 23.
<8> Christopher Volpe, "Beep: A Tale of (T)ERROR", CALL-A.P.P.L.E., Mar 1983, p. 114.
<9> Bob Bragner, "Open Discussion", SOFTALK, Nov 1983, pp. 51-52.
<10> -----, PROGRAMMER'S AID #1, 1978.
<11> Dick Sedgewick, "SWEET 16 - Introduction", MERLIN USER'S MANUAL, 1982, pp. 103-109.

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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1991, Zonker Software
(PART 4 -- THE APPLE II, CONT.)
[v1.1 :: 12 Dec 91]
THE APPLE II: OTHER DESIGN FEATURES
Since Steve Wozniak was the designer of the AppleI and II, exactly what contribution did Steve Jobs make to the effort? Unlike Wozniak, who would not think much of extra wires hanging out of a computer that worked properly, Jobs had an eye for the appearance of the final product. He wanted the AppleII to be a product that people outside the Homebrew Computer Club would want to own:
"Jobs thought the cigar boxes [housing the home-made computers] that sat on the... desk tops during Homebrew meetings were as elegant as fly traps. The angular, blue and black sheet-metal case that housed Processor Technology's Sol struck him as clumsy and industrial... A plastic case was generally considered a needless expense compared to the cheaper and more pliable sheet metal. Hobbyists, so the arguments went, didn't care as much for appearance as they did for substance. Jobs wanted to model the case for the Apple after those Hewlett-Packard used for its calculators. He admired their sleek, fresh lines, their hardy finish, and the way they looked at home on a table or desk."<1>
The final case design made the AppleII look quite different from most of their competition. The other computers looked like they had been assembled at home (and many of them were). The Apple had no visible screws or bolts (the ten screws attached at the bottom). It had the appearance of some variation of a typewriter, but still looked futuristic enough to be a computer. The friendliness of the design even extended to the lid, which popped off easily to allow access to the expansion slots, almost inviting the user to look inside (unlike most electronic devices that held the warning "CAUTION! NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE").<2>
Other aesthetics to which Jobs paid attention were the color of the keyboard, vents for heat dissipation (avoiding the need for a noisy fan), and a shape and color that would blend in with other items in a home or on a desk. He also hired an engineer who was good with analog circuitry (not Wozniak's area of interest) to design a reliable, lightweight power supply that would stay cool. The engineer, Rod Holt, was working at Atari at the time, but was convinced to help Jobs and Wozniak. He developed a new approach (for microcomputers) by taking household current and switching it on and off rapidly, producing a steady current that was safe for the expensive memory chips. The final design of this switching power supply was smaller than a quart carton of milk and was quite reliable. Holt also helped design the television interface for the AppleII.<3>
The new company was racing to have the AppleII ready for the First West Coast Computer Fair in April of 1977. Some last minute bugs had to be eliminated; because of a static electricity problem affecting a sensitive chip, the keyboards went dead every twenty minutes. Chris Espinosa and Randy Wigginton, two high school students who were early employees of Apple, had written programs to demonstrate the computer's color and sound. They were hurriedly working to duplicate these programs on cassette. People at Apple were working to fix blemishes in the computer cases that had returned from the plastics molding company. The name for this new computer was also finalized as "AppleII", following the example of Digital Equipment Company, who had given each newer version of its PDP series a higher number (PDP-1, PDP-6, etc.). They stylized the "II" in the product name by using right and left brackets, and displaying it on the case as "][". The final product bore the mark of each person at Apple:
"The computer that appeared at the West Coast Computer Faire was not one person's machine. It was the product of collaboration and blended contributions in digital logic design, analog engineering, and aesthetic appeal. The color, the slots, the way in which the memory could be expanded from 4K to 48K bytes, the control of the keyboard and hookup to the cassette recorder, and the BASIC that was stored in the ROM chip--in effect the motherboard--was Wozniak's contribution. Holt had contributed the extremely significant power supply, and Jerry Mannock the case. The engineering advances were officially recognized when, some months later, Wozniak was awarded U.S. Patent #4,136,359 for a microcomputer for use with video display, and Holt was given Patent #4,130,862 for direct current power supply. But behind them all Jobs was poking, prodding, and pushing and it was he, with his seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy, who became the chief arbiter and rejector... [Finally,] the combination of [Mike] Markkula [Apple's first president], Jobs, and the McKenna Agency turned Apple's public bow [at the West Coast Computer Faire] into a coup."<4>
THE APPLE II: PRODUCT INTRODUCTION
As they prepared for the display at the First West Coast Faire, it was decided to create a new corporate logo. The original one, used in sales of the AppleI, was a picture of Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree, with a phrase from Wordsworth: "Newton...'A Mind Forever Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought...Alone.'" Jobs had been concerned that the logo had part of the slow sales of the AppleI, and the Regis McKenna Agency was hired to help in the design of a new one.
"Rob Janov, a young art director, was assigned to the Apple account and set about designing a corporate logo. Armed with the idea that the computers would be sold to consumers and that their machine was one of the few to offer color, Janov set about drawing still lifes from a bowl of apples ... He gouged a rounded chunk from one side of the Apple, seeing this as a playful comment on the world of bits and bytes but also as a novel design. To Janov the missing portion 'prevented the apple from looking like a cherry tomato.' He ran six colorful stripes across the Apple, starting with a jaunty sprig of green, and the mixture had a slightly psychedelic tint. The overall result was enticing and warm ..."
"[Steve] Jobs was meticulous about the style and appearance of the logo... When Janov suggested that the six colors be separated by thin strips to make the reproduction easier, Jobs refused."<5>
For the Faire, Markkula had ordered a smoky, backlit, illuminated plexiglas sign with the new logo. Although Apple had a smaller booth than other companies displaying their products at the Faire, and some of the other microcomputer makers (Processor Technology, IMSAI, and Cromemco) had been in business longer, Apple's booth looked far more professional, thanks to Markkula's sign. Some of the other participants, companies larger than Apple, had done no more than use card tables with signs written in black markers.
Because they had been one of the first to commit themselves to displaying at the Faire, Apple's booth was near the entrance and was visible to everybody entering the convention center. They demonstrated a kaleidoscopic video graphics program (possibly an early version of "BRIAN'S THEME") on a huge Advent display monitor, catching everybody's attention. But, after the Faire its organizer Jim Warren (Homebrew club member and editor of DR. DOBB'S JOURNAL) didn't think that Apple was a strong exhibitor. Byte magazine, in their report of the show, failed to even mention Apple. Despite these early opinions by influential people, over the next few months Apple received about three hundred orders for the AppleII, over a hundred more than the total number of AppleI's sold.<6>
THE APPLE II: COST
Prebuilt systems were also sold by Commodore (the 6502-based PET, for $595), and Radio Shack (the Z80-based TRS-80, for $600). This was quite a bit less than the AppleII's premium price of $1,298 for a 4K computer, a pair of game paddles, and an audio cassette with demo programs. This price did not include a cassette recorder or monitor (which both the PET and TRS-80 did include). The hardware limitations and lack of expandability of those machines, however, offset some of the price difference. Also, one other hardware introduction for the AppleII that happened in mid-1978 set it well ahead of its immediate competitors; we'll get to that shortly.
THE APPLE II: EXPERIENCES OF EARLY USERS
The original manual for the AppleII was sparse. It consisted of thirty photocopied pages, including some handwritten notes from Woz. The cover stated, "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication: introducing Apple][, the personal computer." In early 1978 these original photocopied manuals were replaced with the new "AppleII Technical Reference Manual" (also known as the "Red Book"), and copies were mailed to previous customers. Steve Jobs realized that people often viewed the quality of a product by the quality of its documentation, and so he took pains to get manuals that were easy to read and had a professional appearance.<7>
Setting up an early AppleII was fairly simple. The lid popped off easily, and one of the first things you would attach was the Sup'r Mod (RF modulator). This was plugged onto two pins sticking up from the back rear of the motherboard, near the video output jack (assuming that you did not also buy a REAL computer monitor). The game paddles were two small black boxes, with a knob on the top attached to a potentiometer (similar to volume controls on a radio) and a tiny black button on the side. These boxes were attached via a narrow cable to a plug that looked (and was) fragile; this plug also went into a small socket in the motherboard. Lastly, you attached your data storage device (the cassette recorder) to the input and output jacks in the back of the computer.
After turning on the AppleII, the first thing to greet you was a screen full of random alphabetic characters and symbols, and possibly some colored blocks (lo-res graphics mode might be turned on). Here you had to press the RESET key in the upper right hand side of the keyboard, which, after releasing the key, would cause a "beep!" and an asterisk to appear in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. (If the lo-res graphics mode had been on, it would now be off). Next to the asterisk (which was a prompt to show that you were in the Monitor) was a flashing box, the cursor. To get into BASIC, you had to press the "Ctrl" key and the "B" key simultaneously. Now you would see a different prompt, one that looked like a ">".
At this point, you could either begin entering a BASIC program, or try to load one from cassette. To load from cassette was not always easy; it took time to get the right volume and tone settings on the tape player in order to avoid getting the "ERR" or "*** SYNTAX ERR" message. (And if you didn't have much memory, you might get a "*** MEM FULL ERR" message!) When you got it properly loaded, you could type RUN and see what happened. Beyond that, it was more or less up to you to actually find something to DO with your new toy.<8>
THE APPLE II: EARLY HARDWARE ADD-ONS
Aside from the M&R "Sup'r Mod" that allowed early AppleII users to run their computer on their color TV's, some other enterprising hackers designed their own versions of modulators. One used by an early member of an Apple user group in Washington State (Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange, or A.P.P.L.E.) was somewhat better shielded than the "Sup'r Mod". It had its own power supply and plugged into the video output jack on the back of the Apple. The "Sup'r Mod" was by far the biggest seller, however.<9>
At first, there were no interface cards for any of Woz's eight slots. With the limited funds that computer purchasers had then (and now) there was not much they could afford after shelling out anywhere from $1200 to $1800 just to get their own AppleII. But they were innovative, and like many other hardware hackers of the day managed to make do with old or surplus parts. Some people, for instance, had gotten their hands on used teletype printers, such as the ASR-33 (called "battleships" because they were so rugged and heavy). Since there weren't any printer interface cards to plug into the slots to allow the computer to communicate with the teletype, they used a trick they learned from Woz himself. The AppleII had four single-bit output pins on the game controller socket that could be used for various purposes. A schematic floated through the various user groups that showed how to connect the teletype to an annunciator pin; along with it was a machine language program that re-directed output from the screen to that one-bit port, and on to the printer.<10>
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NEXT INSTALLMENT: The Disk II
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTES
<1> Michael Moritz, THE LITTLE KINGDOM, p. 186.
<2> Steven Levy, HACKERS: HEROES OF THE COMPUTER REVOLUTION, pp. 263-264.
<3> Moritz, p. 189.
<4> Moritz, pp. 190-191.
<5> Moritz, p. 188.
<6> Moritz, pp. 192-193.
<7> Philip Chien, "The First Ten Years: A Look Back", THE APPLE II REVIEW, Fall/Winter 1986, p. 12.
<8> -----, APPLE II BASIC PROGRAMMING MANUAL, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, pp. 1-19.
<9> -----, "A.P.P.L.E. Co-op Celebrates A Decade of Service", CALL-A.P.P.L.E., Feb 1988, pp. 12-27.
<10> Val J. Golding, "Applesoft From Bottom To Top", CALL-A.P.P.L.E. IN DEPTH #1, 1981, p. 8.

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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1991, Zonker Software
(PART 5 -- THE DISK II)
[v1.1 :: 12 Dec 91]
THE DISK II
Let's put some more trash into Mr. Fusion to fuel the next leg of our
trip. How about one of those KIM-1 computers over there in the corner of
the Computer Faire auditorium? We might have to break it up a bit to make
it fit... Okay, now we'll just make a small jump, to December of 1977.
By this time the AppleII had been generally available for about six
months. Most customers used their television as an inexpensive color
monitor, and used a cassette recorder to store and retrieve their programs
and data. Apple's major competitors were the TRS-80 and the Commodore
PET. The products made by these two companies, together with Apple, could
be considered as the second generation of microcomputers; they all came
fully assembled and ready to use out of the box, with a keyboard and
cassette interface. The TRS-80 and the PET even came with a monitors and
cassette recorders. The strength of the Apple was expandability and
graphics, while the strength of the others was cost (both the TRS-80 and
the PET sold for around $600, half the price of the AppleII).
By late 1977, Apple had introduced some enhancements to the II,
including their first version of a floating point BASIC (called
"Applesoft") on cassette, and a printer interface card to plug into one of
the slots on the motherboard. But the AppleII still needed something to
make it more attractive to buyers, to stand out above the TRS-80 and the
PET. One area that needed improvement was its program and data storage
and retrieval system on cassette; it was a continued source of frustration
for many users. The cassette system used on the TRS-80 was more
sophisticated than that of the AppleII, allowing named files and easier
storage of files and data on the same tape. On the AppleII it took VERY
careful adjustment of the volume and tone controls on the cassette
recorder to get programs or data to successfully load. The Apple cassette
system also needed careful attention to the location on the tape where a
program was stored, and was no more accurate than the number on the
recorder's mechanical tape counter (if it had one).
Apple president Mike Markkula was one AppleII user that was
dissatisfied with cassette tape storage. He had a favorite checkbook
program, but it took two minutes to read in the program from the tape, and
another two minutes to read in the check files.<1> Consequently, at the
executive board meeting held in December 1977 he made a list of company
goals. At the top of the list was "floppy disk". Although Wozniak didn't
know much about how floppy disks worked, he had once looked through a
manual from Shugart (a Silicon Valley disk drive manufacturer):
"As an experiment Woz had [earlier] conceived a circuit that would do much
of what the Shugart manual said was needed to control a disk drive. Woz
didn't know how computers actually controlled drives, but his method had
seemed to him particularly simple and clever. When Markkula challenged
him to put a disk drive on the Apple, he recalled that circuit and began
considering its feasibility. He looked at the way other computer
companies--including IBM--controlled drives. He also began to examine
disk drives--particularly North Star's. After reading the North Star
manual, Woz knew that his circuit would do what theirs did and more. He
knew he really had a clever design."<2>
Other issues that Wozniak had to deal with involved a way to properly
time the reading and writing of information to the disk. IBM used a
complex hardware-based circuit to achieve this synchronization. Wozniak,
after studying how IBM's drive worked, realized that if the data was
written to the disk in a different fashion, all that circuitry was
unneeded. Many floppy disks sold at that time were "hard sectored",
meaning that they had a hole punched in the disk near the center ring.
This hole was used by the disk drive hardware to identify what section of
the disk was passing under the read/write head at any particular time.
Wozniak's technique would allow the drive to do self-synchronization
("soft sectoring"), not have to deal with that little timing hole, and
save on hardware.
Wozniak asked Randy Wigginton for help in writing some software to
control the disk drive. During their week of Christmas vacation in 1977
they worked day and night creating a rudimentary disk operating system,
working hard to get the drive ready to demonstrate at the Consumer
Electronics Show in the first week of 1978. Their system was to allow
entry of single letter commands to read files from fixed locations on the
disk. However, even this simple system was not working when Wozniak and
Wigginton left for the show.
When they got to Las Vegas they helped to set up the booth, and then
returned to working on the disk drive. They stayed up all night, and by
six in the morning they had a functioning demonstration disk. Randy
suggested making a copy of the disk, so they would have a backup if
something went wrong. They copied the disk, track by track. When they
were done, they found that they had copied the blank disk on top of their
working demo! By 7:30 am they had recovered the lost information and went
on to display the new disk drive at the show.<3>,<4>
Following the Consumer Electronics Show, Wozniak set out to complete
the design of the Disk II. For two weeks, he worked late each night to
make a satisfactory design. When he was finished, he found that if he
moved a connector he could cut down on feedthroughs, making the board more
reliable. To make that move, however, he had to start over in his design.
This time it only took twenty hours. He then saw another feedthrough that
could be eliminated, and again started over on his design. "The final
design was generally recognized by computer engineers as brilliant and was
by engineering aesthetics beautiful. Woz later said, 'It's something you
can ONLY do if you're the engineer and the PC board layout person
yourself. That was an artistic layout. The board has virtually no
feedthroughs.'"<5>
THE DISK II: COST
The Disk II was finally available in July 1978 with the first full
version of DOS, 3.1. It had an introductory price of $495 (including the
controller card) if you ordered them before Apple had them in stock;
otherwise, the price would be $595. Even at that price, however, it was
the least expensive floppy disk drive ever sold by a computer company.
Early production at Apple was handled by only two people, and they
produced about thirty drives a day.<6>,<7>
Apple bought the drives to sell with Woz's disk controller from
Shugart, right there in Silicon Valley. To cut costs, however, they
decided to go to Alps Electric Company of Japan and ask them to design a
less expensive clone. According to Frank Rose, in his book "West Of
Eden":
"The resulting product, the Disk II, was almost obscenely profitable:
For about $140 in parts ($80 after the shift to Alps) [not counting labor
costs], Apple could package a disk drive and a disk controller in a single
box that sold at retail for upwards of $495. Better yet was the impact
the Disk II had on computer sales, for it suddenly transformed the AppleII
from a gadget only hard-core hobbyists would want to something all sorts
of people could use. Few outsiders realized it, but in strategic terms,
Woz's invention of the disk controller was as important to the company as
his invention of the computer itself."<8>
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NEXT INSTALLMENT: The Apple II Plus
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTES
<1> Gregg Williams and Rob Moore, "The Apple Story, Part 2: More
History And The AppleIII", BYTE, Jan 1985, pp. 167-168.
<2> Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine, "Fire In The Valley, Part Two
(Book Excerpt)", A+ MAGAZINE, Jan 1985, p. 45.
<3> Williams and Moore, "Part II", p. 168.
<4> Freiberger and Swaine, (Part Two), p. 45.
<5> Freiberger and Swaine, (Part Two), p. 46.
<6> -----, "A.P.P.L.E. Co-op Celebrates A Decade of Service",
CALL-A.P.P.L.E., Feb 1988, pp. 12-27.
<7> -----, "Apple and Apple II History", THE APPLE II GUIDE, Fall
1990, pp. 9-16.
<8> Frank Rose, WEST OF EDEN: THE END OF INNOCENCE AT APPLE COMPUTER,
1989, pp. 62.

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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1991, Zonker Software
(PART 6 -- THE APPLE II PLUS)
[v1.1 :: 12 Dec 91]
THE APPLE II PLUS: HARDWARE
We now go cruising ahead in time about one year, to June of 1979. Applesoft BASIC had been in heavy demand since the introduction in late 1978 of an improved version. It was needed by those wanting to write and use applications that needed the capability of floating-point math. Because of this, Apple engineers had begun working in 1978 on the AppleII Plus, a modest enhancement to the AppleII. The main attraction of this newer Apple would be Applesoft in ROM, available immediately without having to load it from cassette or disk. Also, having it in ROM would move it out of the part of memory where RAM Applesoft conflicted with hi-res graphics (after all, Applesoft had commands specifically written into it for manipulating those graphics, something that Integer BASIC could only do via special CALLs to the routines in the Programmer's Aid #1 chip).
With the decision made to upgrade the AppleII, other changes were made to make it more attractive to new computer buyers. The cost of RAM chips had dropped considerably, so most new IIPlus systems came standard with a full 48K of RAM. Since the disk operating system consumed about 10K of memory, having the full complement of available RAM made it easier to use the Disk II with either version of BASIC. Since users would not need to add the smaller 4K memory chips, the strapping blocks that had made it possible to use either 4K or 16K RAM chips on the original AppleII were removed.
Small changes had already been made to the product since it first began distribution. Most of these changes were made primarily to simplify it and decrease costs of manufacturing. First of all, the original AppleII motherboard, designated as "Revision0", was changed to make it possible to display two more colors in hi-res graphics. The Revision0 board had only four colors (green, violet, black, white), but Wozniak had learned that by making a simple alteration he could get two more colors (blue and orange) and two more varieties of black and white. The Revision1 and later boards were capable of displaying all eight colors. The means of making this modification to Revision0 Apples was described by Wozniak in his reply to an article by Allen WatsonIII about hi-res graphics (in the June 1979 issue of Byte magazine). With that change, people who were not afraid of doing a little electrical work on their computers had some of the benefits of an updated AppleII.
Hardware bugs that Apple engineers fixed included one that caused text characters to be displayed with green and violet fringing, whether in graphics mode or text mode. The "color killer" circuit they added fixed things so that non-graphics text would display in black and white only. Another problem involved RAM configurations of either 20K or 24K (a 16K RAM chip plus one or two 4K RAM chips). In those systems a hardware bug caused the 8K of memory from $4000 to $5FFF to be duplicated in the next 8K of memory, from $6000 to $7FFF, whether there was RAM present at those locations or not. This made a 20K Apple appear to have 24K, and a 24K Apple appear to have 36K. The Revision1 motherboard fixed this problem as well.<1>
Revision1 boards also modified the cassette input circuit to respond with more accuracy to a weak input signal, making it easier to load data and programs from cassette. Also, one "feature" of the original AppleII was that any sound generated by the internal speaker also appeared as a signal on the cassette output connector; this was fixed in the new motherboards. Lastly, the RESET cycle was made part of the power-up circuitry, eliminating the requirement that the RESET key be pressed after turning on the computer.<2>,<3>
THE APPLE II PLUS: FIRMWARE
More important than the minor hardware changes, however, were the changes in the ROM code. The new ROM replaced the original Monitor with one that, among other things, better supported the new Disk II drive. Since RESET was now automatically activated when the power was turned on, the new ROM code had the computer automatically do a few things. It cleared the screen (displaying "APPLE ][" at the top), and began a scan down the slots, starting at slot 7 down to slot 1. It examined the first few bytes of code in each card's ROM for a specific sequence that identified it as a Disk II controller card. If one was found, control was passed to that card, causing the disk drive to startup and begin loading the disk operating system into memory. If no disk controller was found, the ROM code jumped instead to the start of BASIC (instead of leaving the user in the Monitor, as in the old ROM). This "Autostart ROM", as it was called, made it possible to have a system that started up a program on the disk with little action needed by the user.
The RESET code was more intelligent in the Autostart ROM than in the Old Monitor ROM. There was now a "Cold Start" RESET (which functioned as described above), and a "Warm Start" RESET. A Warm Start RESET could occur without re-booting the Disk II (if it was present); in fact, it ensured that the disk operating system remained "connected" after RESET was pressed. This feature was implemented by setting three bytes at the end of page $03 in memory. Two of the bytes were the address of the place in memory to which the Apple should jump if RESET was pressed. The third byte was a specially coded byte created from half of the address byte. When RESET was pressed, this special "power-up" byte was checked with the address byte. If they didn't properly match, the Monitor assumed that the power had just been turned on, and it executed a Cold Start RESET. This feature was extensively used by writers of copy protected software, so users could not modify or copy the code in memory simply by pressing the RESET key.
The other major change, mentioned earlier, was the BASIC that was supplied in ROM. Gone was Steve Wozniak's hand-assembled Integer BASIC, in favor of the newer Applesoft. Since these ROM versions of BASIC used the same memory locations, they could not be used simultaneously. With the introduction of the IIPlus, Apple also released the Applesoft Firmware card. This card, which plugged into slot 0, made it possible for previous AppleII owners to have some of the benefits of the IIPlus without having to buy an entirely new computer. Even with that card, however, you could not use features of one BASIC while the other was active, and switching from one BASIC to the other erased any program that was being used at the time. The two BASICs could be told apart by the prompt they used; Integer BASIC used the ">" character, but Applesoft used the "]" character.
Another change made to the Monitor ROM made screen editing easier. The original AppleII's procedure for editing a line typed in BASIC or in the Monitor was tedious at best. To change a line of text in BASIC, you had to list the line, move the cursor up to the start of the line, and then use the right-arrow key to "copy" text from the screen into the input buffer. If you wanted to skip part of the line, you had to move the cursor past the text that you wanted to eliminate WITHOUT using the arrow keys. If you wanted to INSERT something into the line, you had to move the cursor off the line (above it or below it), type the additional text, and then move the cursor back into the line to finish copying the original part of the line.
For example, suppose you had typed this line in Applesoft and displayed it on the 40-column screen:
]LIST 100
100 FOR I = 1 TO 100: PRINT "I
LIKE MY APPLE": NEXT : END
To change that line so the PRINT statement read "I REALLY LIKE MY APPLE" meant either retyping the entire line, or using the edit feature. (If the line was particularly long, it was preferable to edit rather than retype the entire line). To edit this line, you would have to move the cursor up to the "1" of "100" and begin pressing the right arrow key. When you got to the "L" of "LIKE" you would have to move the cursor above or below the line, type the word "REALLY" followed by a space, then move the cursor back to the "L" of "LIKE", and continue copying with the right arrow key. After editing a line, the screen might look like this:
100 FOR I = 1 TO 100: PRINT "I
LIKE MY APPLE": NEXT : END
REALLY
(In this example, I moved the cursor down one line, typed "REALLY", and then moved it back to the start of the word "LIKE"). If you didn't make any mistakes it would read like this:
]LIST 100
100 FOR I = 1 TO 100: PRINT "I
REALLY LIKE MY APPLE" : NEXT
: END
However, if you didn't take care to skip over the extra spaces inserted in front of the word "LIKE" by the Applesoft LIST command, it could appear this way:
100 FOR I = 1 TO 100: PRINT "I
REALLY LIKE MY APPLE"
: NEXT : END
The big problem with these cursor moves for editing under the Old Monitor was that each move required two keypresses. To move the cursor up, you had to press "ESC" and then "D" EACH TIME you wanted to move the cursor up. "ESC A" moved right, "ESC B" moved left, and "ESC C" moved the cursor down. With a long line that needed much editing, this would get old real fast. Not only was it cumbersome, but the layout of the keyboard made it difficult to remember the correct letters used for cursor movement; although "D" (up) was above "C" (down), it seemed that "D" should stand for "Down". Also confusing was that "A" was to the left of "B", but their functions were the opposite of their position!
The new Autostart ROM improved this screen editing process just a bit. Now, pressing "ESC" turned on a special editing mode. Repeated presses of "I" (up), "J" (left), "K" (right), and "M" (down) continued to move the cursor until a key other than ESC was pressed. On the keyboard these letters were arranged in a sort of "directional keypad" or diamond, which made remembering the moves a little easier. The previous ESC editing codes were still supported, but still with their previous limitations. Unfortunately, however, you still couldn't tell whether you were in the regular text entry mode or in the ESC editing mode, and often attempts at changing a line took several tries to get it right.<4>,<5>
Other features added in the new Autostart ROM included the ability to pause a listing by pressing Ctrl-S (VERY helpful when trying to scan through a long program!) As mentioned above, pressing RESET would return control through the soft-entry vectors on memory page $03. This would allow a user to exit from a runaway BASIC program by pressing RESET, and still keep program and variables intact in memory (which could not be guaranteed with the old Monitor ROM).<5>
John Arkley at Apple wrote the changes to the original Monitor ROM and created the Autostart ROM in November 1978 (he's the "John A" mentioned in the source code listing found in the 1981 edition of the APPLE II REFERENCE MANUAL). After he had done the work and the ROMs had been created, Apple wanted to publish a new version of the Reference Manual to cover the AppleII Plus. The older Reference Manual (affectionately known as the "Red Book") had included an assembly language source code listing of the Monitor ROM. They wanted to include the source for BOTH versions of the Monitor, but a problem came up. While developing the Monitor, Apple had used a local mainframe computer dial-up service known as "Call Computer." They used a cross-assembler on that computer, assembled the code, and then used the resulting object code to create the ROM. (A cross-assembler is an assembler that creates object code for a processor other than the one the cross-assembler runs on. For example, if you can write 8080 machine code with an assembler running on a 6502-based computer, you are using a cross-assembler). Unfortunately, Call Computer had accidentally done a system backup with the source and destination disks reversed, erasing all the files containing the source code for the AppleII Monitors. There were no disk or cassette copies of the source code for the Autostart ROM back at Apple. Working from the source listing in the Red Book, John recreated the source file for the original Monitor, and then disassembled his own modifications for the IIPlus and re-created his Autostart ROM source file. Those reconstructed listings are what appeared in the 1981 edition of the AppleII Reference Manual.<6>
Not everyone was pleased with the modifications made in the Autostart ROMs, however. Some of the authors of the magazine CALL-A.P.P.L.E. liked to refer to the new computer as the "AppleII Minus", since Arkley had to remove some of their beloved routines from the ROMs to make room for the new features. Missing from the AppleII Plus ROMs were Integer BASIC, the miniassembler, and Woz's SWEET16 interpreter (that entire space now being used by Applesoft). Missing from the Monitor were the assembly language STEP and TRACE features, and a set of sixteen-bit multiply and divide routines.<5>
THE APPLE II PLUS: COST
The new AppleII Plus, at $1,195, sold for over $100 less than the original AppleII, although it came with more memory and had Applesoft (previously an added expense item) in ROM.
THE APPLE II PLUS: BELL & HOWELL
Apple made a deal early on with Bell & Howell to let them sell the AppleII Plus with a Bell & Howell name plate on it for use in schools. These Apples were black colored (instead of the standard beige), and had screws on the back to keep the lids on (apparently to keep students' hands out). These Apples (sometimes called "Darth Vader" Apples) also had the "shift-key mod" (see below) applied. Since Bell & Howell was a major supplier of school equipment, this was a means for Apple to get a foothold in the school environment.<7>,<8>
Bell & Howell also had electronics correspondence courses, and used the black AppleII Plus for one of their courses. They offered a one year warranty, instead of the ninety-day warranty offered by Apple.<9>,<10>,<11>
THE APPLE II PLUS: EARLY USER EXPERIENCES
An AppleII veteran on GEnie, Dennis Ulm, kindly provided me with the following reproduction of his ORIGINAL AppleII Plus packing list. It gives a little picture of what early non-disk users had to work with:
APPLE II PLUS
PACKING LIST
This package should contain the following items:
item no. part number description
---- --- ----------- -----------
1 1 600-2023 cassette tape: LITTLE BRICKOUT, COLOR DEMOSOFT
2 1 600-2024 cassette tape: RENUMBER/APPEND, ALIGNMENT TEST TONE
3 1 600-2025 cassette tape: FINANCE I, PENNY ARCADE
4 1 600-2026 cassette tape: LEMONADE, HOPALONG CASSIDY
5 1 600-2027 cassette tape: BRIAN'S THEME, PHONE LIST
6 1 030-2057 manual: Introductory Programs for the Apple II Plus
7 1 030-0044 manual: The Applesoft Tutorial
8 1 030-0013 manual: Applesoft II BASIC Programming Reference Manual
9 1 030-0004 manual: Apple II Reference Manual
10 1 030-0035 publication: Apple Magazine
11 1 600-0033 1 pair of game controls
12 1 590-0002 cable: to hook up a cassette recorder
13 1 590-0003 cable: power cord for the Apple II Plus
14 1 030-0001 Apple Warranty Card
15 1 600-0816 Apple II Plus System 16K
or
600-0832 Apple II Plus System 32K
or
600-0848 Apple II Plus System 48K
(LITTLE BRICKOUT was an abbreviated Applesoft version of Woz's Integer BASIC Breakout game (the reason he designed the AppleII in the first place). BRIAN'S THEME was a hi-res graphics program that drew lines on the screen in various patterns. HOPALONG CASSIDY was a "guess who" program that also used the hi-res screen).<12>,<13>
Also included in Dennis' IIPlus box was this photocopied instruction sheet:
TAPE LOADING INSTRUCTIONS
If problems are encountered in LOADing tape programs, it may be necessary to "queue" (sic) the tape before LOADing. To queue a tape, use the following procedure:
1. Rewind the tape.
2. Disconnect the cable from the tape recorder (so you can hear what's on the tape).
3. Start the tape recorder in PLAY mode.
4. When a steady tone is heard, STOP the tape recorder.
5. Connect the cable to the tape recorder and adjust the volume and tone controls on the tape recorder to the recommended levels.
6. Make sure your computer is in BASIC.
7. Type LOAD.
8. START the tape playing.
9. Press RETURN.
The program should LOAD properly. If an error message occurs, repeat the procedure, but try readjusting the tone and volume controls on the tape recorder.
Dennis says that in his experience it took at least five to ten tries to get anything to load properly from tape!
THE APPLE II PLUS: MORE HARDWARE ADD-ONS
Lower-case was still not supported on the new AppleII Plus, though it was a popular user-modification. The thriving industry for AppleII peripherals made up for this shortcoming, with various vendors supplying small plug-in circuit boards that fit under the keyboard, allowing display of lower-case on the screen (and sometimes direct entry of lower-case from the keyboard). By 1981, when the Revision 7 motherboard was released for the AppleII Plus, a different method of character generation was used, which reduced radio-frequency interference that was generated. For Revision 7 boards, lower-case characters could be displayed with the addition of only a single chip. However, unless a user changed the keyboard encoder with a third-party product, only upper-case characters could be typed.<14>
The keyboard itself underwent some changes, both by users and by Apple. The original RESET key was in the upper right-hand corner of the keyboard. The problem with that key was that it had the same feel as the keys around it, making it possible to accidentally hit RESET and lose the entire program that was being so carefully entered. One user modification was to pop off the RESET keycap and put a rubber washer under it, making it necessary to apply more pressure than usual to do a RESET. Apple fixed this twice, once by replacing the spring under the keycap with a stiffer one, and finally by making it necessary to press the CTRL key and the RESET together to make a RESET cycle happen. The keyboards that had the CTRL-RESET feature made it user selectable via a small slide switch just inside the case (some people didn't want to have to press the CTRL key to do a RESET).
Another keyboard limitation was addressed through a modification that became known as the "shift-key mod". This was such a widely used trick that Apple ended up supporting it in hardware when they designed the AppleIIe. Since the II and IIPlus keyboards could not directly generate lower-case characters, early word processing programs had to find some way to make up for that deficiency. Apple's own Apple Writer program used the ESC key as a shift and shift-lock key, displaying upper-case characters in inverse video and lower-case in regular video. Other programs suggested installing the shift-key mod to allow more natural entry of upper-case, using the SHIFT key already present on the keyboard. The user had to attach a wire to the contact under the SHIFT key, and run it to the game port where the input for push-button 2 was found. (This push-button PB2, $C063 in memory, was for one of an optional second pair of game paddles that third-party hardware companies supplied for the AppleII). The program would assume that all letters being typed were in lower-case, unless the SHIFT key (attached now to paddle button PB2) was also being pressed; in that case the letter would be entered as upper-case. Since the PB2 button was not often used for a second pair of game paddles, it was unlikely that this modification would be accidentally triggered by pressing one of the game paddle buttons. This modification did NOT use buttons PB0 or PB1, which were on the first pair of game paddles. (PB0 and PB1 now correspond to the Open-Apple and Solid-Apple/Option keys on modern AppleII computers).
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NEXT INSTALLMENT: The Apple IIe
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NOTES
<1> -----, "Memory Organization", APPLE II REFERENCE MANUAL, 1979, 1981, pp. 70-73.
<2> -----, APPLE II REFERENCE MANUAL, 1979,1981, pp. 25-27, 34-36.
<3> Bruce Field, "A.P.P.L.E. Doctor", CALL-A.P.P.L.E., Jan 1984, pp. 74-75.
<4> -----, "Apple and Apple II History", THE APPLE II GUIDE, Fall 1990, pp. 9-16.
<5> -----, APPLE II REFERENCE MANUAL, 1979,1981, pp. 25-27, 34-36.
<6> John Arkley, (personal telephone call), Sep 9, 1991.
<7> Joe Regan, GEnie A2 ROUNDTABLE, Category 2, Topic 16, Apr 1991.
<8> Dan Paymar, "Curing A Shiftless Apple", CALL-A.P.P.L.E., May 1982, pp. 63-64.
<9> Tom Vanderpool, GEnie A2 ROUNDTABLE, Category 2, Topic 16, Mar & Aug 1991.
<10> Tom Zuchowski, GEnie A2 ROUNDTABLE, Category 2, Topic 16, Mar 1991.
<11> Steve Hirsch, GEnie A2 ROUNDTABLE, Category 2, Topic 16, Mar 1991.
<12> Dennis Ulm, GEnie A2 ROUNDTABLE, Category 2, Topic 16, Apr 1991.
<13> Wes Felty, GEnie. A2 ROUNDTABLE, Category 2, Topic 16, Apr 1991.
<14> Bruce Field, "A.P.P.L.E. Doctor", CALL-A.P.P.L.E., Jan 1984, pp. 74-75.

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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1992, Zonker Software
(PART 7 -- THE APPLE IIE)
[v1.1 :: 26 Jan 92]
PRELUDE: THE APPLE III PROJECT
As we continue our travels examining the history of the AppleII, let's fine tune the time-machine card on our souped-up AppleII to concentrate specifically on the next version of the II, the IIe. As before, just accelerate the microprocessor speed to 88 MHz, and watch out for the digital fire-trails! Destination: 1982.
Between the years 1979 and 1983, although no new versions of the AppleII were released, it enjoyed a broad popularity and annually increasing sales. The open architecture of the computer, with its fully described hardware and firmware function via the Reference Manual, made it appealing both to hardware and software hackers. Third-party companies designed cards to plug into the internal slots, and their function varied from making it possible to display and use 80-column text, to clocks and cards allowing the AppleII to control a variety of external devices. During this time there was also an explosion of new software written for this easily expandable machine, from the realm of business (VisiCalc and other spreadsheet clones), to utilities, to games of all types. Each month a host of new products would be available for those who wanted to find more things to do with their computer, and the AppleII was finding a place in the home, the classroom, and the office.
At Apple Computer, Inc., however, the AppleII was not viewed with the same degree of loyalty. By September 1979 the AppleII had continued to be a sales leader. However, few at Apple believed that the II could continue to be a best seller for more than another year or two. Since Apple Computer, Inc. was a business, and not just a vehicle for selling the AppleII computer, they began to enlarge the engineering department to begin designing new products.<1> These new design efforts had begun as far back as late 1978. Their first effort was an enhanced AppleII that used some custom chips, but that project was never finished. They also began work on a different, more powerful computer that would use several identical microprocessor chips sharing tasks. The main advantage would be speed, and the ability to do high precision calculations. This computer was code-named Lisa, and because it was such a revolutionary type of design, they knew it would take many years to come to actual production. Because of the power it was to have, Apple executives felt that Lisa was the future of the company.<2>,<14>
Because they knew that the Lisa project would take a long time to complete, and because the AppleII was perceived to have only a short remaining useful life as a product, they began a new computer project called the AppleIII. Instead of building upon the AppleII as a basis for this new computer, they decided to start from scratch. Also, although Wozniak made most of the design decisions for the II, a committee at Apple decided what capabilities the AppleIII should have. They decided that the AppleIII was to be a business machine, and not have the home or arcade-game reputation that the II had. It was to have a full upper/lowercase keyboard and display, 80-column text, and a more comprehensive operating system. They also decided that since it would be a while before many application programs would be available for this new computer, it should be capable of running existing AppleII software. In some ways this handicapped the project, since it was then necessary to use the same microprocessor and disk drive hardware as was used in the AppleII.<3>
Apple executives also decided that with the introduction of the AppleIII they wanted a clear separation between it and the AppleII in regards to marketing. They did not want ANY overlap between the two. The III would be an 80-column business machine and was predicted to have ninety percent of the market, while the AppleII would be a 40-column home and school machine and would have ten percent of the market. Apple's executives were confident that after the release of the AppleIII, the AppleII would quickly lose its appeal.<4>
Because of their desire for a strong and distinct product separation, the AppleII emulation mode designed into the AppleIII was very limited. The engineers actually ADDED hardware chips that prevented access to the III's more advanced features from AppleII emulation mode. AppleII emulation couldn't use 80 columns, and had access to only 48K memory and none of the better graphics modes. As a result, it wouldn't run some of the better AppleII business software, during a time when there wasn't much NEW business software for the AppleIII.
The AppleIII engineers were given a one year target date for completion. It was ready for release in the spring of 1980, but there were problems with both design and manufacturing. (It was the first time that Apple as a company tried to come out with a new product; the AppleII had been designed and built by Wozniak when he WAS the engineering department). The first AppleIII computers were plagued with nearly 100% defects and had to be recalled for fixes. Although Apple took the unprecedented step of repairing all of the defective computers at no charge, they never recovered the momentum they lost with that first misstep, and the III did not become the success Apple needed it to be.<3>
Although all of the bugs and limitations of the AppleIII were eventually overcome, and it became the computer of choice within Apple, it did not capture the market as they had hoped. At that point, they weren't sure exactly what to do with the II. They had purposely ignored and downplayed it for the four years since the II Plus was released, although without its continued strong sales they would not have lasted as a company. In a 1985 interview in Byte magazine, Steve Wozniak stated:
"When we came out with the AppleIII, the engineering staff cancelled every AppleII engineering program that was ongoing, in expectation of the AppleIII's success. Every single one was cancelled. We really perceived that the AppleII would not last six months. So the company was almost all AppleIII people, and we worked for years after that to try and tell the world how good the AppleIII was, because we KNEW [how good it was]... If you looked at our advertising and R&D dollars, everything we did here was done first on the III, if it was business related. Then maybe we'd consider doing a sub-version on the II. To make sure there was a good boundary between the two machines, anything done on the II had to be done at a lower level than on the III. Only now are we discovering that good solutions can be implemented on the II... We made sure the AppleII was not allowed to have a hard disk or more than 128K of memory. At a time when outside companies had very usable schemes for adding up to a megabyte of memory, we came out with a method of adding 64K to an AppleIIe, which was more difficult to use and somewhat limited. We refused to acknowledge any of the good 80-column cards that were in the outside world--only ours, which had a lot of problems."<4>
Wozniak went on in that interview to say that at one time he had written some fast disk routines for the Pascal system on the AppleII, and was criticized by the AppleIII engineers. They didn't think that anything on the II should be allowed to run faster than on a III. That was the mindset of the entire company at the time.
Apple has been much maligned for the attention they gave the AppleIII project, while suspending all further development on the AppleII. They pegged their chances for the business market in 1980 on the AppleIII. Even Steve Wozniak had stated in another interview, "We'd have sold tons of [computers in the business market] if we'd have let the II evolve... to become a business machine called the III instead of developing a separate, incompatible computer. We could have added the accessories to make it do the business functions that the outside world is going to IBM for."<3> Part of the problem was the immaturity of the entire microcomputer industry at the time. There had NEVER been a microcomputer that had sold well for more than a couple of years before it was replaced by a more powerful model, usually from another company. The Altair 8800 and IMSAI had fallen to the more popular and easier to use AppleII and TRS-80 and Commodore PET, as well as other new machines based on the Intel 8080 and 8088 processors. It is entirely understandable that Apple's attitude between 1978 and 1980 would be of panic and fear that they wouldn't get a new computer out in time to keep their market share and survive as a company. However, during the entire time when Apple was working on the III as a computer to carry the company through until Lisa would be ready, and during the entire time that the AppleII was ignored by its own company, it continued to quietly climb in sales. It is a credit to both the ingenuity of Wozniak in his original design, and to the users of the AppleII in THEIR ingenuity at finding new uses for the II, that its value increased and stimulated yet more new sales. The AppleII "beat" the odds of survival that historically were against it.
THE APPLE IIE: BEGINNINGS
When Apple saw that the sales on the AppleII were NOT going to dwindle away, they finally decided to take another look at it. The first new look at advancing the design of the II was with a project called "Diana" in 1980. Diana was intended primarily to be an AppleII that had fewer internal components, and would be less expensive to build. The project was later known as "LCA", which stood for "Low Cost Apple". Inside Apple this meant a lower cost of manufacturing, but outsiders who got wind of the project thought it meant a $350 AppleII. Because of that misconception, the final code name for the updated AppleII was "Super II", and lasted until its release.<5>
THE APPLE IIE: HARDWARE
Part of the IIe project grew out of the earlier work on custom integrated circuits for the AppleII. When they finally decided to go ahead and improve the design by adding new features, one of the original plans was to give the AppleII an 80-column text display and a full upper/lowercase keyboard. Walt Broedner at Apple did much of the original hardware planning, and was one of those at Apple who pushed for the upgrade in the first place. To help maintain compatibility with older 40-column software (which often addressed the screen directly for speed), he decided to make 80-columns work by mirroring the older 40 column text screen onto a 1K memory space parallel to it, with the even columns in main memory and the odd columns in this new "auxiliary" memory. To display 80-column text would require switching between the two memory banks. Broedner realized that with little extra effort he could do the same for the entire 64K memory space and get 128K of bank-switchable memory. They put this extra memory (the 1K "80-column card, or a 64K "extended 80-column card") in a special slot called the "auxiliary" slot that replaced slot 0 (the 16K Language Card was going to be a built-in feature). The 80-column firmware routines were mapped to slot 3, since that was a location commonly used by people who bought 80-column cards for their AppleII's, and was also the place where the Apple Pascal system expected to find an external terminal. The auxiliary slot also supplied some special video signals, and was used during manufacture for testing on the motherboard.
The engineers that worked on the IIe tried hard to make sure that cards designed for the II and II Plus would work properly in the new computer. They even had to "tune" the timing on the IIe to be slightly OFF (to act more like the II Plus) because the Microsoft CP/M Softcard refused to function properly with the new hardware. A socket was included on the motherboard for attaching a numeric keypad, a feature that many business users had been adding (with difficulty) to the II Plus for years. The full keyboard they designed was very similar to the one found on the AppleIII, including two unique keys that had first appeared with the III--one with a picture of an hollow apple ("open-apple") and the other with the same apple picture filled in ("solid-apple"). These keys were electrically connected to buttons 0 and 1 on the Apple paddles or joystick. They were available to software designers as modifier keys when pressed with another key; for example, open-apple-H could be programmed to call up a "help" screen. The newer electronics of the keyboard also made it easier to manufacture foreign language versions of the AppleIIe.<6>
Overall, Broedner and Peter Quinn (the design manager for the IIe and later the IIc projects) and their team managed to decrease the number of components on the motherboard from over one hundred to thirty-one, while adding to the capabilities of the computer by the equivalent of another hundred components.
THE APPLE IIE: FIRMWARE
Peter Quinn had to beg for someone to help write the firmware revisions to the Monitor and Applesoft for the IIe. He finally got Rich Auricchio, who had been a hacker on the AppleII almost from the beginning. Quinn said in a later interview, "You cannot get someone to write firmware for this machine unless he's been around for three or four years. You have to know how to get through the mine field [of unofficial but commonly used entry points]. He [Rick] was extremely good. He added in all the 80-column and Escape-key stuff." Quinn also got Bryan Stearns to work on the new Monitor.<6>,<7>
Changes were made in the ROMs to support the new bank-switching modes made necessary by having two parallel 64K banks of RAM memory. To have enough firmware space for these extra features, the engineers increased the size of the available ROM by making IT bank-switched. This space was taken from a location that had previously not been duplicated before--the memory locations used by cards in the slots on the motherboard. Ordinarily, if you use the Monitor to look at the slot 1 memory locations from $C100 through $C1FF, you get either random numbers (if the slot is empty), or the bytes that made up the controller program on that card. Any card could also have the space from $C800 through $CFFF available for extra ROM code if they needed it. If a card in a slot did a read or write to memory location $CFFF, the $C800-$CFFF ROM that belonged to that card would appear in that space in the AppleII memory. When another card was working, then ITS version of that space would appear. On the IIe, they made a special soft-switch that would switch OUT all the peripheral cards from the memory, and switch IN the new expanded ROM on the motherboard. The firmware in the new bank-switched ROM space was designed to avoid being needed by any card in a slot (to avoid conflicts), and much of it was dedicated to making the 80-column display (mapped to slot 3) work properly.
Also added were enhancements to the ESC routines used to do screen editing. In addition to the original ESC A, B, C, and D, and the ESC I, J, K, and M added with the AppleII Plus, Auricchio added the ability to make the ESC cursor moves work with the left and right arrow keys, and the new up and down arrow keys. The new IIe ROM also included a self-test that was activated by pressing both apple keys, the control key, and RESET simultaneously.<5>
THE APPLE IIE: SUCCESS
The new AppleIIe turned out to be quite profitable for Apple. Not only was it more functional than the II Plus for a similar price, but the cost to the dealers selling it was about three times the cost of manufacture. They had gotten their "Low Cost Apple", and by May of 1983 the AppleIIe was selling sixty to seventy thousand units a month, over twice the average sales of the II Plus. Christmas of 1983 saw the IIe continue to sell extremely well, partly resulting from the delayed availability of the new IBM PCjr. Even after the AppleIIc was released in 1984, IIe sales continued beyond those of the IIc, despite the IIc's built-in features.<8>
THE APPLE IIE: MODIFICATIONS
Early AppleIIe motherboard's were labelled as "Revision A". Engineers determined soon after its introduction that if the same use of parallel memory was applied to the hi-res graphics display as was done with the text display, they could create higher density graphics. These graphics, which they called "double hi-res", also had the capability of displaying a wider range of colors, similar to those available with the original AppleII lo-res graphics. The IIe motherboards with the necessary modifications to display these double hi-res graphics were labelled "Revision B", and a softswitch was assigned to turning on and off the new graphics mode.
Later versions of the IIe motherboards were again called "Revision A" (for some reason), although they HAD been modified for double hi-res graphics. The difference between the two "Revision A" boards was that the latter had most of the chips soldered to the motherboard. An original "Revision A" board that had been changed to an Enhanced IIe was not necessarily able to handle double hi-res, since the change to the Enhanced version involved only a four-chip change to the motherboard, but not the changes to make double hi-res possible.<9>
THE APPLE IIE: THE ENHANCED IIE
This version of the AppleIIe was introduced in March of 1985. It involved changes to make the IIe more closely compatible with the AppleIIc and II Plus. The upgrade consisted of four chips that were swapped in the motherboard: The 65c02 processor, with more assembly language opcodes, replaced the 6502; two more chips with Applesoft and Monitor ROM changes; and the fourth a character generator ROM that included graphics characters (first introduced on the IIc) called "MouseText". The Enhanced IIe ROM changes fixed most of the known problems with the IIe 80-column firmware, and made it possible to enter Applesoft and Monitor commands in lower-case. The older 80-column routines were slower than most software developers wanted, they disabled interrupts for too long a time, and there were problems in making Applesoft work properly with the 80-column routines. These problems were solved with the newer ROMs.
Monitor changes also included a return of the mini-assembler, absent since the days of Integer BASIC. It was activated by entering a "!" command in the Monitor, instead of a jump to a memory location as in the older Apple ][. Also added were an "S" command was added to make it possible to search memory for a byte sequence, and the ability to enter ASCII characters directly into memory. However, the "L" command to disassemble 6502 code still did not handle the new 65c02 opcodes as did the IIc disassembler. Interrupt handling was also improved.
Applesoft was fixed to let commands such as GET, HTAB, TAB, SPC, and comma tabbing work properly in 80-column mode.
The new MouseText characters caused a problem for some older programs at first, until they were upgraded; characters previously displayed as inverse upper-case would sometimes display as MouseText instead.<10>,<11>
THE APPLE IIE: THE PLATINUM IIE
This version of the IIe, introduced in January 1987, had a keyboard that was the same as the IIGS keyboard, but the RESET key was moved above the ESC and "1" keys (as on the IIc), and the power light was above the "/" on the included numeric keypad (the internal numeric keypad connector was left in place). The CLEAR key on the keypad generated the same character as the ESC key, but with a hardware modification it could generate a Ctrl-X as it did on the IIGS. The motherboard had 64K RAM in only two chips (instead of the previous eight), and one ROM chip instead of two. An "extended 80-column card" with 64K extra memory was included in all units sold, and was smaller than previous versions of that memory card.
No ROM changes were made. The old shift-key modification was installed, making it possible for programs to determine if the shift-key was being pressed. However, if using a game controller that actually used the third push-button (where the shift-key mod was internally connected), pressing shift and the third push-button simultaneously causes a short circuit that shuts down the power supply.<12>
THE APPLE IIE: EMULATION CARD ON MACINTOSH LC
In early 1991, Apple introduced a new version of the AppleIIe. This one was designed to be exactly like the 128K Platinum IIe, with the modification that it had a color Macintosh attached to it. This AppleIIe cost only $199, but the required Macintosh peripheral went for about $2,495, which makes the combination the most expensive AppleII ever made. Apple engineers managed to put the function of an entire IIe onto a card smaller than the old Disk II controller card. With version 2.0 of the AppleII interface software, more of the memory allocated to the Macintosh could be used by the IIe (strange way of designing an AppleII!). However, unlike all previous versions of the IIe, there were no hardware-based slots on the IIe card; instead, it used software-based slots that were allocated by moving icons that represent various peripherals into "slots" on the Mac screen. (Oh, yes; it ran some Mac software, too. This was, of course, the Macintosh LC computer with its optional AppleIIe card).
To use 5.25 disks with this AppleIIe, there was a cable that attached to the card. The cable would split into a game connector (for paddles or joystick operation) and a connector that accepted IIc and IIGS style 5.25 drives. The IIe card ran at a "normal" (1 MHz) speed and a "fast" (2 MHz) speed.<13> It had limitations, however. For a 1991 AppleII, it was limited in being unable to be accelerated beyond 2 MHz (a Zip Chip can run a standard IIe at 8 MHz), and the screen response seemed slow, since it was using a software-based Mac text display instead of the hardware-based AppleII character ROM. As a Macintosh it lacked the power and speed of the newer Macintosh II models (which also ran color displays). But if having a AppleII and a Mac in one machine was important, this was the best way to do it.
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NEXT INSTALLMENT: The Apple IIc
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NOTES
<1> Freiberger, Paul, and Swaine, Michael. "Fire In The Valley, Part I (Book Excerpt)", A+ Magazine, Jan 1985, p. 45-48.
<2> Freiberger, Paul, and Swaine, Michael. "Fire In The Valley, Part II (Book Excerpt)", A+ Magazine, Jan 1985, p. 46,51.
<3> Rubin, Charles. "The Life & Death & Life Of The Apple II", Personal Computing, Feb 1985, p. 72.
<4> Williams, Gregg, and Moore, Rob. "The Apple Story, Part 2: More History And The Apple III", Byte, Jan 1985, pp. 177-178.
<5> Tommervik, Al. "Apple IIe: The Difference", Softalk, Feb 1983, pp. 118-127, 142.
<6> Williams, Gregg. "'C' Is For Crunch", Byte, Dec 1984, pp. A75-A78, A121.
<7> Little, Gary. Inside The Apple //c, 1985, pp. 1-7.
<8> Rose, Frank. West Of Eden: The End Of Innocence At Apple Computer, 1989, pp. 98-99.
<9> Weishaar, Tom. "Ask Uncle DOS", Open-Apple, Dec 1986, p. 2.86.
<10> Weishaar, Tom. "A Song Continued", Open-Apple, Mar 1985, pp. 1.20-1.21.
<11> Weishaar, Tom. "Demoralized Apple II Division Announces Enhanced IIe...", Open-Apple, Apr 1985, pp. 1.25-1.27.
<12> Weishaar, Tom. "Apple Introduces An Updated IIe", Open-Apple, Jan 1987, p. 3.1.
<13> Doms, Dennis. "The Apple II as Mac peripheral", Open-Apple, Jul 1991, pp. 7.43-7.44.
<14> This was an early version of the Lisa project. When the 68000 microprocessor became available from Motorola, it was decided to use that as a single processor for the Lisa. Also, after Steve Jobs paid a visit to the Xerox lab and saw the Xerox Star computer with its icon interface and mouse pointing device, he pushed strongly for the Lisa to work in that way.

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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1992, Zonker Software
(PART 8 -- THE APPLE IIC)
[v1.1 :: 12 May 92]
PRELUDE: STEVE JOBS AND MACINTOSH
Rewind back to 1982, before the AppleIIe was introduced, and adjust the tuning on our Flux Capacitor-enhanced peripheral card. Before dealing specifically with the smallest AppleII, the IIc, it would help to take an aside and look at some other events happening at Apple Computers, Inc. at this time that affected its development.
If you recall, the Lisa project was designated as the computer that was considered to be the future of Apple. From a series of parallel processors and a "bit slicing" architecture, to a focus on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor as the controller of this advanced computer, the project had been progressing very slowly. It was begun back in 1979 with the same focus as any other Apple product: "Both [AppleIII and Lisa] had been conceived of as nifty pieces of hardware rather than as products to appeal to a specific market: At Apple you designed a box and people bought it because it was neat, not because any thought had been given to what it would do for them."<1> However, a significant change occurred in 1979 when Xerox bought a large chunk of Apple stock. In return for being allowed this stock purchase, Xerox allowed some of their research ideas to be used in designing an office computer. After Steve Jobs visited the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in 1979 and saw the user-interface on their Alto computer--icons, graphics-based text characters, overlapping windows, and a pointing device called a "mouse"--the Lisa took on a distinct personality that made it possible to become the ultra-computer Apple needed. This was important, since by 1981 Apple executives were getting sweaty palms worrying about the future. The AppleIII was clearly NOT taking the business world by storm.
Unfortunately for Jobs, who was excited about using the Xerox technology in designing a new computer, he was excluded from the Lisa project. After the problems associated with the introduction of the AppleIII, a reorganization in 1980 moved the AppleII and III into one division, and the Lisa into another. Lisa was put under the control of John Couch, and Jobs was not allowed to participate. Since Lisa had been taken away, Jobs in 1981 began to assemble a team to "out-Lisa the Lisa" by creating a smaller, less expensive computer that would do the same thing. Jef Raskin, the engineer that helped design it, called it Macintosh.
While the Macintosh developed as a pirate project with a smaller team and less money than Lisa, the concept of an "appliance" computer also emerged. Instead of those messy slots and a lid that popped off (which made the AppleII so popular with the hacker community), Jobs' team was sold on the idea that all necessary features should simply be built-in and the case sealed. It would be something that you just plugged in, turned on, and started using. With the Xerox Alto mouse/icon/window interface it would not only be easy to set up and turn on, but also easy to use.
THE APPLE IIC: BEGINNINGS
What was happening with the AppleII during this time? The efforts to make it less expensive to build were progressing, and the AppleIIe was in the formative stages. In the summer of 1981 someone proposed a portable AppleII, a book-sized computer. It wasn't until Steve Jobs became interested in it as engineering challenge, well after Macintosh was under way, that anything came of the idea:
"...one day late in '82, Paul Dali showed him [Jobs] a photograph of a Toshiba portable and they started fooling around with the idea of an AppleII that would look like the Toshiba but come with a built-in disk drive. They took out a IIe circuit board and a disk drive and a keyboard and played with them until they arrived at a promising configuration--keyboard in front, disk drive in back, circuit board in between. What got Jobs excited about this idea was the engineering difficulty of squeezing it all into a package not much bigger than a notebook. And a machine so small wouldn't have the expandability that characterized all the other II's. Like Macintosh, it could be taken out of the box, plugged in, and put to work--no extra parts to buy, no cables to figure out. It was the II reinvented as an appliance."<2>
As with all Apple projects, the IIc went by various code names during its development, for the sake of internal communications and to keep outsiders from knowing what was going on. The various names used included VLC (Very Low Cost), Yoda, ET, IIb (for "Book"), and Teddy (which stood for "Testing Every Day"). Also, following a long standing tradition at Apple, some of the code names assigned to the project at various times were names of children of people at Apple: Chels, Jason, Lolly, Sherry, and Zelda. These names persist in the source code for the firmware for the IIc as later printed in the technical reference manual; the serial port driver is called a "Lolly" driver.<3>
During the time the IIc was under development, Apple was working on a change in the look of their products. They planned a more European styling, and a color scheme called "Snow White". The IIc would be the first product with the new appearance and color.
THE APPLE IIC: HARDWARE
As mentioned earlier, the IIc had its origins while the IIe project was going on. When Steve Jobs became involved, he felt they should continue with the open IIe as they had planned, but do this other AppleII as a product "focused" to a specific group of customers, primarily new users. Originally he had planned a closed AppleII that had a built-in mouse port, one serial port, and some other features. What they ended up with at that point was just a computer and a keyboard. Walt Broedner, the engineer who pushed for the AppleIIe to be produced, used some of their previous work with custom IC's for the disk controller and combined both projects together to make the IIc.<4>
Although he was told it was not be possible, Jobs strongly pushed for the mouse in this closed AppleII to be compatible with the Macintosh mouse--and they managed to make it work.<2> Regarding the plans for a single serial port, however, Apple's marketing people pointed out to Jobs that many people were going to want both a printer AND a modem, so they added a second port to the original design. They decided to use serial ports on the IIc instead of parallel ports for a couple of reasons. First, the socket for a serial port is smaller than a parallel port, and it would fit better onto a small box like the IIc. Also, Apple's general direction at the time was to get consistency in its hardware, and they had decided to make everything they made use a serial interface.<4>
They began work on the AppleIIc in earnest right after the IIe was finished. Because they were trying to squeeze an AppleIIe with 128K, 80 column routines, two serial cards, disk controller, and a mouse card into an 11 by 12-inch case, the design challenges were greater than with the IIe (recall that this was what appealed to Steve Jobs). The size of the case was determined by the decision to make it able to fit into a standard-sized briefcase.<4>
Apple also had the international market in mind when they designed the IIc. A special chip containing the keyboard map could easily be changed depending on the country where the computer would be sold, to make it consistent with regional keyboard differences. The external pushbutton would switch between the two different keyboards, between a UK and German layout, for example. In the U.S. version of the IIc it switched from a standard Sholes keyboard (also known as "QWERTY") to a Dvorak keyboard (which allows faster touch typing). The decision for the foreign keyboards came first; the added bonus for American versions of getting Dvorak came as an extra bonus, to save having two different cases (one for US and one for foreign versions).<4>
One problem in creating such a compact computer was dealing with heat production. Apple engineers wanted it to be able to function in environmental temperatures up to 40 degrees Celsius (about 104 degrees Fahrenheit). One article published at the time of its introduction mentioned jokingly that the designers wanted to make the IIc capable of doing a long disk sort (sorting data in a disk file) while on the beach in Florida in the summer! Their major obstacle was the heat generated by the internal 5.25 disk drive. They tried some special low power drives (which would have been much more expensive), but they didn't overcome the heat problem even with them. Eventually they tried a complicated venting scheme that was designed by drilling holes into a case and putting it into an oven to let them measure internal temperatures. The engineers were surprised when they found that the normal power disk drive worked and generated less overall heat within the case than the special low power drive did. The only explanation they could come up with was that the normal power drive generated enough heat to cause it to rise, which pulled cool air in through the vents by convection.<4>
THE APPLE IIC: FIRMWARE
Since they used the newer 65c02 chip, which ran cooler and had 27 additional commands that could be used by assembly language programs, Apple's programmers had some new power to use in firmware design. Such power was needed to squeeze in all the firmware code for the IIe, plus code for the disk controller, serial cards, mouse card, and 80 column card into 16K of ROM space.
The firmware for the IIc was written by Ernie Beernink, Rich Williams, and James Huston. They designed it to look (to a software application program) exactly like a IIe with an Apple Super Serial Card in slots 1 and 2, an 80-column card in slot 3, a mouse in slot 4, and a Disk II in slot 6 (though there were NO slots in hardware). Since these first IIc's had nothing emulated in slot 5, the firmware authors immortalized themselves by making a "ghost" peripheral appear to be present in that slot. Entering this Applesoft program:
100 IN#5 : INPUT A$ : PRINT A$
and running it would print the names of the authors. (They used a decoding scheme to extract the names, character by character, so a simple ASCII scan of the ROM would not show their little trick). This "feature" had to be removed in later revisions of the IIc ROM, because an actual disk device was added then to slot 5.<4>,<5>
What about the unassigned slot 7? Here they put a small piece of code to allow booting from the external 5.25 drive by typing "PR#7" from Applesoft.
The programmers fixed some known bugs in the IIe ROMs, and added 32 graphics characters they called MouseText. To make MouseText fit they removed the ability to use flashing characters (when in 80 column mode) and replaced those characters with MouseText. Apple veteran Bruce Tognazzini designed the MouseText characters, which included a picture of a running man (perhaps to suggest "running" a program). He later sent a letter to Call-A.P.P.L.E. magazine to warn programmers that the Running Man characters (assigned to "F" and "G") had been determined to be unnecessary and would probably be replaced eventually. (This did eventually happen, but not with the IIc).
Beernick, Williams, and Huston also made some minor changes to the Applesoft part of the ROM. They fixed things so Applesoft commands could be entered in lowercase (and translated into uppercase). They removed the Applesoft commands that were specific to the obsolete cassette interface (which was absent in the IIc) and made Applesoft more compatible with 80 columns.<4>,<6> They did NOT go so far as to make any major changes in Applesoft to use the newer 65c02 commands and therefore fix known bugs or add features to this seven year old language. Their reluctance stemmed from the fact that historically many BASIC programs had made use of undocumented assembly language entry points in Applesoft, and any changes they would make here made it more likely that older programs would crash unexpectedly.<4>
THE APPLE IIC: PRODUCT INTRODUCTION
Apple's introduction of the new IIc came at an "event" at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco on April 24th, 1984. It was entitled "AppleII Forever", and was described as "part revival meeting, part sermon, part roundtable discussion, part pagan rite, and part county fair". Apple's objectives here were to introduce the AppleIIc, describe how it fit into the company's marketing strategy, show off new software that was made to work with the new computer, and emphasize that Apple was still firmly behind the AppleII line of computers. (Steve Jobs also took some of the time to report on the sales of the Macintosh in its first 100 days).<7>
One of the interesting things they did at the "AppleII Forever" event was the actual introduction of the IIc. Giant video screens were used to show previews of Apple's TV commercials for the IIc, as well as slides and images of the speakers, including Wozniak, Jobs, and Apple's new president, John Sculley. Sculley spoke of "sharing power", and then demonstrated that in a unique way: "After holding up the tiny IIc for everyone to see and eliciting a response that they'd like to see it better, Sculley ordered the house lights on. As the light burst forth, nearly every fifth person in the audience stood up, waving high a IIc. As startled dealers cheered uproariously, the Apple plants passed the IIcs to them. Within seconds of its introduction, more than a thousand Apple dealers had a production-line IIc in their hands."<7>
When Jobs gave his report on the Mac, it revealed some interesting statistics. He told them that the first industry standard was the AppleII, which sold fifty thousand machines in two and a half years. The second standard was the IBM PC, which sold the same amount in eight months. Macintosh had done sold its fifty thousand machines only 74 days after its introduction. Although sales would not be nearly as good, Apple took orders that day for fifty thousand AppleIIc's in just over seven HOURS.
At the "AppleII Forever" event, they also had a general software exhibition and a setup called the AppleII Museum. This contained Apple memorabilia, and included Woz's original Apple I, and a reproduction of Steve Jobs' garage where it was built. Although not on the schedule, "AppleII Forever" included an early-afternoon earthquake centered south of San Jose that measured 6.2 on the Richter scale.
THE APPLE IIC: SUCCESS?
Their original goal had been to sell the IIc for $995. As productions costs turned out, they found that they couldn't hit that price, so they came up with $1,295, balancing the decision with the number of people who were predicted to buy the optional Monitor IIc or an external Disk IIc drive.
The only problem was that although the IIc was a technological breakthrough in miniaturization, customers at that time didn't value smallness. They viewed something that was too small as also being cheap and lacking power. Although the AppleIIc was equivalent to a IIe loaded with extra memory, a disk drive, two serial cards, and a mouse card, most customers seemed to want the more expandable IIe. Apple marketing went to much effort to make the IIc attractive, but it didn't sell as well as the IIe. Just as IBM overestimated the market when producing its PCjr (which eventually failed and was discontinued), so did Apple when producing the IIc (and the original Macintosh).<7>
THE APPLE IIC: OVERCOMING LIMITATIONS
Although the IIc did not have any slots for plugging in peripheral cards that had traditionally been used in the AppleII, the ports that were built-in had the capability to do much of what the slots had often been used for. The serial ports were compatible with any serial device; this included common ones such as printers and modems, and uncommon ones like security controllers, clocks, and speech synthesizers. Some third party companies also supplied serial-to-parallel converters for IIc owners who wanted to use parallel printers made by Epson, Okidata, and C. Itoh that were popular elsewhere in the computer world.
There was, of course, the AppleMouse IIc sold by Apple. It plugged into the game port on the IIc. Also available were two types of touch tablets: The Power Pad (Chalkboard) and Koala Pad (Koala Technologies), though the latter sold best. The Koala pad would appear to a program to be the same as a joystick, but could not emulate the mouse.<8>
The disk port on the original IIc was only designed to control an external 5.25 disk drive. Apple sold the Disk IIc for $329, and other companies later sold similar drives for less. Despite this firmware limitation, Quark Engineering released a 10 MB Winchester hard drive called the QC10 that would work with this disk port, and was the first hard disk available for the IIc.<8>
The video port worked with a standard monitor, but had access to all video signals. Included with the original IIc was an RF modulator that allowed it to be connected to a standard television (for color games). An RGB adapter box attached to the video port would allow a true RGB monitor to be attached, giving color and sharp, readable 80 column text on the same monitor. Apple also sold a flat-panel liquid crystal display for the IIc that attached to this video port. It was capable of 80 columns by 24 lines, as well as double hi-res graphics. Apple's price was about $600, but it looked somewhat "squashed" vertically, and did not sell well. Another company marketed a better flat panel liquid crystal display called the C-Vue.
With a battery attached to the 12V input, and a liquid crystal display, the IIc could be made into a truly portable computer.<8>
THE APPLE IIC: ENHANCEMENTS
The earliest change made available for the IIc was a motherboard swap that fixed a hardware bug causing some non-Apple modems to fail if used at 1200 baud. This modification was made only if the owner could show they needed the change (that is, they owned a 1200 baud modem that wouldn't work).
The first significant upgrade available for AppleIIc owners was also available as a free upgrade for previous owners. Changes were made to the disk port firmware to accommodate the new 800K UniDisk3.5. Using Apple's Protocol Converter scheme (later called "Smartport"), this new IIc could handle four 3.5 disk drives, or three 3.5 disk drives and one 5.25 drive.
With the UniDisk3.5 upgrade, the internal 16K ROM was increased in size to a 32K ROM that was bank-switched to make space for the extra code necessary to implement the Smartport. Also added were additional serial port commands to improve compatibility with the older Super Serial Card. The Mini-Assembler, absent from the AppleII ROMs since the days of the original Integer BASIC AppleII, was added back in, with support for the extra commands provided by the newer 65c02 processor (the disassembler had always supported those new commands). The STEP and TRACE Monitor commands made a comeback, having also been a casualty of the 1979 Autostart ROM for the AppleII Plus. Rudimentary firmware was also included to allowing the IIc to be attached to an AppleTalk network (a message that said "AppleTalk Offline" would appear if you typed "PR#7" from BASIC), but it was never completed, and did not appear in future revisions of the IIc ROMs. Lastly, the new IIc ROMs included a built-in diagnostic program to do limited testing of the computer for internal failures, and had improved handling of interrupts.<9>
The next AppleIIc upgrade was known as the Memory Expansion AppleIIc. This came as a response to requests for the ability to add extra memory to the IIc. Applied Engineering had already produced a Z-80 coprocessor for the IIc (to allow access to CP/M software), and an expanded memory card, up to 1MB, which would either act as a RAMdisk for ordinary ProDOS applications, or as extra memory for the AppleWorks desktop (through a special patching program). Seeing the popularity of this, Apple released this third version of the IIc ROMs and motherboard, this time with a RAM expansion slot included. The AppleIIc Memory Expansion Card could take up to 1MB of RAM, in 256K increments. The firmware in the new ROMs made it work as a RAMdisk automatically recognized by ProDOS and following the Smartport protocol that had been designed for the UniDisk3.5. Apple even included code in the new ROM to patch DOS 3.3 so it could be used as a RAMdisk with that system (400K maximum size), and did the same with Pascal v1.3. Also, because this firmware was in the motherboard ROM, ANY company could make memory cards to attach to this version of the IIc.
Other changes made in this version of the IIc ROM included moving the mouse firmware from slot 4 to slot 7, and putting the RAMdisk firmware into slot 4. Also fixed was a bug that caused a write-protected 3.5 disk to be incorrectly identified with early versions of the UniDisk3.5.<9>,<10>
Since code as complex as ROM firmware rarely makes it out the door without at least one bug, Apple had to make one final improvement to the IIc ROM. The Revised Memory Expansion AppleIIc (ROM version 4) included changes which made it easier to identify if no RAM chips had been installed on the memory card. A problem with keyboard buffering was also fixed. Lastly, this version of the ROM resolved an obscure bug in the slot 2 firmware that was supposed to allow the IIc to function as a simple terminal (with a modem attached to that port). The previous version of the IIc ROM had been assembled with a couple of wrong addresses in the code, and the terminal mode produced garbage. Few people used this feature, so it was not noticeable to most users, and the corrected ROM chip was therefore not as quickly available as the original Memory Expansion upgrade.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NEXT INSTALLMENT: Disk Evolution / The Apple IIc Plus
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTES
<1> Rose, Frank. WEST OF EDEN: THE END OF INNOCENCE AT APPLE COMPUTER, 1989, p. 48.
<2> Rose, Frank. ibid, pp. 110-112.
<3> Hogan, Thom. "Apple: The First Ten Years", A+ MAGAZINE, Jan 1987, p. 45.
<4> Williams, Gregg. "'C' Is For Crunch", BYTE, Dec 1984, pp. A75-A78, A121.
<5> Little, Gary. INSIDE THE APPLE //C, 1985, pp. 1-7.
<6> Weishaar, Tom. "Miscellanea", OPEN-APPLE, Aug 1985, pp. 1.61.
<7> Durkee, David. "Marketalk Reviews", SOFTALK, Jun 1984, p. 120.
<8> Baum, Peter. "Expanding The Unexpandable IIc", SOFTALK, Jun 1984, pp. 95-97.
<9> -----. "Preface: The Apple IIc Family", APPLE IIC TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL, 1984, 1986, pp. xxiii-xxv.
<10> -----. APPLE IIC MEMORY EXPANSION CARD OWNER'S GUIDE, 1986, pp. 2-4.

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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1992, Zonker Software
(PART 9 -- DISK EVOLUTION / THE APPLE IIC PLUS)
[v1.2 :: 21 May 92]
ADVANCES IN APPLE II DISK STORAGE
Since Steve Wozniak's DiskII floppy drive changed the AppleII from a hobbyist toy to a serious home and business computer in the late 1970's, the progress of disk storage has been slow for the AppleII series. In 1978, the year the DiskII was released, Mike Scott (Apple's president) and Randy Wigginton were asked at a user group meeting whether they were going to go to the larger capacity eight-inch floppy drives (which had been around before the 5.25 floppy drives). They answered that no, the AppleII was not going in that direction, but felt it might get a hard disk by 1979 or 1980, and possibly earlier than that a double sided, double density 5.25 disk with 500K per disk.<1> Of course, this never did happen; as we saw in part 7 of this historical overview, the AppleIII project began to overtake the hearts and minds of Apple executives by 1979, and anything newer, bigger, or better was reserved for that machine. As a result, DOS 3.2 and 3.3 was hard-coded to work specifically with the DiskII and its 143K of available storage, and never enhanced to easily access larger capacity drives. (Later, when we examine the evolution of AppleII DOS, we will see that it was possible from the beginning for DOS 3.2 and 3.3 to access up to 400K per disk in its catalog structure; however, the low-level disk access routines built-in to DOS were ONLY for the DiskII).
So what changes DID occur in AppleII disk storage? Between 1978, when Apple released their original Shugart 5.25 inch floppy drives, and 1984, nothing much changed. Third party company produced patches that modified DOS 3.2 (and later DOS 3.3) to work with larger drives; from eight-inch floppy drives to hard disks (a whole 10 megabytes for only $5,350 from Corvus!<2>) to other various short-lived innovations, all made to try to end the "floppy shuffle". (One of the more interesting ones put five floppy disks into a cartridge, and through software made them appear to the computer as one large disk drive). Eventually Apple decided that the aging DiskII mechanism needed a face lift, and they introduced in the DuoDisk in May of 1984. This was essentially two DiskII drives in a single cabinet, with a special controller card. The drive mechanism was improved to better read half-tracks on disks (which some copy-protected software used), and at $795 was priced to be less expensive than buying two of the older DiskII drives with a controller card.<3> The most important advantage of this new design was an elimination of the "fried disk drive" problem that happened constantly with the older design. The old DiskII controller had two connectors, one for each DiskII drive that could be connected. The problem was the in the design of the connector; like the game paddle plugs for the original AppleII and IIPlus, the plugs for the DiskII drives were simply a series of pins that had to be properly aligned for the drive to function (similar to the delicate pins on a computer chip). If you tried to attach the plug in such a way as to accidentally shift the pins over by one, it would burn out the motor on the disk drive, requiring a trip for repairs to the local Apple dealer. The new DuoDisk design made connection of the disk mechanism to the controller fool-proof.
With the release of the AppleIIc in April 1984 came an external DiskII drive that was designed to plug into the new disk port in the back of the IIc, and was the same color and design as the IIc case. The DiskIIc was specific to the AppleIIc and could not be used with any older version AppleII, since it used a new, unique connector. However, since it was more expensive than a used DiskII drive, many users found out how to make a conversion cable to connect the older drive to the disk port; some even went the other direction and found ways to connect the new drive to the older DiskII controller cards for the IIPlus and IIe.
The next small evolutionary step in disk storage technology for the AppleII was introduced in June 1985, with the release of the UniDisk5.25. This drive was designed with the same appearance as the DuoDisk, but was a single 5.25 drive. It was also designed to allow one drive to be "daisy-chained" to another (one disk could plug into the back of another, forming a "chain"), instead of the older method of connecting each drive separately to the disk controller card. Its beige color was designed to match the original AppleIIe.<4>,<5>
The last version of the DiskII was called the Apple5.25 drive. It was identical to the UniDisk5.25 drive, except for its case, which was designed in the platinum color to match the AppleIIGS and the platinum IIe. The connector it used allowed it to also be connected in a daisy-chain fashion.<5>
NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR: BASICS OF DISK STORAGE
Let's diverge for a moment from discussing specific Apple disk products and turn to a description on how the data are stored on a disk. There are two important concepts that you need to understand to see why some methods of data storage are "faster" than other methods. The first concept is the physical data layout on the disk, and the second concept is the "logical" data layout.
The physical layout of data on a disk is important to the hardware of the disk drive. If the computer tells the disk drive to retrieve data from the disk, it has to be able to tell the drive exactly WHERE on the disk surface that data are stored. Most disk drives in use today (and when Steve Wozniak designed the original DiskII) store data on disks that are round, magnetically coated pieces of plastic that spin within a protective sleeve. The older 5.25 inch and 8 inch disks were "floppy" disks because they used a flexible protective sleeve (unlike the older yet but larger capacity "hard" or fixed disks, which usually could not be removed). The newer 3.5 inch disks are also made of the same magnetically coated plastic, but their protective sleeve is a hard shell. Within its sleeve the thin plastic disk spins around rapidly while the disk drive motor is on.
When a disk is formatted, certain addresses are written to the disk surface in a pattern that is known to the program (the disk operating system) used by the computer controlling the disk drive. Most computers divide the disk surface up into concentric rings (called "tracks"), and each track is divided up into segments called sectors or blocks. Each segment holds a specific number of bytes of data; for the AppleII, this has been either 256 bytes (sectors on 5.25 disks) or 512 bytes (blocks on newer disk devices). The number of sectors or blocks per track differs, depending on the device in question; what is important is that the disk operating system knows how to get to the right block when a request is made of it.
The second concept, that of the "logical" layout of the disk, has to do with the way in which the disk operating system organizes the physical blocks on each track. Imagine a phonograph record on a turntable (some of you still own those, don't you?) It physically resembles a floppy disk; it is just larger in size and is not "floppy". Mentally take a white marking pen and draw lines through the center of the record, across the entire surface from side to side, making the record resemble a pizza that has been cut up into wedges.
Now draw a series of concentric circles, from the outside of the record down to the center. Each ring will, of course, be smaller than the previous ring. The rings you have drawn represent "tracks" on our simulated floppy disk, and the lines running through the center of the record represent the division of each track into blocks. Suppose we drew enough lines to divide the record up into twelve "pieces" (of pizza). That means that each "track" has twelve "blocks".
Now that you have your disk divided up (you just "formatted" it!), let's store some data on it. Numbering each "block" from one to twelve (like the numbers on a clock), let's put a checker into each block on the first (outermost) "track" (yes, a checker. You know--from the game?) Repeat the process on the second track, then the third, and so on, as far as you can go. Eventually you won't be able to fit checkers into the blocks, because they will get too small. (This points out one of the limits of floppy disks; at some point the available space on the disk becomes so small it is unusable. A standard 5.25 disk for the AppleII can have anywhere from 35 to 40 tracks (Apple has always supported only 35 tracks), while the 3.5 disk has 80 tracks. The checkers we have put in the "blocks" on this disk have also been labelled, but with the letters "A" through "L" for the first track, and "M" through "X" for the second track, and so on.
Turn on the record player. If you hold your hand over one spot on the first track on the record, you can see the lettered checkers as they move past. As it goes by, grab the "A" checker, then the "B" checker, and so on. Likely, after picking up checker "A" (on block 1), you had to wait for an entire rotation of the record before "B" comes by on block 2. The same goes for "C", "D", and so on. In computer terms, the "interleave" on this disk is 1 to 1 (written as 1:1). If you were EXTREMELY fast, you could pick up "A", "B", "C", etc. as quickly as they went by, without having to wait for the next revolution of the record. While few of us would be that fast, many of us could pick up a checker after about four went by that we didn't need. "Reload" your data on this disk, this time putting checker "A" on block 1, then checker "B" on block 5, checker "C" on block 9, checker "D" on block 2, check "E" on block 6, and so on. Now, as the record spins, you might be able to pick up "A", "B", "C", and so on without having to wait for the next revolution of the record. This would be (approximately) a 4:1 interleave. With this "logical" layout, you can pickup (load) checkers from the disk, and replace (store) checkers on the disk more efficiently. If your hands are still not fast enough, you may need to increase the interleave to 6:1 or even 8:1. If your hands are faster, you could possibly use a 3:1 or 2:1 interleave.
This is roughly what happens with disk access. A disk device and operating system that is extremely quick about processing the data it reads off a disk can have a short interleave (1:1 or 2:1). A slower disk device or operating system may need to use a 4:1 or higher interleave to work most efficiently.
One last note: Because a track on a disk contains a continuous stream of data bits, Apple drives were designed from the beginning to use "self-synchronization" to be able to tell one byte from the next. This continuous series of bits would be similar to having a paragraph of text with no spaces between words. If a sentence read "GODISNOWHERE", does it mean "GOD IS NOWHERE" or "GOD IS NOW HERE"? Some method is needed to let the computer doing the reading know where the "spaces" between bytes exists. I won't go into detail on exactly how this is carried out, but suffice it to say that some bytes on the disk are reserved for this decoding process, and so the true data bytes are specially encoded to not be mistaken for the self-sync bytes. The process of decoding these "raw" data bytes is called de-nibblization, and translates about 700 of the raw bytes read directly from the disk into 512 true data bytes. This is another part of the overhead necessary when reading from or writing to the disk; it would be similar to having to draw something on each checker with a marker as it was removed from the spinning record described above.
THE UNIDISK 3.5 AND APPLE 3.5
The first new disk drive that Apple released after the original DiskII was a 400K, single-sided 3.5 inch drive for the original Macintosh. Then, in September 1985 Apple finally released a similar drive for the AppleII series, one that was not simply a cosmetic improvement of the original DiskII drive. The UniDisk3.5 drive was a double-sided version of the Mac drive, and could hold 800K of data. The only connection that this new drive had with the original 5.25 drives was a chip used on its controller card; this IWM chip (for "Integrated Woz Machine") put the function of the original DiskII controller onto a single chip, plus the enhancements needed to operate this higher density drive.<4> Apple's design for the UniDisk3.5 was unique, in that it used a modification to Sony's design that varied the speed of disk rotation, depending on which concentric track was being accessed. This change made it possible for data to be packed compactly enough in the smaller inner tracks to gain an extra 80K beyond the 720K that was originally possible.
The UniDisk was directly supported by the newer AppleIIc motherboards (as mentioned in the previous part of this History), but for the older AppleII's a special controller card was required. The UniDisk3.5 was designed as an "intelligent" drive, and had a self-contained 65c02 processor and memory to temporarily store ("buffer") data being read from or written to the disk. This was necessary because of the slow 1 MHz speed of the 6502 processors in the AppleII; they could not keep up with the faster data transfer rates possible with the 3.5 disk mechanism, plus the overhead of de-nibblization. This extra processing did cut down the speed in the UniDisk data transfer rate, but compared to the older DiskII drives it seemed MUCH faster.
With the release of the AppleIIGS in September 1986 came a new version of the 800K 3.5 drive called the Apple3.5. This mechanism could be used on either a Mac or AppleII, fitting into the trend at Apple at making peripherals compatible between the two computers. The major difference between this drive and the original UniDisk3.5 was that it had been lobotomized to be a "dumb" drive. Gone was the internal 65c02 processor chip used in the UniDisk3.5 (which made it an "intelligent" drive) and the ability of the drive to buffer its own read and write operations. The newer Apple3.5 drive did away with the extra circuitry, leaving it to the computer to handle direct control of the drive. This could be done in the IIGS because of its faster 65816 microprocessor, which could keep up with the higher rate of data transfer. Recall the above discussion of interleave? The original UniDisk3.5 worked best with an interleave of 4:1, but the Apple3.5 used 2:1 interleave and could do disk reads and writes faster. Disks formatted with either drive were usable with the other one, but would be slower on the "foreign" drive.<5>
Overall, Apple released four versions of 3.5 drives between 1984 and 1986. First was the 400K drive used on the original Macintosh, then the 800K UniDisk3.5 (which wouldn't work on the Mac), then an 800K drive for the Mac (which wouldn't work on the Apple II), and finally the Apple3.5 drive, which worked on the Apple IIGS and the Mac, but not the IIe and original IIc.<5>
THE APPLE IIC PLUS: HARDWARE
Recalibrating our special time-travel card to focus on the final 8-bit version of the AppleII, let's travel to mid-1987. It was at this time that someone at Apple decided that the IIc needed to be upgraded. Shortly before July, three years after its original 1984 introduction, it was felt that the AppleIIc would benefit from the larger capacity Apple3.5 drive as its internal drive. The primary intent was to make only this change, while leaving the rest of the IIc as it was. As with most other Apple projects, this went by various internal code names during its development, includine Pizza, Raisin, and Adam Ant.<11>
Trying to use the Apple3.5 drive in the AppleIIc was certainly an engineering problem. As mentioned above, the 1 MHz 65c02 was simply not fast enough to take raw data off the Apple3.5 drive, de-nibblize it into usable data, and pass it to the operating system. The "intelligent" 3.5 drive was designed in the first place for that very reason. To solve the problem, Apple contracted with an outside firm to design a special digital gate array that made it possible for the 1 MHz 65c02 to just barely keep up with the data transfer rate from the Apple3.5 drive. In accomplishing this, it needed an extra 2K of static RAM space to de-nibblize the raw data from the 3.5 drive. This extra memory had to be available OUTSIDE the standard AppleIIe/IIc 128K RAM space, since there was simply not enough free memory available to spare even that little bit of space. The code Apple engineers wrote to use the drive was SO tight that there were EXACTLY enough clock cycles to properly time things while controlling the drive. (Each assembly language instruction takes a certain number of clock cycles; these cycles have to be taken into account for timing-sensitive operations such as disk and serial port drivers).
To support older AppleII software that came only on 5.25 disks, the disk port on the back was now changed to handle not only external 3.5 drives (either UniDisk3.5 or Apple3.5), but also up to TWO Apple5.25 drives which could be chained together (the same drives used with the AppleIIGS). These could be chained together as could the 3.5 drives. The IIcPlus, then, could have three additional drives attached, in any mixture of Apple3.5, UniDisk3.5, or Apple5.25 drives.<6>
The IIcPlus design was not thought out completely from start to finish, however. After they did the work with the special gate array to make the original IIc architecture work properly, someone decided that it was not a good idea to release a 1 MHz computer in 1987. People want speed, they reasoned; look at the world of the IBM PC and its clones, where each year faster and faster models are released. They decided then to retrofit the new IIc with a faster 4 MHz version of the 65c02. That change, had it been done from the start, would have made engineering the internal 3.5 drive simpler; they could have just used the processor at 4 MHz for 3.5 drive access, and then used the true system speed (as selected by the user) for all other functions. The complicated gate array would not have been necessary. But, since the faster speed was added as an afterthought, and the project was under a tight schedule, the gate array design was not changed.
To accomplish the faster processor speed for the IIcPlus, Apple went to another outside firm, Zip Technologies. This company had already marketed an accelerator, the Zip Chip, that was popular as an add-on product for existing AppleII computers. Users could simply remove the 6502 or 65c02 chip in their computer, replace it with the special Zip Chip, and suddenly they had a computer that ran up to four times as fast. Apple licensed this technology from Zip, but engineers balked at actually using the Zip Chip itself for the IIcPlus. Part of this was because of the size of the Zip Chip. The chip was shaped like a standard integrated circuit, but was thicker vertically than a basic 65c02. Inside the extra space was a fast 65c02 processor, plus some caching RAM, all squeezed into a space that would fit even into the original AppleIIc (where space was at a premium). (The Zip Chip "cache" is a piece of RAM memory that is used to hold copies of system memory that the processor is frequently accessing. For instance, if a lot of graphics manipulation is being done by a program, the caching RAM would hold a copy of part of the graphics RAM, and could access it much faster than the standard RAM. This is part of what makes an after-market accelerator work).
Zip had wanted Apple to buy their Zip Chip and simply use that product in the IIcPlus. Obviously, this would have been to Zip's advantage financially. However, the thicker vertical size of the Chip made testing the completed computer more difficult, and it would be a problem to isolate product failures to the Zip Chip, instead of something else on the motherboard. By using a 4 MHz 65c02 and two 8K static RAM chips as separate components in the IIcPlus, Apple engineers could ensure that it would work and be available in a large enough volume for production. When they were designing the IIcPlus, Zip Technologies could not guarantee they could provide reliable products in the volume Apple needed.
The IIcPlus did not have the 12 VDC input on the back panel as did the earlier IIc's; instead, the power supply was built-in. This was not because it was necessarily a better design, as an internal power supply was actually less reliable ultimately than the external power supply. (It exposes the internal components to higher levels of heat over the lifetime of the product). But because many people had criticized Apple about the IIc external power supply (called a "brick on a leash" at Apple), that they had decided to make it internal on the IIcPlus as it was on all their other products. This change apparently did not cause any significant problems, as few people were actually trying to use the IIc as a "portable" computer (with a battery pack).
The memory expansion slot on the IIcPlus was not compatible with the memory cards that Apple had produced for the older IIc. This was primarily a timing problem; it was not because the RAM chips in the memory card were not fast enough to keep up with the 4 MHz speed of the IIcPlus. (Older IIc users can use an Apple Memory Expansion card with an 8 MHz Zip Chip with no problems). The IIcPlus also had an additional connector at the opposite end of a memory card plugged into the expansion slot. Signals from port 2 were made available at that end, so third party companies could make a card that was a combination RAM card and internal modem. However, this never did come about (see below).
Other changes in the IIcPlus included a slightly redesigned keyboard and mini-DIN-8 connectors on the back panel for its serial ports (to be more compatible with Apple's new Macintosh and IIGS keyboards).
One interesting note: John Arkley, one of the engineers working on the project and a long-time Apple employee, campaigned long and hard to take things a step further. He wanted them to take an AppleIIGS motherboard, remove the slots, change the ROM to support only the internal "slots", and release a IIGS in a IIc case. He felt it would have made a great portable, non-expandable IIGS, but could not get anyone who could approve the plan to get interested in the idea.
THE APPLE IIC PLUS: FIRMWARE
The IIcPlus ROM was called revision 5 (the previous Revised Memory Expansion IIc was labelled as revision 4). The main changes present were the ones that supported the internal Apple3.5 drive. Firmware on the new IIc was not any larger than the 32K on the previous models, but it did use the entire space (the previous IIc didn't use the last 8K available in the ROM).
One minor bug that slipped by in the IIcPlus firmware was an inability to deal with 400K (single-sided) 3.5 disks. There were few commercial software packages that came on such disks, however.<7>,<8>
THE APPLE IIC PLUS: INTRODUCTION
In September 1988 the AppleIIc Plus was introduced to considerably less fanfare than the original IIc was in April 1984. There were no promises of "AppleII Forever" this time; instead, it warranted little more than a press release in various AppleII magazines of the time. Its selling price was $675 (or $1,099 with a color monitor). This was remarkable, considering that the original AppleIIc WITHOUT a monitor sold for nearly double the price ($1,295) and had far less capacity and power than this new version. Some models of the IIcPlus were even shipped with 256K of extra memory already added. It was faster than any other AppleII ever produced (including the 2.8 MHz IIGS), and was probably the finest 8-bit computer Apple ever produced.
THE APPLE IIC PLUS: LESS THAN A SUCCESS
Early on, the AppleIIc Plus was a big seller, and by January 1989 it was above forecasted sales levels. However, the biggest hurdle that the IIcPlus had to overcome was not the external marketplace, but rather the internal market opinions at Apple Computer, Inc. Since Macintosh-mania was still in full swing at Apple, and that younger brother of the AppleII was getting most of the attention from management, the IIcPlus (as well as the IIGS) suffered. It was not because of a lack of capability, but primarily from failure to thrive due to inadequate home nutrition, so to speak. Also, the IIcPlus had the same problem as the original AppleIIc; customers seemed to want the IIe with its slots, or the greater power of the IIGS.
There were some products that were designed by third-party developers for both the IIc and IIc Plus that never made it to the market for various reasons. Applied Ingenuity (later known as Ingenuity, Inc) had two products that would have markedly increased the portability of the IIc/IIcPlus. One was an internal hard disk they called "CDrive", which would have replaced the AppleIIc or IIcPlus internal floppy disk drive (converting it into an external floppy drive). Even more unique was "CKeeper", which was a multi-function card with many features. It could hold up to 1.25 MB of extra RAM; it had a clock/calendar chip that was ProDOS compatible; it had firmware routines to support dumping text or graphics screens to the printer; it could function as a built-in assembly language program debugger; and best of all, a feature called RAMSaver, which maintained power to the RAM chips during a power failure or if the power switch was turned off. Both of these products never saw the light of day, primarily because the company went out of business before they could be finished.<9>
Chinook Technologies actually finished design on an internal modem for the IIcPlus, but never released it. This card, 1.5 by 6 inches in size, would have mounted inside the disk drive shield. It connected to a small box attached to the outside of the IIc case, where there were cut-outs provided by Apple for connection of an "anti-theft" cable. This external box had phone jacks for the phone line and a telephone, just like most external modems. Undoubtably it never was released because of Apple's indifference towards the IIcPlus.<10>
With inadequate support by Apple marketing, third-party hardware and software developers had little motivation in designing any new products for the IIcPlus. Therefore, no unique products ever emerged on the market to take advantage of its features. Finally, in September of 1990 the IIcPlus was discontinued by Apple, leaving the platinum AppleIIe and the AppleIIGS as the remaining bearers of Wozniak's legacy.
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NEXT INSTALLMENT: The Apple IIGS
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NOTES
<1> Thyng, Mike. "Apple Source", PEEKING AT CALL-A.P.P.L.E., VOL. 1, 1978, pp. 7-8.
<2> -----. -----, APPLE ORCHARD, VOL. 1, NO. 1., Mar-Apr 1980, various.
<3> -----. "Tomorrow's Apples Today", CALL-A.P.P.L.E., May 1984, p. 78.
<4> -----. "The Marketplace", CALL-A.P.P.L.E., Jul 1985, p. 49.
<5> Baum, Peter and Allen. "Speaking Of Hardware", CALL-A.P.P.L.E., Oct 1987, pp. 30-34, 51.
<6> Weishaar, Tom. "Apple rediscovers the Apple II", OPEN-APPLE, Nov 198, p. 4.73.
<7> Weishaar, Tom. "Ask Uncle DOS", OPEN-APPLE, Jan 1989, p. 4.91.
<8> Weishaar, Tom. "Miscellanea", OPEN-APPLE, May 1989, p. 5.27.
<9> -----. "Ingenuity News", II AT WORK, Vol. 2, No. 1, Spring 1990, p. 30.
<10> Hoover, Tom. (personal mail), GEnie, E-MAIL, Nov 1991.
<11> A+ Staff. "NewsPlus", A+ MAGAZINE, Oct 1989, p. 18.

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APPLE II HISTORY
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Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1991, Zonker Software
(PART 10 -- THE APPLE IIGS)
[v1.0 :: 06 Dec 91]
THE APPLE II EVOLVES
While the capabilities of the AppleII slowly advanced as it changed from the II up through the IIc, the one thing that remained essentially unchanged was the 6502 microprocessor that controlled it. Even though the 65c02 had more commands than the 6502, as an 8-bit processor it was inherently limited to directly addressing no more than 64K of memory at one time. (As an 8-bit processor, the 6502 could handle only 8 bits, or one byte at a time. However, its address bus was 16 bits wide, which made for a maximum address of 1111 1111 1111 1111 in binary, $FFFF in hexadecimal, or 65535 in decimal. If you divide 65536 bytes by 1024 bytes per "K", you get 64K as the largest memory size). When Wozniak designed it, 64K was considered to be a massive amount of memory, even for some mainframe computers. (For example, the old mainframe on which I learned programming during college back in 1975 was a ten-year-old IBM 1130 with 8K of memory; this was used for both the operating system AND user programs!) Most hackers of the time would not have known what to DO with four megabytes of memory, even if it had been possible (or affordable) to install that much. Consequently, programs of the day were compact, efficient, and primarily text-based.
The non-AppleII computer world had developed and advanced, and Apple grudgingly allowed the AppleII to make its small, incremental advances. Occasionally, efforts were made within Apple to make a more powerful AppleII, but the lure of "better" computers always turned the attention of management away from allowing such a project to actually make any progress. First the AppleIII, then Lisa, and finally Macintosh swallowed the research and development dollars that Apple's cash cow, the AppleII, continued to produce. The latter two computers were based around the 16-bit Motorola 68000 microprocessor, which had the capability to address far more than 64K of memory. The AppleII could make use of more memory only through complicated switching schemes (switching between separate 64K banks). Although "Mac-envy" hit many AppleII enthusiasts both inside and outside of Apple, causing them to move away from the II, there were still many others who continued to press for more power from the II.
Eventually, a company called Western Design Center revealed plans to produce a new microprocessor called the 65816. This chip would have all of the assembly language opcodes (commands) of the 65c02 through an "emulation" mode. However, it would be a true 16-bit processor, with the ability handle 16 bits (two bytes) at a time and to address larger amounts of continuous memory. The address bus was enlarged from 16 to 24 bits, making the 65816 capable of addressing 256 times more memory, or 16 megabytes. The power to make a better AppleII was finally available.
THE RETURN OF WOZNIAK
Back in early 1981, Steve Wozniak was involved with several projects at Apple. He had helped write some fast math routines for a spreadsheet product that Apple had planned to release in competition with Visicalc. Also, Steve Jobs had managed to convince Wozniak to participate with his fledgling Macintosh project. Then, in early February, Wozniak's private plane crashed. He was injured with a concussion that temporarily made it impossible to form new memories. He could not recall that he had an accident; he did not remember playing games with his computer in the hospital; he did not remember who visited him earlier in the day. When he finally did recover from the concussion, he decided it was time to take a leave of absence from Apple. Wozniak married, and returned to college at Berkley under the name "Rocky Clark" (a combination of his dog's name and his wife's maiden name). He decided he wanted to finally graduate, and get his degree in electrical engineering and computer science. When he was done with that, he formed a corporation called "UNUSON" (which stood for "Unite Us In Song") to produce educational computer materials, wanting to make computers easier for students to use. He also decided use UNUSON to sponsor a couple of rock music events, and called them the "US Festival".<1> Held on Labor Day weekend in 1982 and 1983, these music and technology extravaganzas were invigorating for Wozniak, but he lost a bundle of money on both occasions. Though nowhere near drying up the value of his Apple Computer stock, he decided that he was ready to return to work. In June of 1983, Wozniak entered the building on the Apple campus where the AppleII division was housed and asked for something to do.
THE APPLE IIX
When Wozniak returned, he discovered the latest of the AppleII modernization projects, which was code-named "IIx". When he saw what the 65816 could do, he became excited about the potential of the new AppleII and immediately got involved. It was a tremendous boost in morale for the division to have their founder return to work. However, the IIx project was plagued by several problems. Western Design Center was late in delivering samples of the 65816 processor. First promised for November 1983, they finally arrived in February 1984--and didn't work. The second set that came three weeks later also failed.
Other problems came out of the engineering mindset that still existed at Apple at the time. Recall that people there liked designing boxes that would do neat things, but there was not enough of a unified focus from above to pull things together. The marketing department wanted the IIx to have a co-processor slot to allow it to run different microprocessors. The code name of the project by this time was "Brooklyn" and "Golden Gate" (referring to the ability to make it a bridge between the AppleII and Macintosh). The co-processor slot could allow the IIx to easily do what third party companies had done for the original AppleII with their Z-80 boards (which allowed them to run CP/M software). Co-processor boards considered were ones for the Motorola 68000 (the chip used in the Macintosh), and the Intel 8088 (used in the IBM PC). The IIx project got so bogged down in trying to become other computers, they forgot it was supposed to be an advanced AppleII. Politically it also had problems at Apple, because it was being aimed as a high-end business machine, which was where they wanted the Macintosh to go.<2>,<3> Wozniak lost interest as things ran slower and slower, and eventually the project was dropped.
THE 16-BIT APPLE II RETURNS
When the IIx project was cancelled in March 1983, some of the AppleII engineers were assigned the task of reducing the cost of the AppleII. Engineers Dan Hillman and Jay Rickard managed to put almost the entire AppleII circuitry onto a single chip they called the MegaII. Meanwhile, after the "AppleII Forever" event that introduced the IIc, interest in the AppleII revived and sales were quite good. Management saw that sales of the open IIe were better than the sales of the closed IIc, so they were agreeable to the idea of another try at the 16-bit AppleII, possibly utilizing the MegaII chip. By late summer 1984 it was revived with the code name "Phoenix" (rising from the ashes of the IIx project).<3>
THE APPLE IIGS: GOALS OF THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM
The people involved in the Phoenix project were very knowledgeable about the AppleII, from the days of the ][ through the //c. They knew what THEY wanted in a new computer. It should primarily be an AppleII, not just something NEW that tried to be all things to all people.<4> Dan Hillman, who had also been involved as the engineering manager for the IIx project, stated in an interview, "Our mission was very simple. First we wanted to preserve the AppleII as it exists today. It had to work with AppleIIe software and AppleIIc software. That was goal number 1. But we recognized that the AppleII was an old computer. It had limitations. The new machine needed to address those limitations, break through those barriers--and the barriers were very obvious: We needed to increase the memory size. We had to make it run faster. We needed better graphics. And we had to have better sound. That was our mission." Since advanced graphics and sound were what would make this new Apple really shine, the name eventually assigned to the final product was "AppleIIGS".<3>
Having learned from their experience in building the AppleIIe and IIc, they knew what would make the new 16-bit AppleII more powerful. The AppleIIc was easy to use because the most commonly needed peripherals were already built-in. The AppleIIe, however, excelled in its ability to be easily expanded (via the slots) to do things that were NOT commonly needed or built-in. Harvey Lehtman, system software manager for the project, stated, "We... wanted the AppleIIGS to be easy to set up, like the IIc, and easy to expand, like the IIe."<3>
THE APPLE IIGS: ARCHITECTURE
Wozniak was quite involved in designing the general layout of the IIGS. Insisting on keeping it simple, he recommended AGAINST a built-in co-processor (as they tried to do with the IIx). He also wanted to keep the 8-bit part of the machine separate from the 16-bit part. To accomplish this, he and the other engineers decided to design it so the memory in the lower 128K of the machine was "slow RAM", which made it possible for it to function just as it did on the older AppleII's. This included the memory allocation for the odd addressing schemes used in the text and graphics modes and (which made sense in 1976, but not in 1986). The rest of the available memory space would be fast, and could be expanded to as much as 16 megabytes. With a faster microprocessor, it would also be possible to run programs more quickly than on the older AppleII's.<3>
THE APPLE IIGS: GRAPHICS
One area they decided to focus on was bringing the quality of graphics on the new AppleII up to modern standards. Rob Moore, the Phoenix project hardware group manager, helped define the new graphics modes of the IIGS. Because a change that increased the vertical resolution from 200 dots to 400 dots would make the computer too expensive (it would require a special slow-phosphor monitor), they purposely decided not to go in that direction. Instead, they increased the horizontal resolution, and created two new graphics modes (called "super hi-res"); one was 320 x 200 and the other was 640 x 200. This decision also made it easier to keep compatibility with older graphics modes.<3>
As mentioned above, the text and graphics addressing on the old AppleII was odd, from a programming standpoint. When Wozniak originally designed the II, he made the memory allocation for text and graphics to be "non-linear", since this saved several hardware chips and made it less expensive to build. This meant that calculating the memory address of a specific dot on the hi-res graphics screen or a character on the text screen was not as simple as most programmers wanted. The hi-res screen began at $2000 in memory, and the first line on the hi-res screen (line 0) started at that address. Each line on the hi-res screen was made up of 40 bytes of 8 bits each, and seven bits of each byte represented a dot or pixel on the screen, giving a possible 280 dots horizontally. Since 40 bytes is $28 in hex, line 0 then ran from $2000 to $2027 in memory. However, the second line (line 1) of the hi-res screen did NOT start at $2028 as one would expect, but at $2080. The hi-res screen line represented by memory locations $2028 to $204F was line 8, and $2050 to $2077 was line 16. The last eight bytes of this 128 byte section of memory was unused. The next 128 bytes were allocated to screen lines 1, 9, and 17, and so on.
Because this complicated things considerably for programmers, the design team for the IIGS wanted linear addressing, which would allow the memory addresses of line 0 to be followed by the addresses for line 1, and so on. Because the graphics resolution and range of available colors planned was much greater than either of the older graphics modes (hi-res or double hi-res), they needed 32K of continuous memory to use. Because they planned on a minimum memory configuration of 256K for the IIGS as it would be shipped, they could not come up with that much memory in one single block. Engineer Larry Thompson designed a special Video Graphics Controller (VGC) to solve the problem. The chip combined two separate 16K blocks of memory and make it appear as a single continuous 32K block of memory, as far as the graphics programmer was concerned.<3>
The new super hi-res graphics modes also gave far more color choices than either the old hi-res mode (which had six unique colors) or even the double hi-res mode (which had sixteen colors). In the 320 x 200 super hi-res mode, each line could have sixteen colors out of a possible 4,096, and in the 640 x 200 mode, each line could have four colors out of 4,096. This gave graphics power that was not even available on a Macintosh (which was still black and white at the time).
THE APPLE IIGS: SOUND
The second major area of focus for enhancements over the old AppleII was sound reproduction. The original sound chip that had been proposed for the IIGS would have given it the sound quality of a typical arcade game. However, this was no better than what other computers in 1986 could do. Rob Moore suggested using a sound chip made by Ensoniq, one that was used in the Mirage music synthesizer. He had to push hard to get this included in the final design, but was able to convince management of its importance because he told them it would be "enabling technology" (borrowing a phrase from a Macintosh marketing book). He told them "it would enable people to do things they'd never dreamed of doing."<3>
The Ensoniq chip was capable of synthesizing FIFTEEN simultaneous musical voices. To help it in doing such complex sound reproduction, they gave the chip a separate 64K block of RAM memory dedicated specifically for that purpose.
THE APPLE IIGS: MEMORY
The 65816 is designed to address up to 16 MB of memory. The IIGS, however, was designed to support only 8 MB of RAM, and up to 1 MB of ROM (in high memory). With cards specially designed by third-party companies, up to 12 MB of RAM could be added, but the memory manager in ROM was only aware of the first 8 MB. A special patch was needed to allow the system to use memory beyond that point.
Building on the traditional memory organization from 6502 days, memory in the IIGS was usually referred to in banks, from $00 through $FF. Each bank refers to a 64K chunk of memory. The lowest bank, $00, was identical to the 64K memory space in the original AppleII. The next bank, $01, was the same as the auxiliary memory bank used on the AppleIIe and IIc. (Additionally, the super hi-res graphics display was found in 32K of the memory in bank $00, from $2000 to $9FFF). The banks from $02-$7F were also for RAM storage, and covered things up to the 8 MB limit. Banks $80-$DF could be used for another 4.25 MB of RAM, but as mentioned above they were unusable (without a patch) because the memory manager didn't know how to access it.
The memory expansion slot designed for the IIGS only had two lines to decode addresses. This allowed for direct access to each of four 256K RAM chips, or four 1 MB RAM chips. In order to make use of the next 4 MB of RAM some special logic was needed to find and use it. RAM cards with more than 4 MB were never directly supported by Apple.<5>
Banks $E0 and $E1 were a special part of RAM that was used to duplicate ("shadow") banks $00 and $01. This RAM was designed as "slow" RAM, and would better be able to run some of the older 8-bit AppleII software. When shadowing was active, anything a program did to addresses in banks $00 and $01 was duplicated in banks $E0 and $E1. Although it appeared to a program that it was running in the lower two banks, it was really running in the slow RAM in banks $E0 and $E1.<6>
Banks $E2-$EF were undefined. The last one MB from $F0-$FF was allocated to ROM. The lower 512K (banks $F0-$F7) were set aside for a ROMdisk. (A ROMdisk is just like a RAMdisk, except it will not lose its contents when power is turned off). For a ROMdisk to be installed, a device driver for the disk had to be located at the beginning of bank $F0 (at address $F0/0000), and the driver had to start with the phrase "ROMDISK". The most common way this was used by third-party hardware providers was to take some of the GS memory, protect it with a battery (so its contents didn't disappear when the computer was turned off), and designate it properly to the IIGS as a ROMdisk (even though it was simply protected RAM, and not true ROM).<7>
The rest of the space from $F8-$FF was reserved for system ROM. The original IIGS had ROM code only from $FE-$FF, while later versions expanded this space to include $FC and $FD.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NEXT INSTALLMENT: The Apple IIGS, cont.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTES
<1> Miller, Jonathan. "The Life And Times Of Rocky Clark", SOFTALK, June 1982, pp. 141-144.
<2> Pinella, Paul. "In The Beginning: An Interview With Harvey Lehtman", APPLE IIGS: GRAPHICS AND SOUND, Fall/Winter 1986, pp. 38-44.
<3> Duprau, Jeanne, and Tyson, Molly. "The Making Of The Apple IIGS", A+ MAGAZINE, Nov 1986, pp. 57-74.
<4> Hogan, Thom. "Apple: The First Ten Years", A+ MAGAZINE, Jan 1987, p. 45.
<5> Regan, Joe. A2PRO ROUNDTABLE, Oct 1991, Category 16, Topic 2.
<6> Williams, Gregg. "The Apple IIGS", BYTE, Oct 1986, pp. 84-98.
<7> Nolan, Sean. "GS Memory Cards Compared", CALL-A.P.P.L.E., Aug 1987, pp. 10-17.

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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1991, Zonker Software
(PART 11 -- THE APPLE IIGS, CONT.)
[v1.0 :: 06 Dec 91]
THE APPLE IIGS: MISCELLANEOUS HARDWARE
Other features Apple engineers added to make the AppleIIGS a next generation computer included a built-in clock, slot space for internal expansion cards, and the electronic equivalents of seven more expansion cards.<1> Taking the cue from their experience with the AppleIIc, they included as built-in features the peripherals that most users would want to use. They allocated serial ports to slots 1 and 2, the classic 80-column firmware to slot 3, the mouse controller to slot 4, a Smartport controller to slot 5, a 5.25 inch disk controller to slot 6, and AppleTalk capability to slot 7. (AppleTalk was Apple's network protocol that had been designed originally for use with the Macintosh).
Because the engineers wanted to make the IIGS capable of connecting to the AppleTalk network, the serial ports they planned were based on a different communications controller chip than was used in the older Super Serial Card and the AppleIIc serial controller. Although the new controller chips were more capable than the older ones used on the 8-bit AppleII's, telecommunications programs written for those older Apple's wouldn't work. This was because most terminal programs, for the sake of speed, were written to directly control the old Super Serial Card (rather than going through the slower, built-in firmware commands). The controlling commands necessary to manage the newer chip were very different, and so caused such software to "break".<2>
The case and motherboard used in the AppleIIGS was made smaller than that found in the IIe, both in order to make a smaller "footprint" on a desktop, and also to make it easier to make an upgrade available for IIe owners. They had wanted to make it possible even for AppleII and IIPlus owners to upgrade, but in the end it turned out to be just too expensive and difficult to execute.<2>
The Macintosh engineering group was at this time designing a protocol for interfacing standard input devices, such as keyboards, mice, and graphics tablets. This protocol, called the "Apple Desktop Bus", was first implemented on the AppleIIGS. It made possible the interchangability of hardware devices between the Macintosh and AppleII lines, allowing Apple to sell a common set of peripherals that both computers could use.<2>
THE APPLE IIGS: FIRMWARE
Firmware, you may recall, is that layer of controlling programs in ROM on a computer that sits between an application program and the hardware it is trying to control. On the IIGS, the firmware was designed after the hardware was finalized. Unlike the older ROM that Wozniak included with the original AppleII, the IIGS software engineers tried to make it more than just a set of addresses to call to carry out a function (such as clearing the screen). Rather, they wanted to make a more comprehensive system (called a "toolbox") which could be more flexible for future enhancements of the hardware and firmware. In particular, they didn't want to have the addresses for carrying out certain functions to be fixed in a single location as on the older Apples. This toolbox would have a single address to call, and a specific command would be passed on through that address. Set up like this, it would allow Apple's firmware programmers to modify the ROM in the future without having to take trouble to make multiple addresses in the ROM "line up" properly. Additionally, they made it easy to "patch" the toolbox code in the ROM using code loaded from disk, allowing programmers to fix errors that were later found without having to replace the physical ROM chips.
At first, they were given 64K of space for the ROM, over four times as much as was available on the original AppleII. Later, they had to go back and ask for 128K of ROM, because of the many things that they needed and wanted to do. Of course, Applesoft had to be present in ROM in order to maintain compatibility with the older AppleII software. Additionally, they also put all of the mouse-handling tools into the ROM (unlike the II, IIPlus, and IIe, which had to have the mouse firmware on a card in a peripheral slot).<1>
A boost to the firmware design of the IIGS came, unexpectedly, as a result of the merger between the AppleII and Macintosh divisions. This merger came as part of the reorganization that coincided with the departure of Steve Jobs from Apple. Since the Macintosh team was now working in the same place as the IIGS designers, they were available to offer help and ideas. Bill Atkinson, the programming wizard who wrote MacPaint and many of the mouse tools for the Macintosh, helped in the creation of the mouse tools and QuickDrawII for the IIGS. (This was the name given to the ROM tools used to draw on the super hi-res screen, and was borrowed from the older QuickDraw routines on the original Macintosh).<1>
To allow the user to easily configure certain features of the IIGS to their own tastes, a "control panel" was designed (another idea borrowed from the Macintosh). It was used to set the clock, the system speed (between a "normal" 1 MHz and a "fast" 2.8 MHz), change the standard text display from 40 to 80 columns, set colors for the text screen, set sensitivity of the mouse and keyboard, and make the standard settings for the printer and modem ports. These preferences were saved in a special battery-powered RAM that would survive even when the system power was turned off.<1>
THE APPLE IIGS: SYSTEM SOFTWARE
ProDOS needed to be updated to better take advantage of the additional memory on the IIGS, as well as the larger storage devices that were not very available when ProDOS was originally written. Back then, five megabytes was felt to be quite a large disk size. By the time the IIGS was designed, 40 megabytes was becoming a common standard. The new IIGS-specific version, called "ProDOS16", would also be able to handle any number of open files at the same time (the older version of ProDOS was limited to eight files open simultaneously).<1>
The first version of ProDOS16 was more limited than Apple's designers wanted it to be, but they didn't want to hold up the new IIGS until a better version was ready. The version of ProDOS that would run 8-bit AppleII software (on the IIGS or older Apple II's) was renamed "ProDOS8". That version was modified to handle system interrupts better, which was important on the IIGS because of the control panel feature and the way in which the Apple Desktop Bus worked. (An interrupt refers to a special signal that is sent to the microprocessor by a hardware device. This signal "interrupts" what the processor is doing, redirects it to do something else, and then returns the processor to what it was previously doing. The mouse on the IIc and the mouse card for the other AppleII's use interrupts to handle movements of the mouse).<2>
(Further details about ProDOS16 and its later replacement system, GS/OS, will be found in an upcoming part of the AppleII History).
IIGS PROJECT CODE NAMES AND TEAM MEMBERS
The earliest name used internally at Apple for the IIGS project was Phoenix (as mentioned earlier). It was also known as "Rambo" (when the design team was fighting for final approval from the executive staff), "Gumby" (from an impersonation done at Apple's Halloween-day parade), and "Cortland".<1>,<3>
Some of the members of the design team not yet mentioned here include Nancy Stark (an early and energetic champion for the IIGS project); Curtis Sasaki (IIGS product manager); Ed Colby (CPU product manager); Jim Jatczynski (Operating System group manager); Fern Bachman (who worked to ensure compatibility with existing AppleII software); Gus Andrate (who developed the sound tools and the unified drive firmware); and Peter Baum, Rich Williams, Eagle I. Berns, John Worthington, and Steven Glass, who each developed part of the IIGS system software and firmware.<4>
THE APPLE IIGS: PRODUCT INTRODUCTION
In September of 1986, Apple introduced the new AppleIIGS, bundled with an Apple 3.5 drive, for $999 (not including a monitor). Apple management, somewhat surprised by the response that occurred in their "AppleII Forever" event two years earlier, made the decision to heavily promote this new AppleII. Why they came to this change of heart was unclear. Although they showed no slowing in their plans for the Macintosh (which was making steady progress in gaining acceptability in the business world), a multi-million dollar marketing and media blitz was arranged to promote the new IIGS as the ultimate home and recreational use computer. Even employees at Apple who had worked on the IIGS project were startled (but pleased) at the marketing intensity that was begun, and the order for this came directly from the top. John Sculley himself had insisted that the AppleIIGS be given highest priority. (Apple's CEO since 1983, he had just a year earlier ousted founder Steve Jobs from day to day responsibilities at Apple). Rumors flew, but were never confirmed, about a shaken Sculley who had come to an executive staff meeting in July of 1986 with stories of strange things he had experienced. He had supposedly received a frightening nighttime visit from a yellow-garbed alien who called himself "Darth Vader" from the planet Vulcan. "He told me that he would meld my brain if I didn't put all I could into marketing the AppleIIGS! I have to do it!!", he was reported to have said, white-fisted and pale, at that meeting. Despite the obvious references to science-fiction movies and television of the 1960's and late 1970's, the executive staff bowed to his requests (which were no less firm after Sculley had taken a Valium and had a couple of Diet Pepsi's. After all, he WAS the boss).
Of course, the IIGS was received by the AppleII community with enthusiasm. After initial sales broke all previous records, including those for the Macintosh, Apple re-doubled its efforts to promote this as the computer for nearly everyone. After all, it had ties into the past (compatible with Steve Wozniak's 4K Integer BASIC AppleII at its core), and ties into the future (with the 16-bit technology and expanded memory). Within a year it was outselling the Macintosh (which had also received a boost in sales, thought to be benefiting from the wave of IIGS sales).
By 1988, a significantly enhanced AppleIIGS was released, with more advanced system software (which worked more like the easy-to-use Macintosh interface) and higher density graphics (the cost of better color monitors had come down considerably since the initial design of the IIGS back in 1985). Apple even decided to take the unprecedented move of licensing the AppleII technology to a couple of other companies, who worked on producing IIGS emulators for other computers, including IBM and its clones! Software and hardware sales hit a spiraling upward curve, which stimulated more sales of computers from Apple, which increased software and hardware sales further. Apple even produced a IIGS emulator of its own for the Macintosh and MacintoshII series of computers. Eventually...
(Hold it. Something just doesn't seem right. I don't recall things going NEARLY that well for the IIGS. Computer!
APPLE IIC: [ Tweedlesquirge ] State request, please.
AUTHOR: Compare time events just outlined in previous section with known events in database notes.
APPLE IIC: Working... [ Blinkitydinkitydinkityzeerp ] Events just described are from a parallel timeline, which diverged from our own timeline in July 1986.
AUTHOR: Hmmm. Any way of moving into that timeline?
APPLE IIC: Negative. Insufficient energy available in my power supply brick to actually make changes necessary to alter the events in our timeline to allow the above scenario to actually occur.
AUTHOR: Then HOW did we come across that information in the first place?
APPLE IIC: Flux capacitor was affected by a momentary surge in power lines due to a nearby thunderstorm.
AUTHOR: Interesting. Well, maybe someday I'll have to beef up this power supply a bit and have a talk with Mr. Sculley if I can find my yellow radiation suit... So how do we get back to the correct information?
APPLE IIC: You could effect a complete shutdown and memory purge, then reload correct data from protected archives.
AUTHOR: Very well. Make it so.
APPLE IIC: Working... [ Blinkitydinkitydinkityzeerpity... ]
PROOFREADER: Your Apple TALKS???
AUTHOR: What? Yes, well I had a CPU conversion done in the early 24th century...
APPLE IIC: Data reload completed. You may proceed when ready.
AUTHOR: Now, let's see if we can get it right this time...)
THE APPLE IIGS: PRODUCT INTRODUCTION (Take 2)
In September of 1986, Apple introduced the new AppleIIGS, bundled with an Apple 3.5 drive, for $999 (not including a monitor). The AppleII community was excited about the new computer, and inCider magazine featured a exuberant Steve Wozniak on the cover of its October 1986 issue with the caption, "It's Amazing!"
Apple, for its part, did do some advertising for the new computer in the pages of current AppleII publications of the time. However, there was no major push for the new computer, and again it seemed destined to be dwarfed by Apple's preoccupation with the Macintosh.
Though announced in September, the IIGS was not widely available until November. Early production models of the IIGS had some problems; one of the new chips did not work properly, and necessary changes to fix them caused a delay. The upgrade that would turn an AppleIIe into a IIGS was also delayed until early 1987.<5>
THE APPLE IIGS: ENHANCEMENTS
In September 1987 Apple made an incremental improvement to the IIGS with the release of a new ROM. The ROM 01 revision made a few changes in the original IIGS ROMs and included an improved video controller chip. Bugs in the ROM code were fixed, and a problem with a "pink fringe" effect with certain graphics displays was fixed. The new ROMs were not compatible with any IIGS System Disks earlier than version 2.0. The new ROM was identified by a message at the bottom of the screen when booting the IIGS that said "ROM Version 01". The original IIGS had no message in this location.<6>
The next change came with the release of the ROM 03 version of the IIGS in August of 1989. This new IIGS computer came standard with 1 meg of RAM on the motherboard, and twice as much ROM (256K versus 128K on the older IIGS). This allowed more of the operating system to be in ROM, rather than having to be loaded from disk when booting. Additionally, fixes were made to known bugs in the ROM 01 firmware. (The latest version of the IIGS system software made patches to ROM 01 to fix those bugs, but these patches still had to be loaded from disk, which slowed startup time. Having the latest new tools and fixed new ones already in ROM made booting the version 03 IIGS a bit quicker). The new AppleIIGS also had the capability of using both the internal slot firmware as well as using a peripheral card plugged into a slot. The ROM 01 IIGS could, of course, use cards plugged into the slots, but only at the expense of being unable to use the internal firmware for that slot. With so much useful system firmware built-in, a ROM 01 user who wanted, for example, to add a controller card for a hard disk would have to give up either AppleTalk in slot 7 or use of 5.25 disks in slot 6. Almost everything else had to be set in the control panel to the internal firmware.
The ROM 03 IIGS also included enhancements for disabled users. A feature called "sticky keys" made it possible to do multiple keypresses. (To execute an "Option-Control-X" sequence, for example, required pressing three keys at once. This was something that a paralyzed user with a mouth-stick to press keys could not previously do). Also, more things that had required a mouse now had keyboard equivalents (using the keypad). The new IIGS also had somewhat "cleaner" sound and graphics. However, because the improvements made were minimal compared to the cost of providing upgrades to previous owners, no upgrade program was announced by Apple. In any case, many of the new features could be obtained on older IIGS's by upgrading the memory to at least one megabyte and using GS/OS System Software 5.0.2 or greater.<7>
A feature that was added to the ROM 03 firmware that was entirely fun, instead of functional, was accessed by a specific key-sequence. If the computer was booted with no disk in the drive, a message that said "Check startup device" appeared, with an apple symbol sliding back and forth. At that point, if the user pressed the keys "Ctrl", "Open Apple", "Option", and "N" simultaneously, the digitized voices of the AppleIIGS design team could be heard shouting "AppleII!" Also, the names of those people would be displayed on the screen. If running GS/OS System 5.0 or greater, the user would have to hold down the "Option" and "Shift" keys, then pull down the "About" menu in the Finder. It would then say "About the System". Using the mouse to click on that title would cause the names to be displayed and the audio message to be heard.
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NEXT INSTALLMENT: Peripherals & the Apple II Abroad
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NOTES
<1> Duprau, Jeanne, and Tyson, Molly. "The Making Of The Apple IIGS", A+ MAGAZINE, Nov 1986, pp. 57-74.
<2> Pinella, Paul. "In The Beginning: An Interview With Harvey Lehtman", APPLE IIGS: GRAPHICS AND SOUND, Fall/Winter 1986, pp. 38-44.
<3> Hogan, Thom. "Apple: The First Ten Years", A+ MAGAZINE, Jan 1987, p. 45.
<4> Szetela, David. "The New II", NIBBLE, Oct 1986, pp. 5-6.
<5> Weishaar, Tom. "Miscellanea", OPEN-APPLE, Nov 1986, p. 2.74.
<6> Platt, Robert, and Field, Bruce. "A.P.P.L.E. Doctor", CALL-A.P.P.L.E., Nov 1987, p. 58.
<7> Doms, Dennis. "Apple upgrades IIGS hardware", OPEN-APPLE, Sep 1989, p. 5.57.

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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1992, Zonker Software
(PART 12 -- PERIPHERALS & THE APPLE II ABROAD)
[v1.1 :: 11 Jul 92]
THE APPLE II ABROAD
Early on, Apple got involved in selling the AppleII in Europe and the Far East. To function in those parts of the world called for a change to handle a different voltage (240V instead of the 120V we use in the U.S.). Also, the language differences had to be overcome. It was easiest in Europe where, for the most part, the standard Roman alphabet was used. The primary differences were in symbols used together with letters for certain specific uses. Apple's Europlus][ had a modified ROM, and certain ESC key sequences could generate the German umlaut symbol to go with certain vowels.<1>
When the IIe was released there were some other differences. The German version was built with a an external switch below the keyboard, allowing the user to change between a standard U.S. layout and a German layout. (American versions of the IIe lacked the switch, but had a place on the motherboard that could be modified to allow a Dvorak keyboard layout to be switched in instead of the standard keyboard). The IIe auxiliary slot, which was placed in line with the old slot 0 on American versions (but moved forward on the motherboard) was placed in front of slot 3 on German versions. This was because the European AppleIIe's also had added circuitry to follow the PAL protocol for video output used for televisions and computer monitors in Europe (in the U.S. the NTSC protocol is followed). Because of the extra space needed on the IIe motherboard for the PAL circuits, the auxiliary slot had to be moved to be in line with slot 3. Because the 80-column firmware was mapped to slot 3, if an 80-column card was installed in the auxiliary slot it was not possible to use any other card in slot 3. Versions of the IIe made for other European countries had similar modifications to account for regional differences.<1>,<2>
When the AppleIIc came along, it was designed from the start to take the foreign market into account. If you recall, the U.S. version of the IIc had a standard layout when the keyboard switch was up, and a Dvorak layout when the switch was down. European versions were similar to the American layout with the switch up, and had regional versions that could be swapped in with the switch down. The British version only substituted the British pound sign for the American pound sign on the "3" key, but the French, German, Italian, and Spanish versions had several different symbols available. A Canadian version of the IIc was the same as the American with the switch up, and had some other special symbols with the switch down. This version was unique because each keycap had the symbols for both switched versions. For example, the "3" key had the "3" and "#" symbols, plus the British pound symbol, making it a bit more crowded than a typical keycap.
The AppleIIGS continued the practice of making international versions available, but improved on the design by making the various keyboard layouts all built-in. On the IIGS it was selectable via the control panel, as was the screen display of the special characters for each type of keyboard.
APPLE II PERIPHERALS
Moving on, we will now take a look at hardware items that extend the capability of the AppleII. The ability to add an external hardware device to a computer has been there from the earliest days of the first Altair to the present. In fact, the success of a computer has inevitably led to hackers designing something to make it do things it couldn't do before. The more popular the computer, the more variety you will find in hardware add-ons. The AppleII, designed by a hacker to be as expandable as possible, was once a leader as a platform for launching new and unique hardware gadgets. Today, in 1991, the AppleII unfortunately no longer holds the front position; it has been supplanted by the Macintosh and IBM crowd. However, the AppleII still benefits from the "trickle-down" of some of the best new devices from other computers (SCSI disk devices and hand scanners, for example). This is due partly to emerging standards that make it easier to design a single hardware device that will work on multiple computers, and in the case of the Macintosh, because of Apple's decision to make peripherals somewhat compatible between the two computer lines.
Trying to sort out all the peripheral devices ever designed for the AppleII series of computers into a sensible order is not easy. In this segment of the AppleII History I'll try to give an overview of hardware devices that were either significant in the advancement of the II, or unique, one-of-a-kind devices. Obviously, this cannot be a comprehensive list; I am limited to those peripherals about which I can find information or have had personal experience.
WHAT IS A PERIPHERAL?
A basic definition of a peripheral would be, "Something attached to a computer that makes it possible to do more than it could previously do." It is called a "peripheral" because it usually is connected to the computer after it leaves the factory. An argument could be made that something built-in is not a peripheral, but as things have changed over time there are some devices still called "peripherals" from force of habit, though they are now built-in (hard disks come to mind). Quite probably, in time manydevices that were once considered optional accessories will become so essential that they will always be built-in.
Recall that the earliest computers came with almost nothing built-in. They had a microprocessor, a little memory, some means of data input and display of results, the ability to access some or all of the signals from the microprocessor, and that was all. For those computers, the first things that users added were keyboards and TV monitors to make it easier to use them. Recognizing that the earliest hardware peripherals were keyboards and monitors highlights one fact: Nearly everything that is sold as a peripheral for a computer is either an input device, and output device, or an interface to make it possible to connect input and output devices. Exceptions are cards to add memory, co-processor cards to allow it to run software from another computer, and accelerators to make the computer run faster.
EARLY PERIPHERALS
When we come to the release of the first AppleII, two important "peripherals" were built-in: A keyboard, and the circuitry to allow easy connection of a TV monitor. It had, of course, the slots for inserting expansion cards (none were available), a game port (for attaching the game paddles that were included), a pin that could be used to connect an RF modulator (so a standard television could be used instead of a computer monitor), and a cassette interface. Since there were no cards available to plug into the slots, you would imagine that the AppleII couldn't make use of any other hardware. However, those early users who had a need usually found a way around these limits.
To get a printed copy of a program listing, for example, was no trivial matter. First, there were very few printers available. Those who could, obtained old used teletypes salvaged from mainframe computers. These noisy, massive clunkers often had no lowercase letters (not a big problem, since the AppleII didn't have it either), and printed at the blazing speed of 10 cps (characters per second). To use these printers when there were yet no printer interface cards to make it easy to connect, hackers used a teletype driver written by Wozniak and distributed in the original AppleII Reference Manual (the "red book"). This driver sent characters to the printer through a connection to the game paddle port. One part of being a hacker, you can see, is improvising with what you have.<3>
Another of the earliest devices designed for the AppleII came from Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.). They were involved in distributing Integer BASIC programs on cassette to members of the group. To make it easier to send those programs to the person responsible for duplicating the cassette, Darrell Aldrich designed a means of sending the programs over the telephone lines. There were no modems available at the time, so his "Apple Box" was attached to the phone line with alligator clips and then plugged into the cassette port on the AppleII. To send a program, you first called up the person who was to receive it and got the computers on each end connected to the Apple Box. The sender then used the SAVE command in BASIC to tell the computer to save a program to tape. In actuality, the program was being "saved" through the cassette "out" port to the Apple Box, and onto the phone line connected. At the other end of that phone line, the data went into the other Apple Box, which was connected to the cassette "in" port on the other AppleII. That computer was executing the LOAD command in BASIC to "load" the program from the Apple Box. A.P.P.L.E. sold about twenty of these Apple Boxes at $10 apiece.<3>
INTERFACE CARDS
One of the first interface cards made for the AppleII was released, naturally, by Apple. The AppleII Parallel Interface Card was released in 1977 and sold for $180.<4> Wozniak wrote the firmware ROM, and managed to make it fit entirely in only 256 bytes. As a parallel device, it used eight wires to connect the computer with a printer, one line for each data bit in a byte. Various parallel devices also used one or more extra wires as control lines, including a "busy" line (so the receiving device could tell the sending device to stop until it was ready for more), and a "ready" line (so the receiving device could tell the sending device to resume transmission). Because each of the eight bits needed a separate wire, the cables for parallel devices looked like ribbons and were not very compact. Most of the early printers available required this type of interface.<5> A problem noticed with Apple's card, however, was an inability to properly handle these "busy" and "ready" signals (a process known as "handshaking"). One solution offered by a reader of Call-A.P.P.L.E. magazine in 1979 was to add a couple of chips to the card. If that was not done, however, the only way to do printouts that were very long was to either buy a 2K print buffer that could be used with some early printers, or use the "SPEED=" statement in Applesoft to slow down the speed at which data was sent to the printer.<6>,<7>
Apple released the Centronics parallel printer card in 1978. Selling for $225, it was specifically designed to work with Centronics brand printers.<4> It was similar to the Parallel Printer Interface, but had fewer control codes. The "Centronics standard" used seven data bits and three handshaking bits.<8> It would automatically send certain control codes to the printer when a program sent the proper command (such as a change in line width). As such, it was limited to properly working only with a Centronics printer, but many companies made printers that used the same control codes and would work with it.<5>
In April 1978 the AppleII Communications Card came out, selling for $225.<4> It was intended for use with a modem, and worked for speeds from 110 to 300 baud. The low speed (by today's standards) was for several reasons. One was that most modems of the time were acoustic. With an acoustic modem you dialed up the number yourself, and when you made a connection you put the handset (that's the part you talk and listen with, for you non-technical folks) into rubber sockets to seal out extraneous sound. A tiny speaker and microphone in the modem were then used to send and receive signals. This leads to a second reason for the low speeds of the time, which was that greater than 300 baud communications was not considered possible. In fact, the Phone Company was quite certain that speeds over 300 baud were not possible with any modem, although they would be glad to lease you a special data-quality phone line so you could get the best possible connection at 300 baud.
The AppleII Serial Interface Card ($195) appeared in August of 1978.<4> Serial devices required fewer data transmission lines, and so could work with more compact cables. Instead of sending each byte as eight simultaneous bits as was done in parallel devices, serial interfaces send each byte as a series of eight bits, which only took two wires; one to send and one to receive data. Like the parallel cards, there were a couple of other wires that went with the data lines to control handshaking. Also, serial cards needed a means of letting the sending and receiving devices identify when a byte began and ended, and the speed at which data was being transmitted. This meant that some additional information, such as "start" bits, "stop" bits, and "parity" bits, was needed.
The original version of the Serial Interface Card had a ROM that was called the P8 ROM. It contained the on-card program that allowed a user to print or otherwise communicate with the card without having to know much on the hardware level. The P8 ROM didn't support handshaking that used two ASCII control characters named ETX (Control-C) and ACK (Control-F), so a later revision called the P8A ROM was released. (ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange). This worked better with some printers, but unfortunately the P8A ROM was not compatible with some serial printers that had worked with the earlier P8 ROM.
The Apple Super Serial Card firmware was finished in January 1981. It was called "super" because it replaced both the older Serial Interface Card and the Communications Card. To change from one type of mode to another, however, called for switching a block on the card from one position to another (from printer position to modem position). The Super Serial Card was also able to emulate both the P8 and P8A Serial Cards, making it compatible with most older software written specifically for those cards.<9>
VIDEO CARDS
After getting a printer interface card (and printer), the next variety of peripheral cards popular for the AppleII and IIPlus were ones that allowed display of 80 columns of text (which was rapidly becoming a standard outside the AppleII world). An early entry into this market was the Sup'R'Terminal card made by M&R Enterprises, the same company that made the Sup'R'Mod RF modulator for the AppleII. One of the most popular of the 80-column cards was the Videx Videoterm. Videx even made a display card that would display 132 columns card for the AppleII, but it never made much headway in the computer world (being supplanted by bit-mapped graphics displays, ala Macintosh).<3>
Many other companies made 80-column cards, but for the most part they were not very compatible with each other. One problem was deciding on a method to place the characters on the 80-column screen. With the standard Apple 40-column display, you could use either the standard routines in the Monitor, or directly "poke" characters to the screen. With these 80-column cards, they often used a standard from the non-Apple world, that of using special character sequences to indicate a screen position or other functions. For example, to put a character at row 12, column 2, a program needed to send an ESC, followed by a letter, followed by 12 and 02. Similar ESC sequences were used to clear the screen, scroll it up or down, or do other things that Apple's built-in screen routines could do.
When the AppleIIe was released, with its RAM-based method of displaying 80 columns of text, nearly all the older 80-column cards disappeared from the market. As of 1991, only Applied Engineering still makes one for those remaining II and IIPlus users that don't yet have an 80-column display.
One unique video product was made by Synetix, Inc. around 1983. Their SuperSprite board plugged into slot 7 (which had access to some video signals not available on other slots), and was promoted as a graphics enhancement system. It worked by overlaying the hi-res screen with animated "sprite" graphics (programmable characters that moved independently on any screen background). Since each sprite was on its own "plane" on the screen, they didn't interfere with each other. Also, it didn't take extra effort bythe 6502 microprocessor to manipulate the sprites; once the programmer placed the sprite on the screen and started it moving, it would continue until told to change. This was much easier than trying to program a hi-res game using standard Apple graphics. Unfortunately, at the price of $395 it never took off. (It was hard for developers to justify writing programs for only a few users that might have this card). Another company later made a similar card called the StarSprite, but it suffered the same fate. Even Apple's own double hi-res graphics, introduced on the IIe, had the same problem with a small supply of supporting software until the IIc and IIGS market got large enough to guarantee that enough owners had the capability of displaying double hi-res.<10>
ROM/RAM EXPANSION CARDS
All peripheral cards released for the AppleII up to the time of the AppleIIPlus were usable only in slots 1 through 7. Slot 0 was designed differently, and until the release of the Applesoft Firmware Card ($200) in 1979 nothing had been built to make use of it. The Firmware Card contained ROM that paralleled the upper 12K of AppleII memory. If you recall from the discussion in Part 3 of this History, Integer BASIC and the ROM version of Applesoft covered the same space in memory, and so could not co-exist. When it was clear that a floating-point BASIC (Applesoft) was what many people wanted, the IIPlus came out with Applesoft in ROM. To make sure that the previous AppleII owners were not left out, Apple released the Applesoft Firmware Card to plug into slot 0. It had a switch that allowed the user to select which BASIC should be active. In one position, the motherboard ROM would be selected, and in the other position the Applesoft and Autostart ROM was selected. Because there were quite a few Integer BASIC programs that AppleIIPlus users wanted to run, the Firmware Card also came out in an Integer BASIC version with the old Monitor ROM, that allowed IIPlus users to simulate owning a standard II.<4>
One of the benefits of the Integer BASIC ROM was the lack of something known as a "RESET vector" in the Autostart ROM. The Autostart Monitor was called that because it would automatically try to boot the DiskII drive when the power was turned on, and jumped to a known memory location when the RESET key was pressed. This allowed the disk operating system to reconnect itself, but more importantly made it possible to create copy-protected software. Since the Autostart ROM made it possible for a programmer to do something on RESET that prevented a user from examining his program, it was popular with companies producing programs that they didn't want copied and freely given away. Usually, a RESET on a protected program would restart the program, erase the program from memory, or re-boot the disk. The Integer BASIC and Old Monitor ROM lacked this feature; a RESET would just drop the user into the Monitor. This, of course, was just what hackers and those who liked to break copy-protection wanted. The users with non-Plus AppleII's or with the Integer BASIC Firmware Card on a IIPlus could prevent a RESET from restarting anything, allowing them to hack a program as much as they wanted.
The next card Apple released for slot 0 was called the Language Card. It was released in 1979 with Pascal, and expanded a 48K AppleII into a full 64K memory computer. It did not remove the upper 16K of ROM, but the card contained 16K of RAM that was electronically parallel to the ROM. Using "soft switches" (recall that these are memory locations that, when read or written to, caused something internally to change) one could switch out the ROM and switch in RAM memory. This extra memory was used to load the Pascal disk system, and under DOS 3.2 and 3.3, to load into RAM the version of BASIC that was not in the ROM. This was a more flexible alternative to the Firmware Card, and opened the way to other languages beyond BASIC for AppleII users.
Since the only way to get Apple's Language Card was to buy the entire Pascal system ($495), it was too expensive for many users. Other companies eventually came out with similar cards that did not require purchasing Pascal, and some of them designed the cards with more "banks" of memory, making 256K or more of extra memory available. Saturn Systems was one early suppliers of the large RAM cards. Typically, each 16K bank on the card would be switched in to the same memory space occupied by the Language Card RAM through the use of a special softswitch.<11>
CO-PROCESSORS
Although it did not go into slot 0, another significant card for the AppleII was the Microsoft Z-80 Softcard, which sold for around $300. It was a co-processor card, allowing the AppleII to run software written for the Z-80 microprocessor. The most popular operating system for the Z-80/8080 processors was the CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers) system. Although the DiskII use a different method of recording data than was used by Z-80 computers, AppleII users managed to get programs such as the WordStar word processor transferred to the Apple CP/M system. Microsoft worked to make it compatible with the 80-column cards that were coming out at the time, since most CP/M software expected a screen of that size.<3>,<12>
After the arrival of the IBM Personal Computer and its wide acceptance by the business world, there was interest in a co-processor for the AppleII that would run IBM software. A company called Rana, which had been producing disk drives for the AppleII for several years, came out with the Rana 8086/2 sometime in 1984. This was a system that plugged into slots on a IIPlus or IIe, and would allow the user to run programs written for the IBM PC. It would also read disks formatted for that computer (which also used a completely different data recording system than the one used by the AppleII). One Rana owner, John Russ, wrote to A2-Central (then called Open-Apple) to tell of his experience with it: "We also have one of the Rana 8086/2 boxes, with two [Rana] Elite II compatible drives and a more-or-less (mostly less) IBM-PC compatible computer inside it. Nice idea. Terrible execution. The drives are half-high instead of the full height drives used in the normal Elite II, and are very unreliable for reading or writing in either the Apple or IBM format... And this product again shows that Rana has no knowledgeable technical folks (or they lock them up very well). We have identified several fatal incompatibilities with IBM programs, such as the system crashing totally if any attempt to generate any sound (even a beep) occurs in a program, or if inverse characters are sent to the display... The response from Rana has been no response at all, except that we can return the system if we want to. Curious attitude for a company, isn't it?"<13> By August 1985 Rana was trying to reorganize under Chapter 11, and the product was never upgraded or fixed.
A co-processor called the ALF 8088 had limited distribution. It worked with the CPM86 operating system (a predecessor to MS-DOS) was used by some newer computers just before the release of the IBM PC.<14>
Even the Motorola 68000 processor used in the Macintosh came as a co-processor for the AppleII. The Gnome Card worked on the IIPlus and IIe, but like other 68000 cards for the II, it didn't make a major impact, with the exception of those who wanted to do cross development (create programs for a computer using a microprocessor other than the one you are using).
The most successful device in this category was the PC Transporter, produced by Applied Engineering. It was originally designed by a company in the San Jose area called The Engineering Department (TED). The founder was Wendell Sanders, a hardware engineer who formerly had worked at Apple and was involved in the design of the Apple III and parts of the SWIM chip (Super Wozniak Integrated Machine) used in the IIc and IIGS. Around 1986 Applied Engineering began discussions with TED about buying the PC Transporter to sell and market it. At that time, the board was about four times the size it eventually became. AE's people were able to shrink a lot of the components down to just a few custom ASIC chips. The software that helped manage the board originally came from TED also.<15> It was finally released in November 1987, and included a card that plugged into any of the motherboard slots (except slot 3) and one or more IBM-style disk drives. The PC Transporter used an 8086 processor and ran about three times as fast as the original IBM PC. It used its own RAM memory, up to a maximum of 768K, which could be used as a RAMdisk by ProDOS (when not in PC-mode). It used some of the main Apple memory for the interface code that lets the PC Transporter communicate with the hardware.
The PC Transporter has undergone some minor hardware changes and several sets of software changes (mostly bug fixes but a few new features). The major reasons for hardware changes came about because of the availability of cheaper RAM (the original RAM was quite expensive and difficult to obtain). Additionally, changes were made to make the onboard "ROM" software-based, which made it easier to distribute system upgrades that enhanced hardware performance.<16>,<17>,<18> The major limitation for this product has been a reluctance by Applied Engineering to match the changes that have happened in the MS-DOS world and come out with a version of the Transporter that used a more advanced microprocessor (80286, 386, or 486). As of 1991 this is slowly beginning to become more of a limitation for those who wish to use both MS-DOS and AppleII software on the same AppleII computer, since advanced software needing those more powerful processors is beginning to be released for MS-DOS.
ACCELERATORS
The two things that all computer users eventually need (or at least want) are more storage and faster speed. The 1 MHz speed of the 6502 and 65c02 chips is somewhat deceiving, when compared with computers that have processors running at a speed of 20 to 40 MHz. To put things into perspective: Since the 6502 does more than one thing with a single cycle of the clock on the microprocessor, a 1 MHz 6502 is equivalent to a 4 MHz 8086 chip. Therefore, an AppleII with an accelerator board or chip running at 8 MHz is equivalent to an MS-DOS computer running at 32 MHz.
One of the first accelerators for the AppleII was the SpeedDemon, made by MCT. This board used a faster 65c02 chip, with some high-speed internal memory that was used to actually execute the programs (since the internal AppleII memory chips were not fast enough). In essence, it put a second AppleII inside the one you could see, using the original one for input and output. Another speedup board was the Accelerator IIe by Titan Technologies (formerly Saturn Systems; they had to change their name because it was already in use by someone else). This board worked in a similar fashion to the SpeedDemon. Some users felt this product ran faster than the SpeedDemon, but it depended on the application being tested. Both boards were attached to the computer by plugging them into a slot other than slot 0 on the motherboard.
In 1986 Applied Engineering introduced the TransWarp accelerator board. This product has lasted in the marketplace longer than any of the other ones, possibly because AE did far more advertising than the companies producing the older boards. The TransWarp did the acceleration using a different method. Instead of trying to duplicate all of the AppleII RAM within the accelerator, they used a cache. (If you recall from the segment on hard disk drives, a cache is a piece of memory holding frequently accessed information). Because they used the cache, the TransWarp did not require any high-speed RAM on the motherboard. Instead, any memory access was also stored in the cache RAM, which was high-speed RAM. The next time a byte was requested from RAM, the accelerator looked first into the cache memory to see if it was there. If so, it took it (far more quickly) from there; if not, it got it from motherboard RAM and put it into the cache. Early TransWarp boards ran at 2.5 MHz; later versions pushed this speed to 7 MHz (this was the top speed used by the TransWarp GS, released in November 1988 for the AppleIIGS).
The next step in accelerator technology was to put all the components of an accelerator board into a single chip. This happened when two rivals, the Zip Chip and the Rocket Chip, were released. The Zip Chip was introduced at AppleFest in May 1988, and the Rocket Chip soon after. Running at 4 MHz, the Zip Chip was a direct replacement for the 6502 or 65c02 on the AppleII motherboard. It contained its caching RAM within the housing for the processor, the difference being mostly in height (or thickness) of the integrated circuit. Installing it was a bit more tricky than simply putting a board into a slot; the 6502 had to be removed from the motherboard with a chip puller, and the Zip Chip installed (in the correct orientation) in its place. Software to control the speed of the chip was included, and allowed about ten different speeds, including the standard 1 MHz speed (some games simply were too fast to play at 4 MHz, and software that depended on timing loops to produce music had to be slowed down to sound right). The controlling software also let the user determine which (if any) of the peripheral cards should be accelerated. Disk controller cards, since they used tight timing loops to read and write data, usually could not be accelerated, where many serial and parallel printer and modem cards would work at the faster speed. The Zip Chip even allowed the user to decide whether to run all sound at standard speed or at the fast speed.
The Rocket Chip, made by Bits And Pieces Technologies, was almost exactly the same as the Zip Chip, with a few minor exceptions. It was sold with the ability to run programs at 5 MHz, and could be slowed down below the 1 MHz speed (down to 0.05 MHz). Later, when Zip came out with an 8 MHz version of their Zip chip, a 10 MHz Rocket Chip was introduced.
The rivalry between Zip Technologies and Bits And Pieces Technologies came from a mutual blaming of theft of technical information. The Bits & Pieces people insisted that they had done the original work on a single chip accelerator with the Zip people, but had all the plans and specifications taken away without their permission. Consequently, they had to form their own company and start from scratch to design their own chip. Zip, on the other hand, insisted that Bits & Pieces had stolen the technology from them. The problem eventually came to court, and it was decided that Zip Technologies was the originator of the technique and the Rocket Chip had to stop production.
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NEXT INSTALLMENT: Peripherals, cont.
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NOTES
<1> Huth, Udo. (personal mail), GEnie, E-mail, Mar 1991.
<2> Spring, Michael. "Write-A.P.P.L.E.", Call-A.P.P.L.E., Apr 1984, pp. 49-50.
<3> -----. "A.P.P.L.E. Co-op Celebrates A Decade of Service", Call-A.P.P.L.E., Feb 1988, pp. 12-27.
<4> Peterson, Craig. The Computer Store, Santa Monica, CA, Store Information And Prices, Aug 10, 1979, p. 1.
<5> Bernsten, Jeff. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Apr 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<6> Lewellen, Tom. "Integral Data/Parallel Card Fix", PEEKing At Call-A.P.P.L.E., Vol 2, 1979, p. 113.
<7> Golding, Val J. "Integral Data IP 225 Printer - A Review", PEEKing At Call-A.P.P.L.E., Vol 2, 1979, p. 151.
<8> Wright, Loren. "On Buying A Printer", Micro, Aug 1981, pp. 33-35.
<9> Weishaar, Tom. "Control-I(nterface) S(tandards)", Open-Apple, Oct 1987, pp. 3.65.
<10> -----. "Tomorrow's Apples Today", Call-A.P.P.L.E., Oct 1983, p. 71.
<11> Weishaar, Tom. "A Concise Look At Apple II RAM", Open-Apple, Dec 1986, p. 2.81.
<12> -----. (ads), Call-A.P.P.L.E. In Depth #1, 1981, p. 106.
<13> Weishaar, Tom. "Ask Uncle DOS", Open-Apple, Apr 1985, p. 1.32.
<14> Davidson, Keith. "The ALF 8088 Co-Processor", Call-A.P.P.L.E., Feb 1984, p. 54.
<15> Holcomb, Jeff. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Mar 1992, Category 11, Topic 7.
<16> Utter, Gary. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Dec 1991, Category 14, Topic 12.
<17> McKay, Hugh. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Dec 1991, Category 14, Topic 12.
<18> Jones, Jay. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Dec 1991, Category 14, Topic 12.

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APPLE II HISTORY
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Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1991, Zonker Software
(PART 13 -- PERIPHERALS, CONT.)
[v1.0 :: 31 Dec 91]
MODEMS
A modem is a unique peripheral device, because it makes use of two-way communication (both sending and receiving data to and from the computer). After the Apple Box sold by A.P.P.L.E., one of the first commercial modems available for the AppleII was the MicromodemII, made by D.C. Hayes in 1979. It sold for $379, and worked at the standard transmission speeds of the day, 110 and 300 baud. The Micromodem was also available for the S-100 (Altair) series of computers. Hayes' product was so popular that their command set has become a standard for modems as they have advanced over the years.
By the mid-1980's Apple released two modems with their own name on them: The Apple Personal Modem 300 and Personal Modem 1200. Both were external modems, using a direct connection to the phone line (instead of the older acoustic coupler), but were more expensive than similar products of the time. By the later 1980's they were no longer in production.
INPUT DEVICES
The number one input device for the AppleII was, of course, the keyboard. There were expanded keyboards available for the II and IIPlus, bypassing the uppercase-only limit. There was once even a keyboard that had plug-in modules that would redefine specialized function keys to make them specific for different programs. Another company sold pressure sensitive pads that were attached to the AppleII keyboard above the top row and could be programmed to generate series of keypresses. The original IIe had a socket for the addition of an external numeric keypad, and the IIGS and later versions of the IIe had this keypad built-in. Because of the detached keyboard in the IIGS it was possible to select between a couple of different versions of keyboards offered by Apple |as well as from some third party companies.
The next most commonly used input device after the keyboard was the set of game paddles included with every II and IIPlus. But some users needed more specialized ways to input data to the computer. A large number of interesting input devices were made available through the years; here follows a brief description of some of them.
Creating pictures on the hi-res graphics screen has always been a challenge, from 1977 until today. Using the game paddles or a joystick is one method that could be used, but there is some difficulty in getting accurate lines and curves. Apple addressed this problem when they released the Apple Graphics Tablet in the late 1970's, which sold for about $650. This was a large flat surface, about thirty inches square, with a grid printed on the surface. Using a stylus attached to a wire leading to the tablet, and appropriate software, this could be used to draw pictures on the AppleII hi-res screen. There were two different releases of the Apple Graphics Tablet. The original one, which was released when the IIPlus was the latest machine, was discontinued by FCC order because of RFI (radio frequency interference) problems. The second version, to correct that problem, was released after the IIe was in production. It used two DB-9 connectors to install on the backplate of the computer, leading to the peripheral card plugged into a slot inside. (These DB-9 connectors are the same type used on the back of the IIc and IIGS for connection of a joystick). Currently the Apple Graphics Tablet is not in production.<1>
Koala Technologies has made several input devices over the years. Their first product was the Koala Pad. Released in 1983 and selling originally for $125, this was a small graphics pad (about 8x6 inches) that plugged into the game I/O socket. It was compatible with any software that used a joystick. Using a finger or the supplied stylus, a user could draw on the pad and produce pictures on the hi-res screen with the supplied software or with some other software packages.
In November 1984 Koala released Muppet Learning Keys for $79.95. This was a device to aid preschoolers in using a computer. It was intended to help children ages three and over to learn letters, numbers, and colors, using the Muppets from Sesame Street as a learning aid. The unit used various contact surfaces to send user responses to the computer, and it attached to the AppleII via the game I/O port.<2>
The Gipson Light Pen System was also sold by Koala Technologies in 1985 for $350. Using a card in slot 7, this device used a special pen that allowed drawing directly on the computer's monitor screen.
Other devices have been released to aid in graphics manipulation on the AppleII. The Computer Colorworks released the Digital Paintbrush System in 1984 for $299. It worked on either the IIPlus or IIe, and used a stylus attached by two thin dacron lines to potentiometers within the tablet, which tracked the position of the stylus. Movements of the stylus (tracing over a picture) were translated into drawings on the hi-res screen. The software included allowed creation of curves and lines, and used Fontrix fonts for lettering. (Fontrix was a program that could produce detailed hi-res graphics pictures, and had many characters styles, or fonts, available to label those pictures). A unique feature of the Digital Paintbrush was the ability to connect two computers using the system via a modem and phone line and allow both users to draw pictures that would appear on both computers simultaneously.<3>
The input device that made the most inroads in the AppleII world was the one that was so unique to the Macintosh: The AppleMouseII. It was released in May 1984 with a program called MousePaint (similar to the MacPaint program that came with the original Macintosh). The AppleMouse came with a peripheral card to plug into a slot on the IIe or IIPlus; on the IIc it just plugged into the joystick port and the built-in hardware and firmware could handle control of the mouse. MousePaint used the standard hi-res graphics screen and worked only under the ProDOS operating system, but generallygave AppleII users the capability of doing graphics in the same way as Macintosh users had been enjoying, as well as making it possible to design programs that used the mouse as a pointing and input control device.
ComputerEyes was a video acquisition system that came out in July 1984. It allowed use of a video camera to capture images and store them on the hi-res graphics page. It was a slow-scan device that attached to the Apple game I/O socket, and produced black-and-white images in about five seconds. It worked on any AppleII with 48K, Applesoft, and DOS 3.3. Made by Digital Vision, Inc., it originally sold for $129.95 ($349.95 including the video camera).<4>
MUSIC AND VOICE SYNTHESIS
AppleII's have been involved in sound from the beginning, with the inclusion by Steve Wozniak of a speaker so he could make sounds for an AppleII version of "Breakout". As simple as it was, some enterprising programmers have even managed to make this single-voice speaker sound like two and even three different voices (tones) simultaneously ("Electronic Duet" comes to mind). But that was not enough for those who wanted to have better quality music production, and so production of synthesizer cards was in full swing by the early 1980's. Some of those cards included the following:
ALF Music Card (ALF Products, Inc.) was strictly a music synthesizer, with some included software to aid in producing the music. The Mountain Music System (Mountain Computer, Inc.) was a more advanced sixteen oscillator (voice) digital synthesizer, also with software to control it. Soundchaser System (Passport Designs, Inc.) was a package that included the Mountain Music System (using slots 4 and 5), plus the Soundchaser, which was a piano-style keyboard for music input, whose card went in slot 7. It allowed four track recording and sound manipulation, using the AppleII primarily as a controller. This was probably the most advanced music hardware system available in the days before the release of the IIGS.
The Drum-Key (made by PVI) was specifically a percussion synthesizer. It required an external amplifier and used included software to produce a wide variety of drum and other percussion sounds.<5>
Beginning in the late 1970's there were several speech synthesizers available for the Apple and other home computers. One brand was the TextTalker, and another (made by Mountain Hardware for $279) was the Supertalker. In the 1980's two other popular brands were the EchoII (slot-based) and Cricket (for the modem port on the IIc) synthesizers, made by Street Electronics. These latter also included the ability to product other sound effects, and some games released at the time had enhanced sound output when the presence of those two devices was detected. For speech reproduction, these devices usually used a method of accepting ASCII text from the computer in the form of "phonemes" to describe and produce voice through a built-in speaker. The phonemes were needed because English words have a variety of pronunciation depending on the context in which they are used. Properly programmed, the voice synthesizers could pronounce the word "root" to rhyme with either "boot" or "foot". It wasn't until the IIGS came out with the built-in capability of speech reproduction (via the Ensoniq chip) that software making use of that feature became available in any quantity.
ROBOTS AND DEVICE CONTROL
Although used primarily for education purposes, there were at least two robotic devices made to work with the AppleII. TOPO (made by Androbot, Inc.), and the Tasman Turtle ($1000, with a smaller version called the Tot for $300) were in use during the mid-1980's. Both used the Logo language to control movement of the robot on the floor. Logo has a graphics command set called "turtle" graphics to simplify the concept for children. A small triangle on the hi-res screen was called a "turtle", and it could be given software commands to move forward, turn, draw, or move without drawing. When TOPO or the Tasman Turtle were connected to an AppleII, the Logo language could be configured to send the same turtle graphics commands to the physical "turtle" robot on the floor. This gave students a concrete example of what their logo programs would do in "drawing" a graphics picture.
Education is not the only place where robotics has been used in an AppleII. Because of peripheral boards called "A/D Converters" (analog/digital converters), it is possible to take information from (for example) a wind speed sensor and convert it into digital information. A computer program can then take this information and send a command signal back to another device (perhaps to activate a motor that raises and lowers a cloth deck cover, depending on how windy it is). Although not a "robot" in the sense that people usually view robots, a computer-controlled device of any kind is, strictly speaking, a robot. This is the concept used in the popular X-10 system used in home control. (The Introl/X-10 made by Mountain Hardware for $279 was one of the first available for the AppleII). This protocol for controlling electric devices in a home has been used for years, and programs exist for the AppleII series (including the IIc) that allow easier programming of the X-10 devices, ranging from security systems to light timers to lawn sprinkler systems.
MISCELLANEOUS HARDWARE
Here follows a short list of some other items that could be found for sale in a typical issue of an Apple computer magazine in the early 1980's:
Larger capacity disk drives were made by Lobo Drives, including an 8 inch floppy drive and other various higher density floppy disks.<6>
Hard disks, such as those made by Corvus Systems. You could get a massive 10 MB for only $5,350 (well, it was massive compared to the 143K DOS 3.3 floppy disks).
Clocks, such as the Apple Clock made by Mountain Hardware, for $199. A clock made it possible to time and date stamp files, and identify which version of a file was the most recent.
RESET Key Protector, which prevented accidental RESET on early AppleII's, was available for only $3.25 from Special Systems Design.
DoubleDOS Plus was a DiskII interface card modification that had a switch to allow the user to easily switch between DOS 3.2 and DOS 3.3. It sold for $39, by Tymac.<6>,<7>
PRINTERS
By the late 1970's and early 1980's many printers were available for use with home computers. However, the cost was often over $1,000, which limited the number of people who could afford to buy one. Most printers offered 96 characters in the standard ASCII set, including both upper and lowercase characters. The cheaper printers could only print uppercase characters, while some of the more expensive ones were capable of accepting programmable characters or had built-in graphics characters.
There were two main types of printers available. One type operated like a typewriter by striking a piece of metal type against a ribbon and onto the paper. This type of printer was often called an "impact" or "letter quality" printer. It used either a type ball like IBM's Selectric typewriters, or a wheel with spokes that radiated out from the center, with the type characters at the end of the spokes. This latter type of letter quality printer was also called a "daisy wheel" printer, because the changeable print wheels looked something like a daisy. These printers were most commonly used by computers in businesses, as they often cost more than $2,000 and were beyond the reach of the average home hobbyist.
The other type of printer in common use was dot matrix. These less expensive printers formed characters with a series of pins in a vertical row that struck the ribbon and produced dots on the paper. As the print head moved across the paper, the dots were printed in patterns that resembled (sometimes vaguely) letters and numbers. The matrix used to form a character was usually referred to as the number of horizontal dots by the number of vertical dots. A 5x7 matrix, for example, used up to five dots across and up to seven dots down. Some printers (like some computers of the time) did not use "descenders" on the lowercase letters that drop below the baseline ("g", "j", "p", "q", and "y"). To print lowercase letters with descenders often required nine or more vertical pins.
The Centronics 730 may well have been the first "standard" printer for the AppleII (as well as for many other microcomputers). It used a parallel cable whose pin layout went on to also become a standard for use with personal computers. That pin layout on parallel cable plugs is still in use today in 1991.<8> Centronics also had several other models, including the 737 and 739. A less expensive printer made by Centronics, the 779, used 5x7 dot matrix characters, and could print in sizes from 10 to 16.5 cpi (characters per inch), ranging from 60 cps (characters per second) at 10 cpi to 100 cps at 16.5 cpi. It also had a one-line buffer (which held up to 132 characters), but printed a limited 64 character ASCII set, all uppercase plus some special characters. As mentioned before, most personal computers of the time didn't have lowercase anyway, so this limitation wasn't necessarily a drawback. The better printers made by Centronics had a larger matrix and could produce true descenders on lowercase characters.<9>,<10>
A company named Trendcom made two printers that were significant in the history of the AppleII. They had two models, the 100 and the 200. Instead of using the mechanics solenoids that drove pins in a print head, these were thermal printers that needed a special heat-sensitive paper. Their operation was very quiet, about as loud as sliding your finger across a piece of paper. They were inexpensive compared to other printers of the day (most of which cost over $1,000), although the printing looked very much like that produced by a dot-matrix printer. The Trendcom Model 100 printed 40 characters per line on paper that was about 4 1/2 inches wide. The Model 200 could print 80 columns per line on paper 8 1/2 inches wide. Compared to the first printer offered by Radio Shack for their TRS-80 computer (which was also a thermal printer but used an ugly silver paper), the Trendcom printers were very nice.
The significance of the Trendcom printer was that Apple chose it as the first printer they released under the Apple name. It could be programmed to control printing of each dot in a column, and so was ideal as an inexpensive means of printing AppleII hi-res graphics. Apple included a special interface card and released the printer as the "Apple Silentype" in June 1979 for $599. It was identical to Trendcom's Model 200 except for the Apple logo in the lower left corner of the front cover.<11> One legend suggests that part of the popularity of this printer at Apple stemmed from the fact that its small size allowed it to fit under the seat of Steve Wozniak's private airplane.<7>,<12>,<13>
Epson was another company that began early in the business of supplying printers for personal computers, and is one of the few that survives to this day. It got its start in the printer business with the Epson MX-80, one of the first dot matrix printers that sold for less than $1,000. Popular with computer hobbyists of the time, it was capable of printing AppleII hi-res graphics with the optional Graphtrax ROMs. A later version of this printer, the Epson MX-100, became available in early 1982. The MX-100 was a wide carriage model, and could print hi-res graphics without the need to add any special hardware. Epson printers were unique because they had a special feature called a "double print" mode where a line was printed normally, then the paper was advanced 1/216 of an inch and the same line printed again. This filled in some gaps between dots on individual letters, and made printouts more pleasing to the eye. Another feature used in these printers was a "print enhancement" mode, in which the pins hit the ribbon harder and made it possible to make multiple copies using carbons.<10>,<14>
Integral Data Systems was also an early manufacturer of printers. Their IDS 125 and IDS 225 printers came out in 1979 (the 225 sold for around $900).<15> These printers used a 7x7 matrix for creating characters. The IDS 125 used a pressure feed method (similar to the method used by typewriters to hold paper in place), while the IDS 225 used a tractor feed mechanism. The IDS printers had the flexibility of being useable with either parallel or serial interfaces (with serial speeds up to 1200 baud). It could do plotting of dot graphics, and also had an optional graphics character set built-in.<16>
By the late 1970's Integral Data Systems upgraded their printers, giving them more capabilities and flashier names. Their Paper Tiger line of printers (models 440 and 460) had an attractive typeface, and used two vertical rows of pins in the print head, slightly offset from each other. This produced overlapping dots to achieve a more solid appearance. Some models could print up to 160 cps, and of course upper and lowercase characters were supported. They were also capable of reproducing AppleII hi-res graphics (with the appropriate software). IDS also sold a printer called the Prism, which could print in color using a special multicolored ribbon.<17>
Other early printers were made by Anadex, MPI, and Microtek.
APPLE'S PRINTERS
After the Silentype printer was released in 1979, Apple looked for another printer that would produce better, more permanent output than could be achieved with a thermal printer. One of the main problems with thermal paper was that with time the printing could fade, especially if cellophane tape was used on the paper. The Apple Dot Matrix Printer was released in October 1982 for $699. Made from a modified C. Itoh printer, it was one of the first few dot-matrix printers that sold for under $1,000. Apple needed it as a better quality printer than the Silentype to help promote the AppleIII as a business computer. More importantly, it was chosen by Apple because it was capable of doing heavy-duty graphics reproduction (such as output from the Apple Lisa computer, still in development at that time). Known also as the Apple DMP, it used a custom ROM programmed by Apple to control the printer's features.<18>
Because Apple was looking for as many business solutions for its customers as it could find, they also announced at the same time as the DMP a daisy wheel printer called the Apple Letter Quality Printer. Costing a hefty $2,195, and made from a modified Qume brand printer, this printer could print at a blazing 40 cps, but did produce very good quality output. It was released with the Lisa and IIe in January 1983.<18>,<19>
The Apple ImageWriter was released in December 1983 as the successor to the Apple DMP. Also made by C. Itoh, it had a faster print speed (120 cps), and could print in eight different pitches (character widths). It was a very reliable, sturdy printer, and sold originally for $675. Later, a wide carriage version whose abilities were otherwise identical was made available. It was replaced by the ImageWriterII in September 1985. The original AppleDMP and the ImageWriterI came in the same beige color as the AppleII, IIPlus, and IIe. The ImageWriterII was the same platinum color as the AppleIIGS and the newer Macintosh computers. Styled a little differently, the ImageWriterII could do everything the original ImageWriter could do, plus it was capable of printing MouseText characters and could print in color (using a special multicolored ribbon).<19>,<20>
As part of its promotion of the AppleIIc, a new printer was released. The Apple Scribe came in the same "Snow White" color as the IIc and was low in cost at $299. It was a thermal printer, but was a significant advancement over the old Silentype. It could print on regular paper (instead of special heat sensitive paper), and could print in four colors. It could do this using a unique heat-transfer method and a wax-impregnated ribbon. It could print in a "near letter quality" mode (with overlapping dots) at 50 cps, and a draft and graphics mode (80 cps). Its major limitation, however, was a print quality that overall was often not as good as some dot-matrix printers, and a ribbon that was expensive and needed to be replaced too often. The Scribe was eventually discontinued due to these problems and low sales.<19>
In 1984 Hewlett-Packard introduced the LaserJet laser printer. This was a significant breakthrough in printer quality, and was capable of producing documents that looked professionally typeset. Apple decided to develop its own laser printer, and in January of 1985 released the LaserWriter. Although not speedy printers (with best output at four pages a minute by 1991), and very expensive (over $2,000), they were popular with those who wanted high quality printing. At Apple, the new LaserWriter was supported only on the Macintosh, but since the printer did its work through a page description language called "PostScript", it was entirely possible for an AppleII to print on a laser printer. It was only necessary to learn the PostScript language, create a file that gave the necessary commands, and send that file to the printer through a serial interface card. Don Lancaster, long-time AppleII supporter and hacker, wrote a series of articles called "Ask The Guru" in the magazine Computer Shopper, and he gave many examples of using a laser printer with an AppleII.
Unfortunately, to this day the perception still exists that a laser printer will not work with an AppleII, even if it is a IIGS. This is partly because there are few software packages for the AppleII that will produce output as PostScript files that can be properly interpreted on a laser printer. However, programs such as "Publish-It!" will print to a PostScript-capable laser printer even on an AppleIIc. All that needs to be done is to have the right cable to connect the two devices.
One of the newest types of print technology to come to personal computers is known as the ink-jet printer. This type of printer works with a dot-matrix, but does not use pins impacting a ribbon. Rather, it uses a print head that sprays ink through as many as 64 holes in patterns to form characters as moves across the paper. The advantage over dot-matrix impact printers is its ability to form more solid characters. In fact, the quality of printout with an ink-jet printer can be almost as good as that obtained with a laser printer. The advantage over laser printers is cost. Where the best price for a laser printer in 1991 is still well over $1,500, the cost of ink-jet printers is getting as low as $500, and for some brands down to $300. The disadvantage for AppleII users? Although it is easy to get the printers to reproduce text, printing graphics to work may be difficult until AppleII software packages directly support those printers. Fortunately, most of these printers will emulate some brands of dot-matrix printers, and if that brand is supported by a software program, then graphics reproduction may be possible.
Apple entered the ink-jet printer market in May 1991 when it released the Apple StyleWriter. A modification of Canon's BubbleJet printer, this printer does excellent reproduction of text and graphics--on a Macintosh. Unfortunately, Apple didn't see fit to release drivers (programs to control hardware) to make it possible to use this printer on the IIGS or IIe. It does make use of a new font (typeface) technology called TrueType, which makes it possible to have a single font that can be made any size under software control (instead of having a separate font for each size that you might want to print). It was not until early 1992 when a program called Pointless was made available for the IIGS (not from Apple) that TrueType could be used on that computer.
Although not quite a printer, the Apple Color Plotter was released in June of 1984. It had an advantage over printers, in that it could draw smooth lines and curves. Using four colored pens in a rotating pen head, and selecting them at the computer's command, the Color Plotter worked by moving the paper up and down to draw vertical lines, and the pen left and right to draw horizontal lines. Control of the plotter was accomplished by sending text commands through a serial card, and consisted of two letter commands (DA = Draw Absolute, DR = Draw Relative, etc.) followed by parameters. It could move the pen without drawing, plot points, draw lines, arcs, and circles, and print text at any location, tilt, rotation, or scale. Lines could be drawn as solid or as patterns of dots.
Presumably this product did not take off because of the limited need for this type of graphics, and the price. Today, although the quality of screen and printer graphics is greatly improved over what was available in 1984, a plotter can still be useful in some situations. Usually, however, the right software can reproduce drawings with a dot matrix or laser printer in as good or better detail than a plotter can.<21>
++++++++++++++++++++++
NEXT INSTALLMENT: DOS
++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTES
<1> Weisman, Tyler. (personal mail), GEnie, E-mail, Aug 1991.
<2> -----. "The Marketplace", Call-A.P.P.L.E., Nov 1984, p. 41.
<3> Neibauer, Larry. "Reviews: Digital Paintbrush", Call-A.P.P.L.E., Nov 1984, p. 36.
<4> -----. "The Marketplace", Call-A.P.P.L.E., Jul 1984, p. 61.
<5> (various). "Reviews: Music Systems For The Apple II". Call-A.P.P.L.E., Jun 1984, pp. 17-31.
<6> -----. -----, Apple Orchard, Vol. 1, No. 1., Mar-Apr 1980, various.
<7> -----. (ads), Call-A.P.P.L.E. In Depth #1, 198, p. 106.
<8> Zuchowski, Tom. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Mar 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<9> Ulm, Dennis. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Apr 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<10> Wright, Loren. "On Buying A Printer", Micro, Aug 1981, pp. 33-35.
<11> Bernsten, Jeff. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Apr 1991, Category 2, Topic 16
<12> -----. "A.P.P.L.E. Co-op Celebrates A Decade of Service". Call-A.P.P.L.E., Feb 1988, pp. 12-27.
<13> Felty, Wes. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Apr 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<14> Kindall, Jerry. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Mar 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<15> Peterson, Craig. The Computer Store, Santa Monica, CA, Store Information And Prices, Aug 10, 1979, p. 1.
<16> Golding, Val. "Integral Data IP 225 Printer - A Review", PEEKing At Call-A.P.P.L.E., Vol. 2, 1979, p. 151.
<17> Vanderpool, Tom. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Mar & Aug 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<18> Williams, Gregg. "The Lisa Computer System", Byte, Feb 1983, p. 43.
<19> Baum, Peter. "Expanding The Unexpandable IIc", Softalk, Jun 1984, pp. 95-97.
<20> -----. "The Marketplace", Call-A.P.P.L.E., Nov 1985, p. 50.
<21> Durkee, David. "Marketalk Reviews", Softalk, Jun 1984, p. 120.

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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1991, Zonker Software
(PART 14 -- DOS)
[v1.0 :: 12 Jan 92]
APPLE DOS
For a computer to be useful, it must have a means of easy storage and retrieval of data. That storage medium must be both convenient and affordable. In the early days of the AppleII computer, the best that they could achieve was "affordable". The built-in cassette port was the state of the art for personal computers back in 1977; the AppleI computer had a cassette interface available only as an add-on item. But, although a cassette storage system may be inexpensive, it is not very convenient. The simplistic cassette operating system on the AppleII (visual examination of the mechanical index counter on the cassette recorder to know the location of the next program) was downright frustrating to use for many early AppleII owners. Something better was desperately needed.
As you may recall from Part 5 of the History, in December of 1977 Steve Wozniak began a crash effort to develop a floppy disk drive for the AppleII computer. To get it ready for the Consumer Electronics Show in January 1978, Wozniak and Randy Wigginton made a very simple disk operating system that would only load files from fixed locations off the disk in response to one-letter commands. But it was not a true disk operating system (DOS); their rudimentary control program would not be flexible enough for efficient and simple use of the disk drive.
DISK SYSTEM BASICS
To create an operating system that would be both simple to use and yet powerful enough for advanced file manipulations, Apple had much work to do, building on the device driver that Wozniak had written. Among other things, it had to interface well with the BASICs in ROM on the AppleII, and be no more complicated to use than the cassette system. Although Woz's driver routines were efficient in writing and reading data to and from the disk, they could only be used from 6502 assembly language.
Designing a disk operating system from scratch is no trivial matter. On one side is the RAM memory in the AppleII, waiting patiently for a useful program to be loaded and executed. On the other side of an electronic bridge (interface card and connecting cable) is the floppy disk and disk drive hardware itself. The control program the Woz wrote could be compared to a narrow rope bridge crossing a chasm; it works, but you can't carry much with you, and it is easy to slip and fall (lose data). A complete DOS is more like a concrete and steel bridge, capable of carrying autos and trucks in both directions over the chasm. Woz's "rope bridge" was a foundation, but there was much work yet to do.
A disk drive consists of a recording head that is mechanically moved across the surface of the floppy disk, tracing the radius of the disk from the center to the edge. The disk itself is spinning under the head. This is similar to the stylus on a turntable that plays 33 RPM records (remember those?), but the head on a disk drive can be given a command to move to a different "track" on the spinning disk. Also unlike the turntable, which is a "read-only" device, the head on the disk drive can either reads bits off or write bits onto the disk. To be able to find where data has been stored on a disk, it is "formatted" into a known configuration. A blank disk could be compared to empty land that will be filled with new houses, but currently has no streets, street signs, or house numbers. The initial formatting (called "hard" formatting) of a blank disk is, then, like building the streets and assigning lots for future building. The second part of disk formatting (called "soft" formatting), involves naming the streets, designating addresses, and building houses.
In the case of Apple's Disk II, it was designed with 35 concentric circles ("streets") called tracks. Each track is subdivided into 16 segments ("houses") called sectors. Each sector can hold 256 bytes of information. In the hardware system that Wozniak designed, the timing hole near the center of the floppy disk was not used by the hardware to keep track of which sector was passing the head at any particular time. Because of that, it was necessary for the software to identify in a different way where one sector ended and the next sector began. A complicated method was used of specially encoding each of the 256 bytes so they have a standard, recognizable appearance to a program that is controlling the disk drive, plus some other specialized bytes that identify the start and end of a sector. Although it did decrease somewhat the storage capacity of the disk, the cost savings in less complicated hardware compensated for it.
DOS 3.1 - STRUCTURE & FUNCTION WITH BASIC
With this background, let's get back to tracing the gap between Woz's demo DOS and Apple's first official release, DOS3.1. Worth and Lechner in their book, "Beneath Apple DOS", divided DOS up into four parts according to function and location in memory. When a computer needs an operating system, it's because there is a need to insulate the user from the complexity of trying to control the hardware. Consider the four parts of DOS as layers; as you get closer to the bottom layer, you are closer to the hardware (the raw data on the disk and direct control of the disk drive), but you also increase greatly the difficulty of managing it. The farther up you go, the easier it is to manage things on the disk, but the less direct is the control of the disk data and hardware.<1>,<2> When Wozniak wrote his disk controller (driver) routines, he worked at the deepest layer, directly manipulating the disk hardware and raw data. This involved some complex timing and error checking for reading and writing data to the disk. This section is also where the program lies that erases the disk and creates the sectors and their addresses. In memory, this layer of DOS started at $B800 on a 48K AppleII.<2>,<3>
Randy Wigginton wrote a "front end" for Wozniak's controller routines. His part could be considered a thin layer that is part of the lowest layer of disk routines. Together, the two layers made up what came to be known as "RWTS", or "Read/Write Track/Sector". It could do four things only: SEEK (to move the disk arm to the desired track), READ (load a sector from disk into memory), WRITE (save a sector to disk from memory), and FORMAT (discussed above). This layer of DOS, the Disk II driver, started at $B600.<2>,<3>
Apple contracted with an outside consultant, Bob Shepardson, to write much of the rest of DOS (though modifications were made Apple programmers Dick Huston and Rick Auricchio).<4>,<5>,<6> Shepardson's group wrote the layers (parts) of DOS that later became known as the "File Manager" and the "Main DOS routines". The File Manager was the next layer in memory above RWTS. It started at $AAC9 in memory, and was responsible for twelve higher level functions that dealt with files and the disk in general. These functions were OPEN, CLOSE, READ, WRITE, DELETE, CATALOG, LOCK, UNLOCK, RENAME, POSITION, INIT (format a disk and create an empty catalog track), and VERIFY. This set of routines, along with RWTS, would be similar to the file PRODOS in the current 8-bit disk operating system. It handled the disk at the file level, but knew nothing about BASIC.<2>,<3>
The next layer of code above the File Manager contained the Main DOS Routines. These routines started at $9D00 in memory, and were responsible for interfacing BASIC with the disk. This layer would be similar to the file called BASIC.SYSTEM used today in the ProDOS system. Since neither Integer BASIC nor Applesoft were specifically modified to handle disk commands, this part of DOS kept a constant look at any output PRINTed by BASIC. When a BASIC program was running, DOS looked to see if the character Ctrl-D (hex $04) was printed immediately after a Ctrl-M (carriage return). If that sequence was detected, DOS assumed that the next text printed was a command for it. If a BASIC program was not running, then DOS examined anything typed directly from the keyboard. If it decided that a DOS command had been entered, it would execute that command. If the user typed a command that DOS recognized (such as "RUN PROGRAM" or "SAVE PROGRAM") but which resulted in a disk error, DOS3.1 would generate an error message. On the other hand, if DOS did not recognize the command, it passed it on to the active BASIC for processing.
The final, uppermost layer of DOS was not a program code area but a set of memory areas called "buffers". One buffer was used by DOS for each open file. These buffers ordinarily started at $9600 in memory.
Here is an example of how the layers of DOS interacted: When a user typed the command "LOAD PROGRAM" at the keyboard, DOS intercepted the statement. The Main DOS Routines determined that it was a legal DOS command. The File Manager was called to 1)OPEN a file named "PROGRAM", 2)READ all the bytes associated with that file into memory starting at a specific location, and then 3)CLOSE the file. The File Manager's OPEN command in turn instructed RWTS where to move the disk read/write head, and in what order to read the correct tracks and sectors to find the contents of the entire file, wherever it happened to be on the disk. Complicated, perhaps, but the only thing the user had to know was how to type "LOAD PROGRAM".
Finally, one piece of trivia: Why was the first DOS released for the AppleII called "DOS3.1" rather than "DOS 1.0"? According to Steve Wozniak, it was Bob Shepardson's group that decided on calling it "DOS3". It is unclear why Shepardson decided on "3"; possibly it referred to internal revisions done by Shepardson, or perhaps it was a modification of some DOS routines done for another computer that had used earlier version numbers.<2> (Note: DOS3 was never actually released to the public; that version apparently had a few bugs left to fix, so "DOS3.1" came with the first DiskII drives shipped by Apple to their dealers).
DOS 3.1 - MANUAL
When originally introduced with the new DiskII drive in 1978, DOS3.1 had very little documentation. Because the demand for the disk drive was so great, the engineers at Apple had worked feverishly to produce enough working drives to begin shipping. They went out, although there was not time to complete a real manual on how to use the disk operating system. They did include a leaflet about some of the commands, but there were still, obviously, complaints. One letter to Apple president Mike Markkula made these blunt comments: "You [expletive deleted]. I bought an Apple with floppy and nobody, I mean nobody, in L.A. or San Diego knows how to use the [thing] for random access files. I really feel 'ripped off.' Everybody talks about this great manual in the sky that is coming out soon??? ... [more expletives]! I need this computer now in my business not next year. [Expletive]. I hope your dog dies."<7>
It was not until the release of DOS3.2 in February 1979 that a true reference manual was made available. It was given the unwieldy title, "Disk II Floppy Disk Subsystem Installation and Operating Manual", and subtitled "Apple Intelligent Subsystems (part #030-0011-00)". It was all of 38 pages long, with weak jokes and typos, but not much else of substance. Instruction on how to READ and WRITE text files was given in a mere ten lines, with no programming examples. The EXEC command was given a little more description, but was still unclear to many users. The manual also talked about " *3D0G ". What it didn't say was that this meant that the user was supposed to type "3D0G" from the Monitor prompt (to allow a return to the active BASIC with DOS connected).<8>,<9>
DOS 3.1 - FEATURES
A catalog of the DOS3.1 System Master disk would produce this output:
I 007 HELLO
*I 043 APPLESOFT
I 016 ANIMALS
I 009 COLOR DEMOS
*I 004 MASTER.CREATE
*B 039 RAWDOS
*I 007 COPY
*B 007 COPY.OBJ
"HELLO" was the startup file executed when the disk was booted. It just displayed the following:
DISK II MASTER DISKETTE VERSION 3.1
20-JUL-78
COPYRIGHT 1978 APPLE COMPUTER INC.
>_
stopping at the Integer BASIC prompt. "ANIMALS" was an Integer program that gave an example of the use of disk files, and "COLOR DEMOS" was a disk version of a program that had earlier come on cassette. "MASTER CREATE" was a program that could be used to initialize a "master" disk. Using the binary file "RAWDOS", it executed the DOS "INIT" command, but put a version of DOS on the newly formatted disk that was relocatable.<10> When DOS from a "master" disk was booted on an AppleII, it first determined what was size of the memory, and then loaded itself into memory as high as possible. The INIT command properly formatted a new disk, but created what Apple called a "slave" disk; that is, the DOS loaded from a slave disk was fixed in memory to the same size as the computer on which DOS had been booted. In most cases this would not be a problem. However, the problem would surface if someone whose AppleII had only 16K of RAM shared a disk with a friend whose computer had, say, 32K of memory. Booting that borrowed disk would make the 32K computer appear to have only 16K of RAM (since it forced DOS to load at the highest location available to a 16K machine). A "master" disk was more versatile, being "intelligent" enough to adapt itself to differing memory sizes.
The Integer BASIC file "APPLESOFT" was interesting. It was a 43 sector file that appeared in a catalog as an Integer BASIC program (with the "I" filetype code). If you loaded the file and listed lines 10 through 80, there were lines that would produce the following text:
****************************************
* *
* APPLESOFT ][ FLOATING POINT BASIC *
* APRIL 1978 *
****************************************
COPYRIGHT 1978 APPLE COMPUTER, INC.
COPYRIGHT 1976 BY MICROSOFT
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
There were also lines that poked some values into memory, and then jumped to a machine language routine that relocated Applesoft into RAM starting at $800 (the same place where Cassette Applesoft loaded). If you tried to LIST the entire program in memory, the lines after line 80 appeared to be a jumble of Integer BASIC commands. This is because a majority of the file was actually a machine language program that had been appended to the end of the short Integer BASIC program that displayed the title above and did the memory pokes. This machine language code was the Applesoft BASIC interpreter. Now, if the file "APPLESOFT" was executed by typing "RUN APPLESOFT", it would display the title and leave the cursor next to the Applesoft bracket prompt. However, DOS was no longer connected; the result was much like using Cassette Applesoft. To properly use this file with DOS, you had to type "FP" from the Integer BASIC prompt. DOS would then load the "APPLESOFT" file and properly initialize the interpreter, leaving DOS connected. Since this version of Applesoft still had a few bugs in it, this method of using Applesoft was obsoleted by the Applesoft Firmware card and the AppleII Plus.<9>
Interestingly, the error messages produced by DOS3.1 were made to look similar to those displayed by Integer BASIC. For example, this is what happened if an attempt was made to load a type "B" (binary) file with the "LOAD" command:
>LOAD COPY.OBJ
***DISK:NOT BASIC PROGRAM
>_
Integer BASIC had error messages that looked like "***SYNTAXERR" (with a space following the asterisks). The possible error messages in this version of DOS that were different from later versions were:
SYS ERROR
CMD SYNTAX ERROR
NO FILE BUFFS AVAIL ERROR
NOT BASIC PROGRAM ERROR
NOT BINARY FILE ERROR
DOS 3.1 - USER EXPERIENCES
One problem encountered by early users of the Disk II was properly connecting the drive to the controller card, as discussed in Part 9 of this History. Some quirks in DOS that plagued users at the time of the first releases of DOS3.1 included one in which LOCKing a file sometimes mysteriously caused the length of the first file in the catalog to change. Apple told people not to worry about that; in fact, they told people not to pay attention to the sector counts in the catalog at all, as there was a bug in that part of the catalog routine. Another problem in early versions of DOS3.1 was an inability to execute READ or WRITE statements in an Applesoft program if they occurred in program lines that were numbered higher than 256. It also wouldn't allow more than one DOS command on the same line of a program, so this was not possible:
10 ON ERROR GOTO 1000
20 PRINT D$;"VERIFY FILE": PRINT D$;"OPEN FILE": PRINT D$;"READ FILE"
Other bugs in early versions of DOS3.1 included not being able to initialize disks with MASTER.CREATE unless the disk controller was moved to slot 7. (Originally, slot 7 was going to be the disk slot, but Apple decided to change it to slot 6 and leave slot 7 for video cards. Why the various 80-column cards that were eventually released were made to go into slot 3 instead of slot 7 is anybody's guess). The A.P.P.L.E. user group had patches to MASTER.CREATE and RAWDOS to fix the slot 7 INIT bug, and the >255 line number bug in Applesoft.<11> Apple later released a modified version of DOS3.1 that fixed these bugs (without changing the version number).
DOS 3.2 - ENHANCEMENTS
As mentioned above, DOS3 and 3.1 had a few problems. When the AppleII Plus with the Autostart ROM was released, DOS needed to be updated to handle the changes. DOS3.2, released in February 1979, contained several modifications, but retained 90 percent of the basic structure of DOS3.1. One interesting change made to plan for the future was a doubling of the number of possible filetypes. The original DOS used "I" for Integer BASIC files, "A" for Applesoft, "B" for binary files, and "T" for text files. DOS3.2 added types "S", "R", another "A", and another "B". Of those four types, only "R" was ever officially designated by Apple, and that for relocatable assembler object files.
DOS3.2 included a program called "UPDATE 3.2", which worked much like the earlier program "MASTER.CREATE" in changing a "slave" DOS disk into a "master" disk. As time went by, and more users had their AppleII's fully populated with 48K RAM, the need for such a utility became less and less important.<12>
DOS 3.2 - FEATURES
A catalog of the DOS3.2 System Master disk would produce this output:
*I 002 HELLO
*I 043 APPLESOFT
*I 018 ANIMALS
*B 009 UPDATE 3.2
*I 014 COPY
*I 009 COLOR DEMO
*B 003 CHAIN
*A 009 COLOR DEMOSOFT
*A 028 LITTLE BRICK OUT
*A 003 MAKE TEXT
*A 003 RETRIEVE TEXT
*A 010 EXEC DEMO
*A 010 RANDOM
*T 003 APPLE PROMS
*A 039 RENUMBER INSTRUCTIONS
*A 014 RENUMBER
The file "RAWDOS" that was on the DOS3.1 disk was no longer needed, as its function was included in the "UPDATE 3.2" program.<10> As you can see, some of the files from the DOS3.1 master disk were retained, but some others were added. There were now several Applesoft files, including a version of the color demonstration ("COLOR DEMOSOFT"), a smaller version of the older Integer BASIC game "BRICK OUT" ("LITTLE BRICK OUT"), a couple of files to show simple disk access ("MAKE TEXT" and "RETRIEVE TEXT"), and a program to exhibit the use of random-access disk files ("RANDOM", with the file "APPLE PROMS"). There was finally a program ("EXEC DEMO") that showed how to use the EXEC command in DOS. Also found on this disk were two utilities for Applesoft. One made it possible to renumber Applesoft programs, and the other ("CHAIN") allowed linking between multiple Applesoft programs, retaining the value of any variables created by the first program. There was a CHAIN command built into DOS, but it worked properly only with Integer BASIC programs.
DOS 3.2.1
In July 1979, DOS3.2.1 was released. This was merely a minor upgrade to make some patches to RWTS and correct a timing problem that caused the utility "COPY" to fail when copying disks with two disk drives. It also began a system disk version numbering system that persists to this day, that of adding a third digit to indicate a minor upgrade. (For example, GS/OS 5.0 changed to 5.0.1 with some bug fixes, rather than 5.1).<12>
This disk contained the new COPY program, and a program called "UPDATE 3.2.1", which worked just as "UPDATE 3.2" and "MASTER.CREATE" had previously. The update program was used to modify existing DOS3.2 disks to the 3.2.1 version. As an bonus, Apple added some programs to this Master disk that were just for fun. All written in Integer BASIC, the games and graphics demonstrations included "APPLE-TREK", "THE INFINITE NUMBER OF MONKEYS", "BRIAN'S THEME", and "BRICK OUT" (which was an AppleII version of the arcade game, "Breakout"). The "HELLO" program displayed this when the disk was booted:
MASTER DISKETTE VERSION 3.2.1 STANDARD
31-JULY-79
COPYRIGHT 1979 APPLE COMPUTER INC.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NEXT INSTALLMENT: DOS 3.3, ProDOS, & Beyond
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTES
<1> Deatherage, Matt. "The Operating System", The Apple II Guide, Fall 1990, pp. 117-125.
<2> Wozniak, Stephen. (personal telephone call), Sep 5, 1991.
<3> Worth, Don, and Lechner, Pieter. Quality Software, Beneath Apple DOS, Reseda, CA, 1981, pp. 5.1-5.3, 6.4-6.8, 8.1-8.42.
<4> Little, Gary. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc, Exploring Apple GS/OS And ProDOS 8, Reading, MA, 1988, pp. 2-4.
<5> Little, Gary. Brady Communications Co, Inside The Apple //c, Bowie, MD, 1985, pp. 1-7.
<6> Auricchio, Rick. (personal telephone call), Sep 4, 1991.
<7> Moritz, Michael. William Morrow and Company, Inc, The Little Kingdom, New York, 1984, p. 211.
<8> Worth, Don, and Lechner, Pieter. p. 1.2.
<9> Bragner, Bob. "Open Discussion", Softalk, Nov 1983, pp. 51-52.
<10> Vanderpool, Tom. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Mar & Aug 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<11> Thyng, Mike. "Apple Source", PEEKing At Call-A.P.P.L.E., Vol. 1, 1978, pp. 7-8.
<12> Worth, Don, and Lechner, Pieter. pp. 2.1-2.3.

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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1991, Zonker Software
(PART 16 -- LANGUAGES)
[v1.0 :: 22 Jan 92]
PROGRAMS "R" US
Nearly everyone reading this is already a programmer, on one level or another. Even if you don't know a "GOTO" from a "STA $C030", you already know how to program something. For the act of "programming" is nothing more than giving instructions to a non-human device to have it carry out what you want it to do. The device that most of you already know how to program is your automobile. The act of giving those instructions may not seem like programming to you; nevertheless in its strictest sense, programming it is. You want the car to go forward? Set the transmission to "D". Go in reverse? Use "R". Of course, the programming needed to operate an automobile is quite simple, and cannot be done in more than one step at a time. An example of a device that is more complicated to program but does let you store up several instructions in advance is a VCR. On the VCR you instruct it to record a television broadcast that starts at 7:00 pm and ends at 8:30 pm, on channel 6. The more sophisticated VCR's can have several programs set up in advance. If you can operate a VCR in this fashion (which is, admittedly, not always as easy as I have described), you are a programmer.
When it comes to the microcomputer, the process of programming (giving it instructions on how to carry out a task) is somewhat more complicated. This is primarily because the computer is far more flexible in its ability to accept instructions and carry them out than is an automobile or VCR. Devices attached to a computer can be manipulated by a program to do something useful (print a letter several times, or perhaps read the outside temperature and sound an alarm if it drops too low). This flexibility, plus the speed at which a computer can execute its instructions, makes it a powerful tool for doing things that have previously taken much more effort and time. And as a project becomes more sophisticated, so also must the programming acquire a similar level of sophistication. The rate at which computers, including the AppleII, have increased in capacity during the past fifteen years has made it possible to design programs that can do things that were not even dreamed possible back in the days of the 4K Integer BASIC machine.
An example of programming evolution on the AppleII was given during Kansasfest in July of 1991. To fully appreciate this narrative, you need to know a little about an old Integer BASIC program, APPLEVISION. This was found on the DOS 3.2.1 System Master disk, and was a fun little display that showed off the use of hi-res graphics. It began by creating a simple line drawing of a room, with a picture on the wall ("HOME SWEET HOME") and a television set. On the screen of the TV appeared a man who danced to the tune of "Turkey In The Straw", which sounded on the built-in speaker. It ran repeatedly, until the user interrupted the program. It was fascinating at the time, since there was nothing in the program text that showed off exactly how the hi-res effects were accomplished. But things have gotten a bit more complex as time has gone by:
"Roger Wagner's keynote address featured a history of hypermedia which Roger set into action and left to run as he wandered offstage. The history began with Bob Bishop's classic AppleVision, done in black and white on the original AppleII. Progressive screens enhanced the AppleVision image using subsequent incarnations of AppleII graphics (single hi-resolution, double hi-resolution, and the IIGS's Super Hi-Resolution modes). Finally, thanks to a laserdisc player under HyperStudio's control and a video overlay card, Roger's image appeared within the television's screen and spoke to the audience, completing the introduction before turning the presentation back to Roger (returning from offstage)."<1>
To follow the programming progress that has made such magic possible, we will begin with the first two built-in high-level languages for the AppleII, Integer BASIC and Applesoft, and move on to a briefer discussion of some of the other languages that have been available over the years. Next will be a summary of various 6502 and 68816 assemblers that Apple programmers have used over the years. Finally, I will present an introduction to "hyper-programming".
FUNDAMENTALS OF PROGRAMMING
A programming language has the standards to translate "what I want" into commands that the computer understands. To do so, it must take some human language and convert it into the binary dialect of the computer on which it is executed.
Computer languages usually come in one of two different types: "interpreted" and "compiled". A language that functions as an interpreter takes the text of the program and translates it at the time of execution into commands the computer can understand. A compiled program, on the other hand, has already had the program text translated into executable code before it is run, usually including some extra code needed to carry out necessary functions of input, output, and calculations. As such, an interpreted program usually runs more slowly, but has the advantage of being easier to modify and re-run without the delay of first re-compiling. A compiled program will ordinarily run faster, but may use more memory than an equivalent interpreted program.
Languages are also given the designation of being "high-level" or "low-level", depending on how close they are to the base language of the computer on which they run. The lowest level of computer programming is at the level of the bytes understood as commands by the microprocessor. This "machine language" is typically not very understandable to humans. A low-level language more often used by programmers is "assembly language". This uses commands somewhat more understandable ("LDA $24" means "load the accumulator with the contents of memory location $24") and are then assembled (actually compiled) it into machine-readable code. Assembly language is very powerful, since it works on the byte level of the computer. However, as a low-level language it can be very complicated and requires an intimate understanding of the function of the computer.
As a language becomes more "high-level", it is easier for humans to read, but requires more effort from its interpreter or compiler to translate it into the native language of the computer.
INTEGER BASIC
This was the first language available for general use on the AppleII (aside from assembly, which will be dealt with later). Most of the details concerning its development have already been covered in Part 3 of this History. It was a quick, compact language, and its creation was an example of programming directly in machine language (since Steve Wozniak, the author, had no assembler available to use). Its disadvantage was the lack of easy access to floating point operations, and it lacked some string handling functions. AppleII users, especially those who wanted to produce programs that could be used in business applications, wanted something more powerful to use.
Despite its limitations, Integer BASIC was a language that had a fanatically loyal following. For those thousands who purchased AppleII's from June 1977 to June 1979, this was the only programming language available, and it took on a status similar to that of a beloved first-born child. Games, utilities, and even some simple business-use programs were written using Wozniak's hand-assembled masterpiece, and those who followed the pages of Call-A.P.P.L.E. magazine learned much about the internals of the language. With the disassembler built into the Monitor, people tore Integer BASIC apart to learn how it worked, and to make it work better. Val Golding, the editor of Call-A.P.P.L.E., even wrote a series of columns in 1979 entitled "So Who Needs Applesoft?" These articles showed how to simulate some of the more advanced features of Applesoft in this older BASIC. A.P.P.L.E. even sold (under license agreement with Apple Computer) "Integer BASIC +", a relocatable RAM version of the original ROM BASIC. It had all the features of the original language, plus a "USER" command, the ability to easily do four direction scrolling on the text and lo-res screens, easy printing of ASCII characters, and improved error handling.<2>
Apple never released a comprehensive reference manual for Integer BASIC. The only manual available for it was primarily a tutorial (and a general introduction to using a computer). The "AppleII BASIC Programming Manual" didn't even call it "Integer BASIC", but referred to the language as "Apple BASIC". It gave most of its programming examples in the form of segments of a graphics and sound demo that created a lo-res ball bouncing off the sides of the screen.<3>
With the many programs available that were written in Integer BASIC, it was almost a necessity for Apple to offer a means for AppleII Plus users to be able to run the older software. The Integer Firmware card made this "backward compatibility" possible. This was especially important in the early days of the II Plus, when there was little new software available to use with Applesoft.
APPLESOFT I
Although Wozniak had written some floating point routines into the Integer Basic ROM, AppleII users needed a version of Basic that would make floating point math easier to do, particularly for business use (where the number to the right of the decimal point is as important as the one to left). Apple decided to license a 6502 version of a floating point BASIC from Microsoft Corporation. Back in 1977, Microsoft was producing BASIC interpreters for nearly every microcomputer that was produced. The version Apple purchased was almost identical to the MITS extended BASIC that Microsoft had previously written for the Altair 8800.<4>,<5>
This BASIC was named "Applesoft", and was released in November of 1977 on cassette. It was loaded as a 10K program that looked to the computer just like an Integer BASIC program, though only a small part of it really was. To make it easy to load and start from cassette, the Applesoft interpreter was attached to the end of a short Integer BASIC program. When the Integer program was run, it poked some values into memory and jumped to the start of the machine language section, which relocated the Applesoft interpreter to the lower part of memory (at $800), just after the memory that held the screen display.
Using this version of Applesoft (which later became known as ApplesoftI) could be frustrating. It took several minutes to load from the cassette tape, and it was not dependable. If the wrong key was pressed while entering or running an Applesoft program, the program that was being run could be wiped out, and the Applesoft interpreter itself would have to be reloaded from cassette. However, few users knew how to make use of the floating point routines that Wozniak had written into the Integer ROM, so this unreliable Applesoft BASIC became the only practical means of doing floating point math on the AppleII.
Aside from the reliability issue, another difficulty with Applesoft involved hi-resolution graphics. Although the AppleII was capable of displaying it, the Applesoft interpreter extended up into the memory used by the hi-res screen, and so prevented its use. Furthermore, this early version had no built-in commands to manage hi-res graphics.<5>
ApplesoftI came with a manual that was 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches in size, and sported a blue cover with square glued binding.<6> This came to be known as the "blue book" (recall that the reference book for the computer itself was affectionately known as the "red book"). When starting the interpreter after loading it from the cassette, a screen was display announcing that Applesoft was copyright 1977 by Apple and Microsoft. It then asked the user for the memory size of his computer, and gave options of allowing either LET and REM statements or the use of lo-res graphics. The names of the lo-res graphics commands were very different from those that existed in Integer BASIC (and in the later versions of Applesoft). The commands were:
PLTG = Go to lo-res graphics mode
TEX = Go to text mode
PLTC N = Set color to N (0-15)
PLTP X,Y = Plot square at X,Y
PLTH X1,X2,Y = Plot horizontal line from X1 to X2 at Y
PLTV Y1,Y2,X = Plot vertical line from Y1 to Y2 at X
There was a note about these commands in the reference card included with ApplesoftI that warned about using graphics coordinates only between 0 and 39, or a program could "self-destruct". Apparently it lacked the error checking that could prevent the plotting of lines from spilling over into the text of the Applesoft program itself.<6>,<7>
The A.P.P.L.E. user group published a patch in 1978 that allowed programmers to avoid the question about using LET and REM statements versus lo-res graphics, and use the graphics only. The author of the patch pointed out that the LET statements were not necessary ("A = 3" worked just as well as "LET A = 3"). The REMark statements could be simulated by putting them at the end of a GOTO line (where they were ignored by the interpreter), and the GOTO could just jump to the following line:
530 GOTO 540: REM LINE 540 SETS VARIABLE N.
540 N = 2
Additional patches were made available for some of the other bugs found in ApplesoftI.<8>
APPLESOFT II
In spring 1978, Randy Wigginton and some others at Apple made some needed revisions to Applesoft. Using a cross-assembler running on a North Star Horizon (Z-80) microcomputer, they fixed the known bugs and added other commands to control features unique to the AppleII. These commands included the ones needed to draw and manipulate hi-res graphics. Also, the lo-res graphics commands were renamed to be more consistent with the equivalent commands in Integer BASIC (GR, HLIN, VLIN, etc.) This version was called "ApplesoftII", and eventually it was available in five forms: Cassette RAM and Diskette RAM (which loaded to the same memory locations that interfered with hi-res graphics as did ApplesoftI), Firmware card ROM, Language card RAM, and finally main board ROM (in the AppleII Plus).
When ApplesoftII was started up from cassette or diskette versions, the display screen now showed a copyright date of 1978 by Apple Computer, Inc., and 1976 by Microsoft (which may be either their copyright date for the original Microsoft BASIC, or possibly for Microsoft's first 6502 version).<6> This RAM version of ApplesoftII used memory from $800-$2FFF, and the Applesoft BASIC program itself was loaded beginning at $3000. When the versions that came on ROM and for the Language Card RAM were released, the BASIC program could load at $800, and much more memory was available for it. Some of this extra space (in high memory) was reclaimed by DOS when the Disk II was released, however.<5>
Applesoft in the original IIe was unchanged from the II Plus version. When the IIc was introduced in 1984, however, Apple programmers had cautiously made a few useful changes to the language:
o Input processing was changed to allow lowercase entry of Applesoft commands (they were translated into uppercase)
o Screen output commands (PRINT, TAB, HTAB, etc.) were modified to more properly handle the 80-column screen
o Program lines (when LISTed) were changed to begin in column 2, making screen editing easier
o All of the cassette tape routines (LOAD, SAVE, SHLOAD, STORE, and RECALL) were removed, since the hardware did not support cassette I/O. The keywords were still in the token table, but now pointed to the same memory vector as the ampersand ("&") command.
o Patches were made to the lo-res graphics commands (GR, HLIN, VLIN, PLOT, and SCRN) to work with double lo-res graphics. However, a bug was introduced that allowed PLOTting vertically to areas outside of the double lo-res graphics screen, which would land right in the beginning of the $800 space where the Applesoft program text was located (similar to the "plot" bug in ApplesoftI).
When the AppleIIe Enhanced ROMs were made available, Applesoft in those ROMs had undergone some similar modifications. All the above IIc changes were added, with the exception that double lo-res graphics capability was not added (lack of ROM space), and the cassette I/O commands were not removed (since the cassette input and output port was still present).
The version of Applesoft on the AppleIIGS closely resembled the AppleIIc variant, the only exception being a fix of the double lo-res PLOTting bug. However, a bug in the SCRN function that applied to double lo-res mode was not fixed. No changes to Applesoft from the IIc version appeared in the AppleIIc Plus.<9>
The manuals written for ApplesoftII were far more comprehensive than either the older "Blue book" or the Integer BASIC manual. It gave not only programming examples for each of the commands, but included much more information about the various ways in which each Applesoft statement could be used. It also mentioned some of the differences between Applesoft and Integer (for those who wanted to convert their older programs), and gave a little information about the internals of Applesoft to aid in creating machine language additions to the language. Curiously, the manuals that have been reprinted even as late as 1990 by Addison-Wesley have included an odd cautionary note to programmers. In a section in the index about "reserved words" (words reserved as Applesoft commands), it advises against using "XPLOT" as a variable name, stating that "it is a reserved word that does not correspond to a current Applesoft statement." What is apparently meant by this comment is that at one time Apple intended to extend the language and add another command "XPLOT" to it, probably working with HPLOT in the same way that XDRAW complements DRAW in doing hi-res graphics. Examination of the command table within the Applesoft interpreter shows thereis no entry labeled "XPLOT", and a disassembly of the interpreter shows no preliminary code to support the command. Somehow this precaution persisted to the present day and has never been removed, even though it is extremely unlikely that Applesoft will ever be upgraded.<10>
Particularly helpful for programmers was the foresight to include a simple extension called the "ampersand hook". If Applesoft came across the "&" symbol while interpreting a line, it jumped to a known location in memory and left it to the programmer to insert the correct code to add a machine language extension to the language. With the publication of important information about the internals of Applesoft in 1980, assembly language programmers could now add statements to do things that could not be done with the language as it was originally created. Music, extended graphics, IF-THEN-ELSE logic, and even the missing "XPLOT" command could be added to the language. The only limits were the author's imagination (and available memory).
The importance of Applesoft as an influence to productivity on the AppleII cannot be overstated. Since the release of the AppleII Plus in 1979, every variety of AppleII has contained Applesoft in virtually an unchanged form. This has made it possible for anybody to write programs that all other AppleII users will be able to use, since the language does not have to be purchased or added. If there were thousands of Integer BASIC programs from the two years when Integer AppleII's were produced exclusively, there are hundreds of thousands of Applesoft programs that appeared over that subsequent thirteen years. Even today, it is not uncommon for an applications program to include a configuration module written in Applesoft using the disk commands available with BASIC.SYSTEM in ProDOS. It is often faster to write such a program in BASIC, and the author knows without a doubt that his customer will be able to run it.
APPLESOFT 3 (?)
In 1979 there were rumors at the West Coast Computer Faire about an enhancement to ApplesoftII that was in the works at Apple. It would possibly be called Applesoft3, and would be as much of an enhancement over ApplesoftII as that version was to ApplesoftI. Supposedly it was intended to merge DOS and BASIC, and would include such powerful functions as IF-THEN-ELSE, PRINT USING, WINDOW, and VIEW PORT. It was predicted to be a RAM version only, and would be about 24K in size. Knowing the events that actually followed, this rumored BASIC was probably the "Business Basic" released with the AppleIII, rather than an enhancement for the AppleII.<11>
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NEXT INSTALLMENT: Languages, cont.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTES
<1> Doms, Dennis. "KansasFest 1991", A2-Central, Sep 1991, p. 7.57.
<2> -----. (ad), PEEKing At Call-A.P.P.L.E., Vol 2, 1979, p. 62.
<3> -----. AppleII BASIC Programming Manual, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981.
<4> Chien, Philip. "The First Ten Years: A Look Back", The AppleII Review, Fall/Winter 1986, p. 12.
<5> Golding, Val J. "Applesoft From Bottom To Top", Call-A.P.P.L.E. In Depth #1, 1981, p. 8.
<6> Bernsten, Jeff. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Apr 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<7> Arkley, John. (personal telephone call), Sep 9, 1991.
<8> -----. "Apple Patches", PEEKing At Call-A.P.P.L.E., Vol 1, 1978, p. 40.
<9> Weyhrich, Steven. "Applesoft Miscellaneous Information", Applesoft Concordance v1.0, Dec 1989.
<10> Kamins, Scott. "Appendix D Reserved Words", Applesoft BASIC Programmer's Reference Manual, 1982, 1983.
<11> Aldrich, Darrell. "The Computer Faire And The Apple", PEEKing At Call-A.P.P.L.E., Vol 2, 1979, p. 158.

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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1991, Zonker Software
(PART 17 -- LANGUAGES, CONT.)
[v1.0 :: 22 Jan 92]
APPLE PASCAL
Applesoft was easy to use because it was interactive. You entered a command, and could immediately try it out. The disadvantage was a lack of more powerful commands, and it could be difficult to create large and complex programs. Efforts were begun within Apple to develop a more comprehensive language for the II, one that could be updated and modified if necessary. Since Applesoft was in ROM, it was more expensive and difficult for the end-user to install any upgrades to that language.
In 1979 Apple Pascal and the Language System was released. It sold for the steep price of $495, and came on four 5.25 floppy disks (all in the format of the Pascal disk system, of course). It also included the ROMs to change 13 sector disk controllers into 16 sector controllers, and the Language Card to plug into slot 0. As discussed in previous segments of this History, the Language Card was a 16K RAM card that made an AppleII into a full 64K RAM computer. Because of the extra available RAM, the Pascal system could load into memory without having to avoid the space used by the Applesoft (or Integer BASIC) interpreter. And with some complicated bank switching, even routines in the Monitor could be used if needed.
Apple chose to use the Pascal standard defined by the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). To make portability between various different computers possible, UCSD Pascal programs were compiled into a specialized code called "P-code". This "P-code" program could then be executed on any computer that had a proper interpreter. An Apple Pascal program could, then, run a little faster than an Applesoft program (since it was compiled), but not as fast as assembly language. The extra power it provided made it an attractive choice for some programmers.
The earliest version of Apple Pascal got complaints from users because it would not support lowercase (for those who had modified their Apple to display lowercase), and it was so large that it was quite awkward to use by those who owned only one disk drive.
Since the original UCSD Pascal language was designed to work with a full 80 columns of text, this was somewhat of a problem for the 40-column AppleII. For those AppleII's that did not have an 80-column card, Apple Pascal would display half of the screen at a time. In the Pascal Editor, entry of a line longer than 40 columns would cause the screen to scroll to the left. Using the arrow keys to move back to the left would scroll the screen back the other way. If needed, you could jump directly to the other half of the screen by pressing Ctrl-A.<1>
The limitation of Apple Pascal came from the need for a user to own the Language Card (or one of the later equivalent 16K RAM cards), and the fact that it was incompatible with the large library of DOS 3.2 programs and files that were already available. Eventually, with the proliferation of the 64K AppleIIe and 128K AppleIIc, a platform for Pascal applications was available. However, by that time the primary disk system being promoted by Apple for the II was ProDOS, and Apple never officially released a version of their original UCSD Pascal that would run under that operating system.
The Apple Pascal system has evolved up to version 1.3, which will support the more advanced features of the AppleIIe and IIc, but does not work as well with the IIGS as some would like. Instead, IIGS programmers now have versions of Pascal distributed by third party companies (like ORCA/Pascal from ByteWorks) created to take full advantage of that machine in 16-bit mode.
INSTANT PASCAL
This version of Pascal was written by Think Technologies, and Apple later bought the rights to sell it as a program for teaching Pascal. It would run only on the AppleIIc or on a 128K IIe because it used the double hi-res graphics mode, functioning much like a Macintosh "desktop" with multiple resizable windows. It had a mouse-based editor that checked program syntax as each line was entered (as did the older Integer BASIC) and automatically indented lines and boldfaced Pascal reserved words. Since it was intended for teaching, it also had a single-step trace function and the ability to modify the contents of variables while a program was running. Though good for learning the language, it was quite slow because of the overhead needed to display everything in graphics, and because it was an interpreted version of Pascal (instead of a compiled version).
Fans of the original Apple Pascal complained loudly after Apple introduced Instant Pascal. After this new Pascal came out, Apple didn't seem motivated to make any further upgrades to the older Pascal, which still used the original Pascal disk system format (Instant Pascal was made to run directly under ProDOS).<2>
FORTRAN
Released by Apple in 1980, Apple FORTRAN ran under the Pascal operating system. It cost $200 (over and above the $495 needed to get the Language System). Programs written in FORTRAN for other computers could run with little modification under Apple FORTRAN (if a user needed that ability). As a compiled language, it ran faster than Applesoft, and probably also faster than Pascal, since FORTRAN wasn't translated into an intermediate "P-code". Apple's FORTRAN had many bugs in it, though, and since its introduction in 1980 it was never upgraded. By September 1986 it had disappeared from their product catalogs.
Another way for an AppleII user to get FORTRAN was to buy the Microsoft Z-80 Softcard for $345 and Microsoft FORTRAN for $200. This version of FORTRAN was more full-featured than Apple's, and offered some advantages in usability. It did not require changing to the 16 sector disk controller ROMs (if you didn't want to). Also, standard Microsoft BASIC (which was more advanced than Applesoft) was included in the Softcard package.<3>
In June of 1987 Pecan Software released FORTRAN for the IIGS. It ran under ProDOS 16 (GS/OS), but still used the UCSD format for its FORTRAN by creating a ProDOS file that acted as a UCSD volume.<3>
OTHER LANGUAGES
PILOT: Designed primarily for creating tutorial modules, this language allowed educators to design interactive programs to instruct students and test them on their responses during the process. One early version was written in Applesoft and was text-based. Apple later released their own version that ran under the Pascal system for $125.<4>
FORTH: This was a interesting language described as "extensible". It had a number of built-in commands, and new ones could be added as easily as typing its definition. These added commands could then be used in larger programs. Two versions sold in the late 1970's were "Apple Forth 1.6" (Cap'n Software) and "6502 Forth 1.2" (Programma International). Apple Forth 1.6 was a good package, but it used a unique disk system that was not compatible with DOS 3.2. Programma's Forth was more extensive, but also more complicated.<5>,<6>
LOGO: Developed from LISP (LISt Processing) language to be an aid for learning, Logo has been popular over the years in the school environment. Apple's first version of Logo (which operated under the Pascal system) could run on any 64K AppleII, while Apple Logo II (released in July 1984 for $100) ran under ProDOS on AppleII's with 128K memory.<7>
COBOL: This language has had limited availability for the AppleII. The only version I am aware of was from Microsoft. It sold for $599 and ran under the CP/M system with the Microsoft Z-80 Softcard.<8>
C: A language that is currently popular among "power" programmers. It has some of the structure of Pascal, but also some of the low-level power of assembly language.
ASSEMBLERS
A large variety of AppleII assemblers have been available over the years. The earliest one, of course, was the mini-assembler that came with every Integer BASIC AppleII. The one was only good for immediate entry of assembly code; if changes were needed, much of the code would likely have to be re-entered from the beginning. Some other assemblers available in the early days include:
TED/ASM: Developed at Apple and smuggled out the doors around May 1978, this assembler had memory conflicts with DOS, so they couldn't be used together. The text editor module was written by Randy Wigginton, and the assembler was written by Gary Shannon. In the early days, it was the only assembler they had available that would run on an AppleII.<9>
RANDY'S WEEKEND ASSEMBLER: Also written by Randy Wigginton, this one slipped out of Apple in September 1978. The text editor was written mostly in SWEET-16 (Wozniak's 16-bit emulator in the Integer BASIC ROM), and was therefore slow. Unfortunately, it had its own set of bugs.<9>
MICROPRODUCTS ASSEMBLER: The first commercially available assembler for the AppleII, this was a "four character assembler", meaning that labels (a designation identifying a line or variable) could only be four characters long. Later it was expanded to work with six character labels. Despite some annoying bugs, it was inexpensive at only $39.95.<10>
SC-ASSEMBLER II: Probably the second AppleII assembler that was commercially distributed. Externally it was similar to the Microproducts assembler, but was better supported and regularly upgraded. It was very compact, and achieved that goal by making heavy use of SWEET-16 code. Consequently, it was slow when assembling. The author, Bob Sander-Cederlof, later started a popular newsletter called "Apple Assembly Lines" to both support his product and to be an information center for 6502 assembly language tips and techniques.<10>
BIG MAC/MERLIN: Sold originally by A.P.P.L.E. as "Big Mac", and later under the name "Merlin" by Southwestern Data Systems (later known as Roger Wagner Publishing). This assembler has been well supported over the years and has been extensively upgraded. It is one of the few remaining assemblers that have moved on to the 65816 GS/OS world, while retaining full compatibility with the previous 8-bit 6502 versions. Currently it is sold as Merlin 816 (including an 8-bit version) and Merlin 16+. The author, Glen Bredon, has also done many other programs and utilities for the AppleII.
ORCA/M: Sold by the ByteWorks, the current version was chosen by Apple Computer as the official assembler of the APW (Apple Programmer's Workshop) programming environment on the IIGS. ByteWorks has since expanded its product line to include versions of Pascal, C, BASIC, and other IIGS languages.
APPLE EDASM: This was Apple's original "official" assembler for the IIPlus and later 8-bit AppleII's. Though no longer actively supported (ORCA/M having supplanted it in the APW environment), the early versions for DOS 3.3 were included on the Apple Toolkit disk, which also had a hi-res character generator that could be interfaced into Applesoft programs. The early ProDOS versions of EDASM were sold with a 65c02 debugger called BUGBYTER.
UCSD PASCAL ASSEMBLER: Part of the Apple Pascal package, it was popular because it had macro capability, could do conditional assembly and create relocatable code, and had a good text editor. However, programs created with it could not be run on a standard (non-Language card) Apple, because there was no utility available early on to transfer the files to DOS 3.2. (Later, A.P.P.L.E. published transfer utilities called "HUFFIN" and "PUFFIN" for movement to and from DOS 3.3, named affectionately after Apple's "MUFFIN" utility for DOS3.2 to 3.3 file transfers).
MISCELLANEOUS OTHER ASSEMBLERS: ASM/65, sold by Programma; "EAT" (Edit and Assemble Text) sold by Software Concepts, and written in Integer BASIC; and L.I.S.A., sold by Laser Systems.<10>
MACROS VS. SCRIPTS
With the increase in complexity of applications programs has also come a secondary level of programming. This extension has been called a "macro", meaning that a single step would accomplish several separate ones that would ordinarily take more effort. Early examples of this were available in some DOS3.3 utilities, where pressing Ctrl-C from the keyboard (for example) might cause the word "CATALOG" to appear on the command line. In this example, a macro was used to save keystrokes and speed up repetitive activities. Similar macros were available for BASIC programmers, making a control key sequence print many of the common BASIC keywords, speeding program entry. (This type of macro was different from macros used in some assemblers, such as Big Mac/Merlin and the Pascal assembler. Here a "macro" was a new command that was defined to represent several standard assembly operation codes. This did not shorten the final resulting program, but made it possible to more easily enter repeated sequences of assembly codes).
Application programs began to take this concept and include a macro capability (either offered with the program or as a third-party add-on product). With time, some of these macro features have become so complex that they have become programming languages in their own right. In fact, many of them are being referred to as "scripting" languages, since they "direct" the function of a program, as a director uses a script to film a movie. This has been most popular with telecommunications programs, where the process of logging on to a remote computer, downloading new messages, and uploading replies is automated with a script that analyzes the responses from the other computer and takes the appropriate action. It has also been popular in programs like Applewriter (WPL, Word Processing Language) and AppleWorks (UltraMacros), where each has had its own method of automating repetitive tasks.
A LEAP IN COMPLEXITY
The environment for writing, compiling, and debugging programs has evolved along with the applications created by those programs. Originally, the AppleII and other computers of the day were used in a "command-line interface" environment. This means that each command was typed one at a time, and sometimes "batched" together to simplify a repetitive process (as with EXEC files under Apple DOS). An example of this command-line interface can be found by starting up Applesoft (or by using MS-DOS on an IBM). Anything that is to be done with this language has to be started by typing the proper command from the keyboard. Misspell the word "LOAD", and an error message is printed and it will stubbornly refuse to do what you wanted. The same command line is used for entering the lines of a BASIC program, or RUNning the program. This method was used because it was what programmers of the day were accustomed to. Nearly every computer prior to the microcomputer revolution worked in the same way, even if it was done using punched cards instead of being typed at a keyboard.
Minor differences were used from time to time in different computer languages, but none really took effect and changed the way in which people used computers until the release of the Macintosh in 1984. Macintosh used a radically different method of operating a computer. Instead of typing each command, the user would point to something on the screen and "click" on it using the mouse pointing device. And Macintosh programmers extended this concept to every application released with it. This different environment has been called a "graphic user interface" (GUI), and uses the concept of objects rather than typed commands. To delete a file, you don't type "DELETE PROGRAM", but point to the picture (icon) representing the file and drag it onto a picture of a trash can. This "desktop" includes more complex commands chosen from menus that appear in boxes called "windows" that pull down like a window shade from command category names on a "menu bar".
As the command line disappeared, so did traditional methods of handling program data. Words were still typed into a document on a word processing program, but many of the features that set up margins, tabs, and page breaks were translated into graphic icons selected with the mouse. Eventually this progressed into the world of the programmer. The text of computer program was entered much like any word processor text, and the command to compile it into an executable program was now selected from the menu bar at the top of the screen.
A step further along this path is the concept of "object-oriented programming" (OOP). In this method, the details of windows, menu bars, buttons, and other GUI standards are used to create other programs that use a consistent interface. Instead of having to laboriously define at the byte level how to create a window box, the computer already knows how to do this; the programmer just has to tell the computer how big it should be and where to place it on the screen. OOP programming allows smaller modules (called "objects") to be used to build a more complex final product. A language that works in an OOP environment is finally available on an AppleII, but before we get to it, a little more introduction is necessary.
HYPERTEXT
"Hypertext" is a term created by Computer Lib author Ted Nelson that refers to a method of allowing a user to move from one concept to another in a text by linking the two concepts together.<11> The first type of program that used "hypertext" was a simple text based one. Certain words in the text of a document being viewed were marked to indicate that other information about that word was available elsewhere. Moving a cursor to that word and pressing a key would jump to the additional facts. For example, in an article about the history of music, the word "sonata" might be highlighted. Selecting this word could jump to another article that discusses sonatas in greater detail. When finished, the user could jump back over this link to the place where he left off in the original article.
"Tutor-Tech" was the first comprehensive hypertext system available for the AppleII series. It worked on 8-bit AppleII's, and was designed primarily for use in a classroom setting. Entirely graphics-based, it defined certain parts of the screen as "buttons", and moving the pointer to that area could allow the program to move to a different screen or cause something else to happen. As with any graphic interface, icons that represented certain functions were used to designate commands (i.e., to exit the program, you point to a picture of door labelled "EXIT").
In 1986 a remarkable program became available on the Macintosh that was, for a time, included with each Mac sold. "HyperCard" was a comprehensive system that used the idea of hypertext, plus added a programming language that consisted of words and phrases as close to English as anything else previously available on a microcomputer. The HyperCard system took care of the details of how to draw boxes and buttons, and left it to the user to define where to put them and how to label them. And because of the language (which Apple called "HyperTalk"), user actions could do more than just move to a different picture (called a "card" by the program). It was possible to design simple databases, games, and much more using this system. Because it called a single part of an application a "card", a collection of cards comprising an entire HyperCard application was called a "stack".
With the release of the IIGS, the power was finally available in the AppleII world to create a similar product. But it didn't come first from Apple Computer; instead, Roger Wagner Publishing introduced a product called "HyperStudio" in May of 1989. This program used the super hi-res graphics modes accessible on the IIGS to create its own type of stacks. Like HyperCard on the Macintosh, HyperStudio used buttons and objects on the screen to direct movement through a stack application. It also included a hardware card that made it possible to easily digitize sounds to use in stacks. Though more extensive than Tutor-Tech, it was not quite as flexible as HyperCard, since it lacked a true programming language.
In January 1991, Apple released HyperCard IIGS, a conversion of the Macintosh product. This finally made a fully programmable hypermedia environment possible on the IIGS. Later in the year Roger Wagner Publishing responded with an updated version of HyperStudio that also included a programming language similar to HyperText that afforded more control over that stacks that were created. Although neither of these products gives the user power over details of the computer system itself (as does "C" or assembly), it does make it possible for a beginner to create programs that have outstanding graphics and sound without having to know exactly how the hardware produces these effects. This, along with the flexibility possible with these products, has led Dennis Doms in an A2-Central feature article to suggest that HyperCard IIGS (and now also possibly HyperStudio) will become the "Applesoft" of the 1990's; that is, an AppleIIGS user with HyperCard IIGS can create programs as easily as the Applesoft programmer of 1980 could do, but with far more attractive results.<11>
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NEXT INSTALLMENT: Software
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NOTES
<1> Walls, Keith S. "The Fantastic New World Of Apple Pascal", PEEKing At Call-A.P.P.L.E., Vol 3, 1980, p. 237.
<2> Howerton, Christopher, and Purvis, Lee. "The AppleIIGS Pascal Revue", Call-A.P.P.L.E., Apr 1988, pp. 12-17.
<3> Winston, Alan B. "The Multi Lingual Apple", PEEKing At Call-A.P.P.L.E., Vol 3, 1980, pp. 222-224.
<4> Vanderpool, Tom. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Mar & Aug 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<5> Winston, Alan B. "The Multi-Lingual Apple: Languages", PEEKing At Call-A.P.P.L.E., Vol 2, 1979, pp. 183-190.
<6> Cap'n Software's version was written by John Draper, the legendary phone phreaker "Cap'n Crunch" who had worked at Apple in its early days. During his time at Apple he had designed one of the first peripheral cards for the AppleII: A telephone controlling device that also just happened to be capable of hacking into long distance telephone switching systems, and was therefore quite illegal.
<7> -----. Apple Computer, Inc, AppleIIc Memory Expansion Card Owner's Guide, Singapore, 1986, pp. 2-4.
<8> -----. (ads), Call-A.P.P.L.E. In Depth #1, 1981, p. 106.
<9> Hertzfeld, Andy. "A Consumer's Guide To AppleII Assemblers", PEEKing At Call-A.P.P.L.E., Vol 2, 1979, pp. 164-166.
<10> Hyde, Randall. "Assembler Maxi-Reviews", PEEKing At Call-A.P.P.L.E., Vol 3, 1980, pp. 240-246.
<11> Doms, Dennis. "An Applesoft for the 1990's", A2-Central, Mar 1991, p. 7.09-7.13.

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APPLE II HISTORY
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Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1992, Zonker Software
(PART 18 -- SOFTWARE)
[v1.1 :: 15 Sep 92]
"WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT AN APPLE CAN DO?"
One of the most important features to a customer considering any computer is, "What can I do with it?" It might be an attractive-looking box, with incredible features and potential, but if all it can do is run demonstration programs, it won't be very useful. In the early years of the microcomputer era, most users had to either write their own software or use programs written by some other amateur. "Commercial" software written by "professionals" was unavailable, except possibly from the company that produced the computer. And unless the user knew assembly language and the internals of the computer intimately (which depended on the willingness of the manufacturer to divulge those secrets), the only application software available was likely to be written in BASIC. Anyone who has used the versions of BASIC available at that time are well aware of the quirks and limits placed on the programmer by that language and by the small memory sizes available (see discussion in Parts 16 and 17).
As we have already seen, the AppleII came with few intentional secrets; the primary limitation on information distributed with it was the time required for Apple to produce a printed manual. When the first manual finally did arrive, it included a commented source code listing for the entire Monitor and all its supporting routines. This openness had a lot to do with the early success of the AppleII. Other manufacturers, such as Atari (with their models 400 and 800, based on the same 6502 as the AppleII) and Texas Instruments (who made a 16-bit machine called the TI 99/4), kept everything very secret and thus tried to maintain some control over distribution of software. This may have been done to ensure that only high quality programs were released, but more likely they were concerned about controlling who received royalties on sales of the software. Unfortunately for them, it choked the development of amateur software authors (who may have later become professional authors).
As an example of this corporate secrecy, one early programmer named John Harris wanted to write games for the Atari, but could not get the company to release any information on how certain effects were achieved in their commercially released games. He was bright enough to eventually figure out the secrets himself, and became one of the wealthy software "stars" of the late 1970's and early 1980's.<1> Computer producers of the time did not yet grasp the principal of the software/hardware loop: Available software stimulates sales of hardware (computers and peripherals), which further enlarges the software market, which sells more computers, and so on. The industry was too new to know how to do much more than make and sell new computers.
SOFTWARE ON THE APPLE II
In the AppleII part of the computer world, the first distribution of software came from home authors. These people were usually first-time computer buyers who were captivated by the excitement of owning their own computer, and then had to sit down to actually find something useful or fun to do with it. They often brought their first programming efforts to show off at the computer store where they had bought their machine. Since the store owners had very little software to offer to their potential customers, some of these authors ended up with the opportunity of having their programs duplicated and made available for sale. Ken and Roberta Williams started their company "On-Line Systems" (later Sierra On-Line) this way with a game called Mystery House, one of the first adventure games featuring hi-res graphics pictures.<2>
Other early software came from the first user groups. These usually developed out of the gatherings that inevitably took place at the computer stores, as mentioned above. Since the people who actually used these computers day in and day out at home had a better grasp of how they worked and what could be done to work around problems, the store owners often ended up referring their new customers to these groups for the detailed help they needed. Not only were there the older groups (like the Homebrew Computer Club), but many newer, more machine-specific groups developed. Names like A.P.P.L.E. (Apple PugetSound Program Library Exchange) and International Apple Core became known well beyond their local beginnings as they began to distribute their newsletters and magazines to a national audience. Later, they became major sources of informational articles, utilities, and application programs that were as yet unavailable anywhere else.
Many of the programs sold by A.P.P.L.E. were popular with AppleII owners. A.P.P.L.E. was designed as a club with dues to pay for the collection of programs, all considered to be public domain, but sold to members at a nominal price to cover the costs of duplication. A.P.P.L.E.'s programs were written by amateur home users who had a unique idea, were able to make it work, and found that they had a product that was useful to others as well. Originally collected on cassettes, and later on disks, some of the programs were eventually made available as commercial products by authors that knew they had something unique that would be in demand by Apple owners hungry for something to use on their computer. A.P.P.L.E. sold many of these as GamePaks, which contained several games on the same tape.<3>
Understanding that a large variety of available programs would help encourage more sales for the AppleII, Apple took some steps to help software authors get their programs on the market. In 1980 Apple employee Mike Kane suggested that Apple help distribute programs that were good, but whose authors couldn't get a publisher to distribute them or didn't have access to computer stores that were willing to sell it for them. Kane formed a division within Apple, called it "Special Delivery Software", and promoted both third-party and Apple-sponsored programs under that label. Between 1979 and 1981 a number of different programs were sold through Special Delivery Software, sporting the Apple logo and displaying a standardized appearance (packages, manuals, etc.), all listed in a catalog that could be used by dealers for orders. Apple Writer was originally distributed in this fashion, as were other less well-known programs such as Tax Planner, Plan 80, Script II (for Pascal), and MBA (a spreadsheet). Apple also established the Apple Software Bank and used it for special programs through 1980. It was more clearly a set of Apple-sponsored programs than were those sold through Special Delivery Software, and some of them programs, such as Quick File and Apple Plot, achieved strong popularity and were moved more into the mainstream of sales for Apple.<4>,<5>
SOFTWARE EVOLUTION: THE COMMAND LINE INTERFACE
Some of the earliest programs available for the AppleII had a user interface that was quite similar to the ones available for use with time-sharing terminals on mainframe computers: A command was typed on a line, and the computer would execute that command and return with a prompt for the next command. This method was the necessary way of doing things, because video displays were expensive and not in common use. This was particularly true for those who used remote terminals, which usually consisted of a paper-based glorified typewriter connected by a phone line to a mainframe. This device was physically limited to allowing commands to be entered one line at a time. The concept of displaying things on the screen in any order desired, not necessarily going from top to bottom (as would be necessary if it was being typed on a piece of paper in an teletype) was difficult for many programmers of the time to grasp. Moreover, for design purposes, the software code built-in to a computer (like the AppleII) that handled a command line style of interface was much simpler (and shorter) than what would be needed for a more complex interface. With memory at a premium price, simple would have to do. Thus, the AppleII used the command line interface in both the Monitor and in Integer BASIC. These could be used as building blocks to create more complicated software, once people figured out how to do it.
The command line interface, though simple to implement in a program, had the disadvantage of requiring the user to know (and correctly type) the names of the commands. For example, a word processing program might use the command "LOAD" to get a text file into memory, the command "EDIT" to begin to make changes to that file, and then the command "SAVE" to put a copy of the completed work back onto tape or disk. "SORT", with various pieces of modifying information called "parameters", might be the necessary command to arrange the information in a database file into the desired order. Other commands might be needed to search for a specific word, replace a word, and move lines around. In fact, early word processors were often quite similar to writing a program in BASIC: Each line had its own line number, and inserting new lines often meant having to renumber the lines to make a new line available between two existing ones. If extra text had to be added to a line in the process of editing, making it too long, the end of that line might have to be re-typed into the following line and deleted from the current one.
More sophisticated text editing programs eventually began to appear that took advantage of the fact that the user was not working with a typewriter and paper, but with a video screen. These "full-screen editors" would allow use of the arrow keys (or the IJKM "diamond" on the keyboard) to move the cursor around on the entire screen, and it made text entry and later editing easier. As they were further refined, these newer word processors even allowed what had previously been impossible: Text could be typed in the middle of a line, and the text to the right of the cursor would be magically pushed to the right (even "wrapping around" to the next line if needed) as things were typed. Deletions were just as easy. What was still cumbersome was the need to have specialized commands, often entered as combinations of the Control key and another letter, to carry out some of the functions of search and replace, copy, and so on. Moreover, these command keys were often different from one program to another, with Ctrl-F in one program being used to begin a "find" process, and in another program as a command to jump to the "first" line of the file. As the full-screen method of text editing became more standard, the command-line type of interface became less commonly used.
SOFTWARE EVOLUTION: MENUS
As mentioned above, one of the problems with the command-line method was the requirement for the user to have a good memory for the names of the various commands necessary for the program to function. If the command name was typed incorrectly, or if a specific parameter was omitted or given in the wrong order, an error message would appear, causing great anxiety and hand-wringing to those who were still trying to overcome their fear of using a computer. As an alternative for certain functions in a program, the concept of "menus" became more popular (and was actually used as early as the Apple Color Demo program that came on cassette with the first AppleII's). A menu was simply a list of possible functions a program could carry out. It still often used a command style prompt ("Type choice") to allow entry of the desired item on the menu, but gave a little more ease-of-use since a specific command name did not have to be memorized. A further enhancement of this style of program construction was called a "magic menu", after a sample program written in BASIC and distributed by Apple. In this type of menu, the user had the option of typing the number of the desired menu entry at the prompt, or he could use the arrow keys to move a large inverse bar up and down the menu to that item. After selecting the item with the arrow key, it was executed by pressing the RETURN key. This came to be known as the "point and shoot" method of command selection.
AppleWorks (which will be discussed in detail later) took the "magic menu" interface to its highest form, adding the metaphor of "file cards". One menu appeared on the screen enclosed in a box, with a "tab" on the top left of that box. This box resembled a 3x5 file card. When a selection was made from the menu, another file card would appear on top of the previous one, slightly down and to the right, leaving the tab on the lower box still visible. This allowed stacking of menus, with a clear path identifying which menu led to the current menu. The ESC (escape) key was used to "back up" one level, erasing the menu card on top and re-drawing the menu card underneath it. Also, prompts were displayed on the top line of the screen that told where ESC would take you, and what function was currently being executed. Part of the success of AppleWorks stemmed from its ease of use in this respect. Not only were there no cryptic commands that had to be remembered and typed, but the use of special command keys was reserved for advanced use of the program. And when such special keys were needed, a standard "help" screen was available for quick reference. It was possible to do quite a bit in AppleWorks without the need of even opening the instruction manual.
SOFTWARE EVOLUTION: GRAPHIC USER INTERFACES
One thing necessary to make computers easier for people to use was to overcome both the fear problem and the frustration problem. Those who were inexperienced in the use of computers were often afraid that they would press a button that would cause something terrible to happen. If they overcame the fear problem, they still had to face the frustration of trying to decipher cryptic error messages ("*** TOO MANY PARENS" or "$27 Error"), or lack of success in getting the computer program to do what they wanted it to do.
Adding familiar things to the screen, like the file card menus in AppleWorks, made the fear factor diminish. Making the keys that controlled certain features of that program work consistently from the word processor to the database to the spreadsheet decreased the frustration factor even further. But there were still barriers to overcome in making computers easier to use.
When Lisa appeared on the scene in 1983, and Macintosh in 1984, computer users were exposed to a radically new concept in computer software. These computers lacked the previous standard of typed command input to control programs. Instead, they used a bit-mapped graphics screen to represent a desktop, with pictures (called "icons") that represented a program to run or a file to load. It took the "point and shoot" interface to the limit; you used the mouse to move a pointer on the screen onto an icon representing that program, and then "click" on it to start the program! For more complex control, the Mac used a variation on the "magic menu" system: A "menu bar" at the top of the screen gave a list of command words, arranged horizontally on the same line. Pointing to one of the words and holding down the mouse button would cause a menu to "pull down" like a window shade, displaying several further options available. The desired choice on the menu could be highlighted by moving the mouse to that item (such as "Delete") and the command would be executed. This approach made use of the Lisa and Macintosh considerably easier for the novice computer user, although some commands were also given keyboard equivalents similar to the old "Ctrl" key commands, so a more experienced user could execute some of them without having to take his hands off the keyboard. If AppleWorks could be considered easy enough to use without opening the reference book, this graphic user interface (GUI) was even more so. It also provided a standard environment that all programs written for the Mac could use, making it easier to learn how to use a new program.
Although the 6502 processor did not have the horsepower of the 68000 in the Mac, some programs began to appear for the AppleII that tried to make use of the same concept of overlapping windows, pull-down menus, and a mouse (or joystick) driven pointer. Quark released a program selector called Catalyst that used a similar graphics-based desktop, icons for files, and the point-and-click method of file execution. It was included with some of the early UniDisk 3.5 drives, and on Quark's hard drives. Another company, VersionSoft (from France) had a program called MouseDesk, which was distributed in America by International Solutions. MouseDesk worked just a bit better than Catalyst, but did not do very well as a standalone product, especially with Catalyst being given away free with the new UniDisk. Eventually, International Solutions made MouseDesk available for only ten dollars via mail-order, hoping to get it into general enough use that their other graphic- and mouse-based products would sell better. Although that did not happen, International Solutions did eventually sell the rights to distribution of MouseDesk over to Apple Computer. Apple then modified the program and included it with as a rudimentary desktop (modeled after the Macintosh Finder) for their first versions of ProDOS 16 System software for the AppleIIGS.
With the release of the IIGS, it became possible for better GUI software to be produced for the AppleII. The 65816 processor had a bit more power, and the IIGS provided a better quality graphics environment (via its super hi-res mode) and more available memory than was possible on the older 8-bit AppleII's.
SOFTWARE: APPLE'S GREATEST HITS
It is beyond the scope of this writing to go into much detail about the many programs released over the years, as the sheer volume of them since 1977 is enormous. Even a brief mention of them all could become a book in its own right, but Appendix A contains a listing (in moderate detail) of popular software released over the years. In this segment here I will address in a little more detail three programs that have been particularly influential in the AppleII world: VisiCalc, Apple Writer, and AppleWorks.
By 1980, the AppleII software market had fairly well established itself. This allowed users of the computer to no longer have to write their own programs, but instead move on to simply being able to use them. Softalk magazine, which began in that year, had started nearly from the beginning with an analysis of top selling software of the day. In their second issue (October 1980) their bestseller list first appeared, with the top thirty software programs ranked based on actual sales information obtained by polling retailers across the country. In that first list the top selling program was VisiCalc.
SOFTWARE: VISICALC
A major part of the answer to the question, "What can I do with this computer?" lies in whether or not the software program in question is so important or useful that it literally sells the computer. Robert X. Cringely, in his book "Accidental Empires", put it this way: "VisiCalc was a compelling application-- an application so important that it, alone justified the computer purchase. Such an application was the last element required to turn the microcomputer from a hobbyist's toy into a business machine. No matter how powerful and brilliantly designed, no computer can be successful without a compelling application. To the people who bought them, mainframes were really inventory machines or accounting machines, and minicomputers were office automation machines. The AppleII was a VisiCalc machine."<6>
Visicalc was a way of using a computer that no one had ever thought of before, especially at the time when most computers were mainframes with limited access to the "average" user. VisiCalc was written by Dan Bricklin, a programmer that had decided to enter Harvard Business School in the fall of 1977 and learn a second profession. Because of his programming background, he saw ways in which some of his class work could be simplified through the use of computers. He wrote programs in BASIC on the college time-sharing system to do his financial calculations, but found it tedious to have to re-write the program to deal with each new type of problem.
In a class that dealt with business production, Bricklin learned that some companies used long blackboards (sometimes stretching across several rooms) that were divided into a matrix of rows and columns. Each row and column had a specific definition, and calculations were made based on the contents of each cell (the intersection of a row and a column). If the value of one cell changed, the values of any cell that made use of the first cell's value also had to be changed. Because this was all written on a blackboard, the results had to be checked and re-checked to make sure that something hadn't been missed when changes were made during a planning session. Bricklin conceived of a computerized approach to this production and planning matrix. Even though the computer could not display the entire matrix at once, the video screen could be used as a window on a part of the matrix, and this window could be moved at will to view any part of it. Best of all, the computer could keep track of all the calculations between the various cells, making sure that a change made in one place would be properly reflected in the result of a calculation in another place.
Over a single weekend he wrote a program in BASIC that demonstrated this concept. This demo program was rather slow and could only display a single screen of cells, but it was enough to illustrate the concept. Bricklin teamed up with a friend from MIT, Bob Frankston, and together they looked for a publisher for the program. They found Dan Fylstra, who had graduated from Harvard Business School a couple of years earlier and had started a small software company called Personal Software, which he ran out of his apartment. Fylstra's primary product at the time was a chess program for the AppleII, and he was preparing to release the first commercial version of the adventure game Zork. After he heard what Bricklin and Frankston had in mind, he agreed to help them out. Fylstra loaned an AppleII to them as a platform on which to develop a more full-featured (and faster) machine language version of Bricklin's program. During 1978 and 1979 they worked together, as time permitted, with Bricklin doing the program design and Frankston writing the code. (One design contribution made by Frankston was the idea of using "lookup" tables, which he wanted so he could use the program to calculate his taxes). They did most of their development work on an AppleII emulator running on a minicomputer (much as Apple itself had used a local time-sharing computer for development of the original AppleII Monitor program). They named their program "VisiCalc", and by October 1979 it was ready for release.
At first, VisiCalc was not a big hit. When most customers at computer stores were shown what the program could do, they didn't really grasp the concept behind it well enough to appreciate its possibilities. When business customers who had some computer knowledge came in and saw the program, however, they immediately saw that it could simplify much of what they did. VisiCalc actually sold AppleII's to many customers, and these businessmen managed to sneak the new computers onto their desks (despite company policies that discouraged use of anything but the company's mainframe). The combination of the AppleII's ability to expand its memory up to 48K, and the new DiskII drive to use for quick and easy data storage and retrieval, made VisiCalc an ideal program to sell potential users on this new computer.
Although executives at Apple Computer had been shown a pre-release version of VisiCalc, they also did not really understand the potential of the program. Trip Hawkins, an Apple employee responsible for developing plans to help sell computers to small businesses, could see that this could become a major selling point for getting AppleII's into those businesses. He negotiated with Dan Fylstra about the possibility of Apple purchasing from Personal Software all rights to VisiCalc (thus locking up the market in Apple's favor). However, Apple's president, Mike Markkula, felt that the $1 million in Apple stock offered by Hawkins was too expensive and cancelled the deal. If his decision had been otherwise, the future of the microcomputer industry might have been quite different; however, Apple was headlong in their push to create their next product, the AppleIII, and a million dollar investment in an untried program for this "aging" AppleII was not in their agenda at the time.
Bricklin and Frankston had themselves formed a company called Software Arts, and it was this company that had contracted with Fylstra's Personal Software. As part of their arrangement, they were obligated to create versions of VisiCalc for many other microcomputers, from the TRS-80 to the Commodore PET and eventually to the IBM PC. As sales of VisiCalc grew by leaps and bounds, Personal Software (and Software Arts) became quite wealthy. To more closely identify his company with his flagship product, Fylstra changed its name form Personal Software to VisiCorp. He also hired other programmers to write companion software to extend the usefulness of VisiCalc. These included VisiFile (a database system), VisiSchedule (capable of creating critical path PERT schedules), VisiCalc Business Forecasting Model (a set of business templates for VisiCalc), and VisiTrend/VisiPlot (graphs, trend forecasting, and descriptive statistics).
But despite these additional products, VisiCalc continued to be VisiCorp's cash cow. This, ironically, led to the company's biggest problem, centering around a disagreement about money. VisiCorp's contract with Software Arts guaranteed Bricklin and Frankston a hefty 37.5 percent royalty on each copy of the program that VisiCorp sold. VisiCorp was responsible for marketing and distribution of the program, but it was Software Arts who owned the rights to it, and they had no motivation to change their contract to decrease the royalty percent to a number that was more typical for programmers.
The problem escalated when VisiCorp filed a lawsuit seeking damages because Software Arts was supposedly late in providing them upgrades to VisiCalc. Software Arts countersued, and demanded back the rights to distribute the product themselves. Further complicating matters was the fact that the name "VisiCalc" was a copyright of Software Arts, but a trademark of VisiCorp.<7>
By early 1985, things had worn on to the point where Bricklin decided to end the battle by selling the rights to VisiCalc-- but not to VisiCorp. Instead, Mitch Kapor, who ran the Lotus Development Corporation, purchased the program. Kapor had previously worked for VisiCorp, and had helped write VisiTrend/VisiPlot. After he sold the rights for those programs to VisiCorp, he began design on a spreadsheet program that would run specifically on the IBM PC, with the additional features of limited word processing and the ability to create graphs. His program, Lotus 1-2-3, worked as well on the IBM PC as the original VisiCalc had on the AppleII (the ports of VisiCalc to other machines had never been quite as good as the original), and Lotus eventually captured the spreadsheet market on the IBM. In fact, it became the "compelling application" that helped push that computer platform into prominence. It had, however, made a significant contribution to decreased sales of VisiCalc, and after Lotus succeeded in purchasing it from Software Arts, VisiCalc quietly disappeared from software store shelves.
SOFTWARE: APPLE WRITER
This was certainly not the first word processor for the AppleII, but it was one of the most popular. During the four years that Softalk magazine was in print, Apple Writer rarely (if ever) disappeared from their best selling software list. Even if it was not in the Top Thirty, it usually held some spot on their list of top Word Processors.
The original version was released in 1979. Apple Writer 1.0 had to deal with the limitations of the AppleII in the form of its uppercase-only keyboard and 40-column display. Clearly, a document produced on a computer could be uppercase only, but it was more valuable if it could look more like that produced on a typewriter. To achieve entry of upper and lowercase characters, Apple Writer used inverse text to display uppercase, and normal text to display lowercase. When entering text, an uppercase letter was entered by pressing the ESC key once. This changed the usual cursor box to an inverse caret (^), and the next letter entered would be uppercase (displayed in inverse). If the ESC key were pressed twice in a row, the cursor changed into an inverse plus sign (+), and was now an editing cursor that could be moved through the text.<8> The IJKM diamond on the keyboard was used to move the cursor, just as it was used for moving the cursor for editing lines of BASIC programs. Although the box cursor used in Apple Writer looked just like the flashing box also used in Apple BASIC, this cursor "floated" through the text instead of sitting on top of a character. If you moved it through the word "AND", it would look like this as it went from left to right: *AND A*ND AN*D AND*.
This original version of Apple Writer actually consisted of two separate binary programs: TEDITOR and PRINTER. The first program was used to actually edit the text, and the second one would print the files created by the TEDITOR. In its first release, Apple Writer had two problems that bothered some early users of the program. One was that the files created by the program were Binary files (instead of Text files), apparently as a means to speed saving and loading files under Apple DOS. Although it worked fine for Apple Writer, the files could not be used by any other program. The other problem had to do with the way in which it used (or misused) the ASCII character set. The AppleII, you may recall, used the upper half ($80-$FF) of the ASCII set for its screen display of "normal" characters (much of the rest of the microcomputer world tended to use the lower half), and used the lower half ($00-$7F) for flashing and inverse characters. In the upper half, the characters from $80-$9F were designated as control characters (generated by pressing the "Ctrl" key with a letter key), $A0-$BF were special characters and numbers, $C0-$DF contained the uppercase alphabet and a few more special characters, and $E0-$FF repeated the characters from $A0-$BF (this is where the lowercase letters should have been, according to the ASCII standards). Since the lowercase ASCII characters were unavailable, the AppleII video routines translated any characters in the $E0-$FF range into characters in the $C0-$DF range, making them displayable on the uppercase-only screen. Apple Writer, for some reason, used the $C0-$DF range internally for display of uppercase letters (which was standard) and the $E0-$FF range for special characters and numbers (instead of using the $A0-$BF range). When some users began plugging different ROM characters chips (like the Paymar chip) into their AppleII Plus computer, they found that Apple Writer wouldn't display text properly. The number "3" appeared as a lowercase "s", and "%" as an "e". A special patch was soon developed to intercept Apple Writer's text output to the screen and make the correct translation to display lowercase as lowercase, and numbers and special characters where they were supposed to be.<9>
Apple Writer 1.0 ran from 13-sector DOS 3.2 disks, and the binary files it produced had names that began with the prefix "TEXT." (a file named "LETTER" would appear on disk as "TEXT.LETTER"). Apple Writer 1.1 was released in 1980 when DOS 3.3 became available. It ran under the newer 16 sector format, and contained some minor bug fixes. This version also had available a companion spell checker called Goodspell.
The next version released was called Apple Writer ][. This one came out in 1981, was copy-protected, and still ran on an AppleII Plus under DOS 3.3, but now produced standard Text files instead of the older Binary files, and could properly display 40-column lowercase characters when the character generator ROM was replaced. It also supported 80-column text if a Sup-R-Term card was plugged into slot 3. In 40-column mode, words would now "wrap" to the next line if they were too long to display on the current line (the older versions of Apple Writer appeared to split the word and continue it on the next line). The ESC key was still used as a pseudo shift key (one press) and to enter editing mode (two presses, displayed as an inverse "@" instead of the "+" in previous versions), but the keyboard SHIFT key could be used to enter uppercase characters if the "shift key mod" was performed (recall that this connected the shift key to the input for button 3 on the game paddles). Other new features included a glossary and the Word Processing Language (WPL). In modern terminology, WPL was a macro or scripting language, making it possible to automate nearly everything the program was capable of. A WPL program could create templates like form letters, or could be used for entry of repetitious text (such as your return name and address for correspondence).<8>
Apple Writer //e, also copy-protected, came next in 1983 with the Apple IIe. This took advantage of the features of the new IIe (such as the built-in 80 column display and full keyboard). It also included improvements in tabbing (since a TAB key was now available on the keyboard), could create larger text files (these could be larger than the size of memory, by loading just a segment of the file into memory at one time), could "print" text files to the disk, could directly connect the keyboard to the printer (to use like a typewriter), and had improvements in the WPL language. When the AppleIIc came out, users of this version of Apple Writer had some problems, as the inverse status line at the top of the screen displayed uppercase characters as MouseText; however, patches quickly appeared to remedy this situation.<10>
The first version to run under the ProDOS operating system was called Apple Writer 2.0. It came out in September 1984, was not copy-protected, and it fixed the MouseText problem. It also allowed the user to set right and left screen margins, giving a closer approximation of the final appearance of the printed text. This version also had the capability of connecting the keyboard directly to the printer or to a modem, allowing it to be used as a rudimentary terminal program. This version had some problems with properly printing to certain third-party parallel printer cards (such as the Grappler).<11>
One annoying "feature" that was added to this version (and was also present in a couple of other Apple-distributed programs, AppleWorks 1.3 and Instant Pascal) was that it did not follow Apple's published protocols in properly handling slot 3 RAMdisks (or other disks). Since some programs used all 128K memory that could be present in a IIe or IIc, Apple had given guidelines in one of their Technotes on how to properly "disconnect" the 64K RAMdisk (which was designated as slot 3, drive 2) so all 128K would be available to the program. Apple Writer and the other two programs mentioned above had been written so that they disconnected any slot 3 disk device, whether a RAMdisk, hard disk, or a genuine Apple disk. It is not clear as to why this had been done, although it was suspected in publications at the time that someone at Apple had done this so memory cards not made by Apple would fail to work. Some of these memory cards had been made to also work in slot 3 but to not interfere with the official 128K of program memory. Their manufacturers had worked to follow Apple's published standards, and then had been bypassed by what appeared to be programming arrogance. Patches to make these programs work properly appeared when the problem was identified.<12>
Apple Writer 2.1 appeared in late 1985. It contained some minor bug fixes, including the above-mentioned problem with some parallel printer cards. The 2.0 version had printed characters as low-ASCII (values $00-$7F), which caused a problem with some kinds of interface cards and printers. Version 2.1 changed this so characters were printed as high-ASCII ($80-$FF), although files printed to a disk file were saved in the original low-ASCII format.<13> This version also was not copy-protected, making it possible to easily install on a 3.5 disk or hard disk.
When AppleWorks appeared on the scene, Apple Writer began to decrease in popularity; however, old time users did not like AppleWorks as well as Apple Writer, primarily because it put a layer of "protection" between the user and the program. This made it easier for the computer novice to immediately put the program to use, and less likely to do something that would "mess up" his printer or interface card internal settings. That same protection also made it harder to do specialized jobs. For example, where Apple Writer would allow entry of control characters (which allowed very specific control of printers and their interface cards), AppleWorks was much more restrictive in this sense, handling more of the details of printer control internally. Apple Writer's power made it possible to even create documents on Postscript laser printers (as demonstrated by Don Lancaster in his Computer Shopper column, "Ask The Guru"), something that all the computer experts claimed was not possible on an AppleII. Where Apple Writer allowed an experienced user to use all features on a printer and interface card to the maximum, AppleWorks was more dependent on the printer and card already knowing how to be cooperative with it. The same thing that gave Apple Writer its power also made it harder to user for less skilled users, who probably found intimidating its nearly-blank screen with no prompts or instructions visible.
For several years, from around 1988 through 1992, Apple Writer was not very available except as a used program. The exact reason for this is not clear. One reason probably had to do with the better-selling AppleWorks, which had the additional features of a spreadsheet and database. But with its Word Processing Language, Apple Writer was still more suitable for certain jobs than was AppleWorks; and yet, Apple simply stopped upgrading, distributing, and supporting it. But in the summer of 1992, one of the Sysops on GEnie's Apple (A2) Roundtable, Tim Tobin, was successful in contacting Paul Lutus. Tobin was coordinating a project that A2 had started to try to locate and revive the availability of "Lost Classics", programs that had ceased publication (often because their distributor had gone out of business), and recovering Apple Writer was high on his list. Lutus agreed to make his program available on a "freeware" basis: It could be copied freely and given away, but could not be sold for a profit. (This arrangement was quite similar to an earlier program Lutus had written, FreeWriter. He had released this program as freeware in 1984. FreeWriter was very much like Apple Writer, except it did not have a built-in ability to print the documents it created, and it did not have WPL). This new, free distribution was possible because although Apple Computer held the copyright on the Apple Writer documentation, Lutus had retained the copyright on the program itself (Apple had held the copyright on versions 1.0 and 1.1 of the program). Although the program is based on older technology, and does not take advantage of the larger memory sizes frequently available in the AppleII's of today, it still is powerful and is a welcome addition to any software library.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NEXT INSTALLMENT: AppleWorks
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTES
<1> Levy, Steven. Dell Publishing Co., Inc, Hackers: Heroes Of The Computer Revolution, New York, 1984, pp. 314-319.
<2> Levy, Steven. Dell Publishing Co., Inc, Hackers: Heroes Of The Computer Revolution, New York, 1984, pp. 298-300.
<3> -----. "A.P.P.L.E. Co-op Celebrates A Decade of Service", Call-A.P.P.L.E., Feb 1988, pp. 12-27.
<4> Espinosa, Chris. (personal telephone call), Feb 4, 1992.
<5> Pohlman, Taylor. (personal telephone call), Feb 14, 1992.
<6> Cringely, Robert X.. Addison-Wesley, Accidental Empires, Reading, Massachusetts, 1992, p. 64.
<7> Tommervik, Al. "The Double Hi-Res VisiSuit", Softalk, Apr 1984, pp. 28-29.
<8> Dubnoff, Jerry. (personal mail), GEnie, E-mail, Aug 1992.
<9> Widnall, Sheila. "Lower Case For Apple Writer Using The Paymar Chip", PEEKing At Call-A.P.P.L.E., Vol 3, 1980, pp. 264-266.
<10> Lancaster, Don. Howard W. Sams & Co, Apple Writer Cookbook, 1986, pp. 29-30.
<11> Lancaster, Don. pp. 102-103, 111-112.
<12> Weishaar, Tom. "Ask Uncle DOS", Open-Apple, May 1987, p. 3.30.
<13> Weishaar, Tom. "Does Your Mother Love You?", Open-Apple, Jan 86, p. 1.97.

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APPLE II HISTORY
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Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1992, Zonker Software
(PART 19 -- APPLEWORKS)
[v1.0 :: 10 Sep 92]
APPLEWORKS
There is one program in the Apple II world that has not only showed amazing staying power in a world where this year's software hit is next year's yawn, but has also gone on to spawn a number of software companies and magazines that do nothing else but sell products for it. That program is AppleWorks. Originally released in 1984 by Apple Computer, it has gone on to become one of the best selling computer programs of all time, on any computer. Although few seem to mention the influence it has had, it is evident in the number of computer programs that have come out for the IBM and Macintosh that have the "Works" name on them (Microsoft Works, ClarisWorks, Beagle Works, and others). AppleWorks was one of the first "integrated" software packages, preceded on the Apple II only by The Incredible Jack (published by Business Solutions, 1983; see Appendix A). It put modules that performed word processing, database management, and spreadsheet calculations into a single environment, using similar commands in each module. Previous software programs specialized for each of those jobs had their own unique keyboard commands that were often very different from each other. If you went from Apple Writer to VisiCalc, or from VisiCalc to DB Master, you had to learn a completely different method of controlling the program. Furthermore, the data files created by those programs were usually not compatible with each other, making it difficult and awkward to move information directly from one program to another. AppleWorks not only created a continuity between these modules, but went a step beyond in allowing them to share data with each other via a space of memory called a "clipboard". This clipboard was part of a larger memory area called a "desktop", which could hold data for up to twelve different files at the same time, which made data sharing even more convenient.
AppleWorks was written by Rupert Lissner (who later changed his name to "Robert".<1>) Its earliest incarnation was in another product sold by Apple, called QuickFile. QuickFile was an Apple III database program written in Pascal. It was flexible and easy to use, and Apple agreed to market it for Lissner in 1980. It was later translated into a version for the Apple IIe (also in Pascal) called QuickFile IIe. As a database program it was flexible and powerful, but somewhat slow due to the inherent limitations of the UCSD Pascal system that Apple favored at the time.
After seeing the Office System on the Lisa computer, Lissner conceived the idea of a single program that would put word processing, database, and spreadsheet capabilities together, and run on an Apple II. It was originally called "Apple Pie", and he began work on it in 1982. Lissner took two years to complete his program, and did it entirely in assembly language to achieve better speed. He wrote versions of the program to work on both the Apple II and Apple III computers, making use of the same filetypes and data structures. Apple Pie files created on an Apple II could be used on an Apple III, and vice-versa.
Apple decided to market the Apple II version themselves, and called it "AppleWorks". Lissner was left with the rights to the Apple III version. He sold those rights to Haba Systems, who brought it out under the name, "/// E-Z Pieces". That program continued to be compatible with the Apple II version up until Claris (the software company formed by Apple in 1987) upgraded AppleWorks to version 3.0 in 1989.
A STAR IS BORN
When it was finally released, AppleWorks was one of the most comprehensive programs ever written for the Apple II. Although neither of the three modules were significantly more powerful than other standalone programs, they had enough power for the average computer user to do what was needed. The memory management system was the extremely flexible, eventually being able to handle not only the basic 128K on a IIe or IIc, but also several different types of memory cards used on those computers and on the IIGS. Far larger than the memory of the 64K Apple IIe on which it would run (as a minimum memory configuration), the program was smart enough to swap in or out from disk the parts it needed to carry out its various functions. Considering that it would run on a computer whose microprocessor could address only 64K of memory at one time, the power achieved by this program is remarkable. There are few other software packages ever released that have as smoothly and seamlessly made up to two megabytes of memory on an 8-bit computer appear to be one contiguous space.
AppleWorks' user interface was designed with menu bars, rather than the older command line interface (such as the one used in Applesoft, Integer BASIC, and the Monitor). Apple's own researchers had put human subjects in front of a computer keyboard to learn what was easiest to use. They designed an interface that was based on using arrow keys to move a cursor (or "bar") to different choices in a list, and then using the return key to make the selection. They also came up with the concept of the "desktop" (represented in text rather than in graphics as on the Lisa and Macintosh), and a "clipboard" for transferring data between files. Apple shared this information with Lissner, and he went on to use it in his program design.<2>
APPLE'S "PROMOTION" OF APPLEWORKS
The marketing decisions made concerning AppleWorks have not been very clear to the outside observer over the years. At the time that AppleWorks was ready for release there was a considerable amount of company money and time being spent in trying to make the Macintosh sell in the computer marketplace. Those who had the most influence at Apple were not very interested in a "simple" text-based program, when the Mac and its graphic interface was the "cutting edge" in technology. Those people believed that the Mac represented the future of Apple, and were not interested in wasting time with old Apple II technology in any form.
Another problem was Apple's past record in selling software. Tom Weishaar made these comments in the November 1987 issue of Open-Apple:
"...Apple was trying very hard to get the big MS-DOS developers to work with the Macintosh. One of the reasons these developers gave for their reluctance to work on the Mac was their fear that Apple itself would compete with them-- Apple, obviously, had tremendous advantages in terms of distribution and access to inside information. Apple had a reputation for developing applications software for its machines that would kill the market for similar software-- Apple Writer (which was at the top of the Apple II software charts at the time) and a complete set of applications software for the Lisa being major examples. Powerful voices inside Apple wanted the company to get out of the applications software business."<3>
However, despite the concern about Apple selling AppleWorks, the decision was eventually made.
"Apple's punishment for its indiscretion was immediate-- within six weeks its illegitimate child sat at the top of the Apple II best-seller list. AppleWorks achieved this without the benefits of a mother's love-- it succeeded in spite of, not because of, Apple's meager marketing efforts in its behalf. Since AppleWorks was released, for example, Apple has run 26 pages of ads in A+ magazine. The word "AppleWorks" appears in those ads exactly zero times. Four of the ads show screen shots of AppleWorks... the Apple IIGS ad in the September 1987 A+ [shows a screen shot of] AppleWorks... in the gutter between the pages and is the only one of the 23 programs shown that isn't mentioned by name. This is typical of the treatment Apple's bastard child gets from its mother. [Del] Yocam, [Apple's Executive Vice-President in 1987], didn't mention it or Lissner in his birthday speech [at the 1987 AppleFest, celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Apple II], and John Sculley, Apple's president, doesn't mention it or Lissner in his... book, Odyssey."<3>
When it first appeared on the market, AppleWorks started at number 2 on Softalk's top thirty list. It moved to the number one spot in Apple sales by the following month, and stayed there for a long time. By the end of 1984, AppleWorks had moved into the number one spot in monthly retail software sales for all computers, overtaking the MS-DOS best-seller Lotus1-2-3 (a spreadsheet program with graphics and rudimentary word processing capabilities). But since it was not their beloved Macintosh that put an Apple program into first place, corporate Apple ignored the milestone. Since that time, though no longer in first place, AppleWorks has continued to do very well, despite an absence of advertising on the part of Apple, and despite later minimal advertising on the part of Claris.<3>
APPLEWORKS REVISIONS
The first change to AppleWorks came with the released of version 1.1 in 1985, which was a modification to help overcome problems with non-Apple printers and interface cards. Later that year version 1.2 came out with the ability to use more easily even more of this non-Apple hardware. Both of these relatively minor updates were made available free of charge to existing owners of the program.
Version 1.3 of AppleWorks came out in early 1986 for a $20 update fee. It provided a bit more functionality for those users who had larger capacity disk drives. Specifically, it better supported the new UniDisk 3.5 for file storage and made it possible to format disks on that device. Previous versions could load files from 3.5 disks only by specifying the ProDOS pathname; version 1.3 could access these disks with the more familiar slot and drive numbers. Also, since Apple now sold a large memory card which would plug into any free slot on the Apple IIe, this new version of AppleWorks could expand the size of the desktop to as much as 1,012K. By this time, Applied Engineering and other companies had already been doing quite well selling RAM cards for the auxiliary slot on the IIe, and had also included special software that patched previous AppleWorks versions to allow a larger desktop. They went further than Apple, however, in also allowing larger word processing and database files to be created.<4>
Up through the release of AppleWorks 1.3, the only changes that had been made were bug fixes and enhancements to work better with new hardware. In September 1986, along with announcements about the new Apple IIGS, Apple released version 2.0 of AppleWorks. It now required a minimum of 128K (previous versions would work with 64K, but allowed only a 10K desktop). In exchange for the greater memory requirements, it gave users a built-in ability to do mail merge, added more functions to the spreadsheet, and supported Apple memory cards even better than v1.3. Furthermore, word processing, database, and spreadsheet files could be larger than in previous versions. Existing users were able to upgrade to v2.0 for $50, which included a completely new manual, a very reasonable price considering the extra abilities of this new version.<5>
July 1987 saw one change that had an impact on future distribution of AppleWorks. Apple decided to create a separate company, called "Claris", to handle some of the popular software that they had released for their Apple II and Macintosh computers over the years. As mentioned above, products released by Apple had a tendency to be the "kiss of death" for third-companies trying to market similar programs. For example, after the outstanding success of AppleWorks, virtually no text-based work processors released for the Apple II made much of an impact on the market. Claris had the responsibility of handling AppleWorks, Apple Writer, and the various Macintosh programs that had been available from Apple for that computer.
Claris has publicized AppleWorks via only three major ads since they took the product over from Apple (of course, previously AppleWorks had received no advertising space). Their first promotion, run in 1987, stated that AppleWorks2.0 had received a very unique upgrade--its own company. This was primarily a plug for Claris, of course. The second ad was rather clever. This one had a white background with a red sports car up on blocks with its wheels missing. The caption read, "There are still some Apple II users who don't have AppleWorks", suggesting that working without that program was like owning a sports car without wheels. Beagle Bros did an even more clever followup to that ad, by using another double-page spread with a white background, and four tires in the same location as the blocks in Claris' ad. Their ad read, "There are still some AppleWorks users who don't have TimeOut", suggesting that the sports car in the Claris ad was AppleWorks, and TimeOut was the wheels for that car. The third promotion run by Claris for the program was to announce the v3.0 upgrade in 1989. This one showed an old worn tennis shoe (representing the old version) and a new running show (representing the new version).
A free update of AppleWorks to version 2.1 was released by Claris in September 1988. It provided IIGS users some bug fixes that made it work better on that computer, plus it was supposed to support a desktop as big as eight megabytes, if that much memory was installed. However, because of the way in which desktop memory in AppleWorks was handled, this turned out instead to be a maximum of two megabytes. No further functionality was added to AppleWorks at that time.
APPLEWORKS 3.0
In 1988, while Claris was issuing its minor update to AppleWorks, they were making plans to do some major improvements to the program. Since they primarily had Macintosh programmers working for them, they first asked Robert Lissner, the original author. He wasn't much interested, since he had already made good money off the program and didn't really have the motivation for such a proposal. Claris then decided to turn to a third-party company to do the work. There were planning to hire a company called Pinpoint Publishing to do the work. Pinpoint was selling an enhancement package for AppleWorks that gave users some features that MS-DOS users had available on their computers, and seemed to be making a major effort to promote their product and stimulate more sales of AppleWorks. By this time, however, Pinpoint was financially getting into trouble, with sales of their products (AppleWorks-related and otherwise) below what was needed to support the large user support network they had set up. Consequently, they were eager for the chance to contract out to Claris for the AppleWorks upgrade. However, they planned to make very minimal changes to it, staying exclusively within Claris' specifications.
During this time, Claris kept hearing from AppleWorks users who were much more loyal to Beagle Bros, who had a series of products called TimeOut. These products worked in a fashion similar to those from Pinpoint. After some complicated negotiations that nearly fell through several times, Beagle finally took on the job to do the AppleWorks project for Claris. Beagle programmers Alan Bird, Randy Brandt and Rob Renstrom worked on it for almost a year, in between a few other projects that were going on at the same time. They did their work on MacintoshII computers running the MPW (Macintosh Programmer's Workshop) cross-assembler, primarily for the sake of speed.<6> As enthusiastic AppleII programmers who also knew AppleWorks inside and out, Beagle's team added a lot of power Claris had not planned on in their original specifications. Occasionally they called on Lissner for help in understanding why certain parts of the code were written as they were, but all of the work came from these "Beagle Boys". Viewing it almost as a labor of love, they went beyond what they were asked to do, and enjoyed making AppleWorks into a program that they would want to use. Randy Brandt stated, "I think it's safe to say the AppleWorks3.0 project yielded the worst hourly rate I've ever made in AppleWorks-related programming, but it did give me a lot of insight which came in handy on future projects."<7> Additionally, they fix over one known hundred bugs in AppleWorks2.1.<8> In June 1989, Claris announced the AppleWorks3.0 upgrade at the National Educational Computing Conference in Boston. The features that were added or improved are too numerous to describe here; in brief, it added nearly all the things users had wanted the program to do. It was easier to use, it took better advantage of extra memory (going beyond the two meg limit on the IIGS), and it was easier to customize special printers to work with it. And it included a new feature that was becoming standard in many commercial word processors: A built-in spelling checker. Because of these extra features, the maximum desktop size on a standard 128K Apple II was now reduced to about 40K (down from the original 55K). Also, the program now loaded from two double-sided 5.25 disks (or a single 3.5 disk), instead of the previous one double-sided 5.25 disk.
Apple had for years included registration cards with their products, both hardware and software, that was to identify the user in Apple's files as an owner of that product. Unfortunately, although they had done a good job at including those cards with everything they shipped out, they had done a somewhat less satisfactory job of actually compiling the data from those cards. Consequently, Claris really had no available information about who was and who was not a "registered" owner of AppleWorks. They decided that they would make an initial upgrade offer of $79 for customers that owned any previous version of AppleWorks (from v1.0 to v2.1), and through A2-Central magazine they even made available a special $99 offer: An A2-Central subscriber could get the program from Claris for that price, even if he could not prove previous ownership of AppleWorks.<9> Later, owners of previous versions could still upgrade for $99 if they wanted.
Unhappily, Claris has since concentrated almost exclusively on Macintosh products and apparently has no plans for further updates or upgrades to AppleWorks. This is unfortunate, since there are several known bugs in the program, and Beagle Bros programmer Mark Munz eventually decided to release his own AppleWorks bug-patcher program into the public domain to correct these known problems. Rather than take the hint and make a v3.1 release to officially acknowledge and correct these problems, Claris simply waits until a customer complains about them and then directs them to Mark's Patcher program.
ENHANCEMENTS: PINPOINT
AppleWorks has been such a major influence in the Apple II world that the program has itself spawned a number of related products that act to enhance or expand its usability for different purposes. This is a reflection on the widespread penetration of the program, as well as the desire of Apple II users for more and better features.
One of the first customization features that appeared for AppleWorks was from a company that called itself Pinpoint Publishing. They had originally been called Virtual Combinatics, and had sold a program for the Apple II called Micro Cookbook. Suddenly in 1985 they burst upon the market with a new name and a significant new product. Their Pinpoint Desk Accessories was primarily an enhancement for AppleWorks, though it was also possible to install its features for use under Applesoft, and eventually Apple Writer and Word Perfect. Taking after the popularity of "pop-up desktop" programs for the IBM PC like Sidekick, Pinpoint added some similar features to AppleWorks. These features were available at any time, simply by pressing solid-apple and P (option-P on the IIGS). At this point a little "Accessories" menu would pop-up onto the screen, drawn using MouseText characters, and the desired feature was selected by moving the cursor bar up and down the list, pressing RETURN for the one you wanted (working just like AppleWorks). The accessories included Appointment Calendar; Calculator; Communications (a small terminal program for use with a modem, which could send AppleWorks word processing files or save incoming text as a WP file); Dialer (just highlight on the screen the number you wanted to call, and it would be dialed for you via the modem); GraphMerge (which allowed you to print a word processing document with all or part of a double hi-res picture included with the text); Notepad (a miniature word processor, holding up to 32 lines of text and saving notes in AppleWorks WP format); QuickLabel (take an address off the screen and place it on an envelope template for printing); and Typewriter (type and print lines one at a time). This was all very exciting at the time, multiplying the abilities of AppleWorks beyond what it was built to do. Because of disk-space requirements this was more convenient to use from a 3.5 disk or hard disk, but actually could be used from 5.25 disks without too much trouble. Eventually a spelling checker was also made available to use with Pinpoint.
ENHANCEMENTS: BEAGLE BROS AND COMPANY
The next significant AppleWorks add-on appeared in June 1986. It was a product sold by Beagle Bros and called MacroWorks.<10> Written by Randy Brandt, this program patched itself into the keyboard-reading routine of AppleWorks and allowed the user to automate certain functions and assign them to a specific key on the keyboard. Previously, many of AppleWorks features were accessed by pressing either the open-apple or solid-apple (option) key together with another key (recall that the apple keys were nothing more than access to the pushbutton inputs on the joystick). For instance, open-apple and "C" (oa-C) together were used to start a "copy" function. Before MacroWorks was patched into the program, either oa-C or sa-C had the same effect. After adding this enhancement, the solid-apple keys were given their own, separate identity, offering more than double the number of functions that could be executed from the keyboard. (Pinpoint had done something similar, by taking sa-P for its own purposes).
A macro was actually a series of keystrokes that could be entered from the keyboard (similar to WPL programs for Apple Writer), but was automated so that a single keypress would activate it. For example, typing a return address could be assigned to the sequence solid-apple-A (sa-A). Or sa-S could be defined to save all the files on the desktop and quit the program. Anything that could be done manually with AppleWorks could be automated with MacroWorks, and it could even do some things that could not be easily done manually.
The idea of automating keystrokes in AppleWorks was not unique to MacroWorks; soon after, AutoWorks was released by Alan Bird of Software Touch, and Pinpoint Publishing got into the act with their product, Keyplayer. Brandt upped the ante later in 1986 with an upgrade called Super MacroWorks, which added a few new features and was made to work specifically with the new version 2.0 of AppleWorks.
It didn't take long for the other companies to come out with enhanced versions of their programs to work with the newer version of AppleWorks. But the most significant enhancement yet came during 1987. Beagle Bros had just undergone a change in management, as its founder Bert Kersey retired and merged his company with Software Touch. Mark Simonsen and Alan Bird, owners of Software Touch, had previously worked at Beagle before leaving to start their own company. Aside from AutoWorks, they had released enhancements such as SideSpread (which would allow a spreadsheet to be printed sideways on a dot matrix printer) and FontWorks (which allowed word processor files to be printed using different font styles and sizes, using codes embedded in the WP text). As they merged back into the Beagle fold, they brought with them plans for a series of AppleWorks add-ons and enhancement. These would be accomplished via a new core program (or "engine", as they called it) called TimeOut.
Written by Alan Bird, TimeOut installed itself into AppleWorks and interfaced directly with Lissner's remarkable built-in memory manager. The neat thing about TimeOut was that after the engine itself was installed, adding other modules was no more complicated than copying them over to the disk from which AppleWorks started. This addressed one of the problems with all of the other enhancement programs available; if they were not installed in the correct order, the patches would begin to step on each other, and crashes were much more likely. TimeOut provided a clearly-defined protocol for adding new features to AppleWorks without this patching hassle.
The first TimeOut modules released included DeskTools, FileMaster (which allowed file copying and more), Graph (spreadsheet graphing), QuickSpell, SideSpread (update of the older Software Touch program), SuperFonts (update of FontWorks), and UltraMacros (a more powerful version of Randy Brandt's Super MacroWorks, using ideas from AutoWorks). More followed in subsequent years, including a thesaurus module and a full-featured telecommunications module that worked within AppleWorks.
ENHANCEMENTS: JEM SOFTWARE
Over the years, Beagle Bros has been a major contributor to the longevity of AppleWorks through its many TimeOut enhancements. And they did many users a favor by making upgrades available virtually free, through a program they called "Beagle Buddies". Just contact your Buddy, give evidence that you really owned the program, and he would update UltraMacros from version 3.0 to 3.1, without charge. The down side of this service, however, was that there was no income received by Beagle for updates, making it financially difficult to pay the authors of those updates for their work. For this reason, authors like Randy Brandt (one of the AppleWorks3.0 revision authors) have decided to start their own private company for release of other products for AppleWorks. Through his company, JEM Software, he released PathFinder, which made setting the pathname for the AW "Add Files" menu easier and faster to change. Although that feature was built in to AW 3.0, Brandt did not stop there. With the help of Dan Verkade, he created TotalControl, which adds features to the database module that make specific qualifications for the type of entries that can be made in new or existing records. DoubleData changes the database module so AW can handle twice as many categories per record as it was designed to do. Mr. Invoice gives the capability of producing invoice-type documents with AppleWorks, and DB Pix adds graphic capability to the database, displaying single and double hi-res and Print Shop/ Print Shop GS graphics. Brandt also wrote an update to UltraMacros3.1, called Ultra4.0, which added considerable power to the macro language. All of these add-on programs extend the usefulness of AppleWorks for very specific applications, significantly extending the lifespan of the program.
Brandt also came up with the concept of "inits" for AppleWorks. These programs are installed to AW via a small patch that allows it to look for them. Adding an init is simple; it is just copied into a subdirectory called AW.INITS, and any binary program found there with a name that starts with "I." is automatically loaded and patched in at startup time. These inits range from one that improves the handling of the screen print function built-in to AW, to other much larger applications (TotalControl is added via an init, for instance). The difference between these inits and TimeOut applications is that inits are always working, whereas TimeOut programs have to be specifically activated to work. Brandt used the same concept of simple extensions when he designed Ultra4.0; more commands (called "dot commands") can be added to the macro language in the same way as other inits.
ENHANCEMENTS: PATCHES
As with other popular programs, there have been many patches that have appeared over the years to customize AppleWorks to do things more to a particular user's likings. These first appeared as one to several byte patches that would be applied using Applesoft, poking the bytes to memory and then using the BASIC.SYSTEM command "BSAVE" to put them into the right place in the program. Patches were published in various places to do things like changing the pitch and duration of AW's awful error tone, make it possible for AW to access a disk device in slot 1 or 2 (which it refused to do ordinarily), or make more than one custom printer (not easily done in versions prior to 3.0). Other patches were published to fix various bugs that were uncovered over time. Eventually, these patches were collected into several different programs whose purpose was to streamline the process. Randy Brandt, through JEM Software, released Late Nite Patches for AppleWorks2.0. John Link created a program called SuperPatch that he provided via online services initially, later changed it to shareware as it got more and more massive, and eventually arranged for it to be sold via Quality Computers. Written in Applesoft, John's program made it possible to not only apply the various patches, but to also remove them neatly.
Beagle Bros came out with AW 3.0 Companion (later updated to Companion Plus) which allowed not only a large number of useful changes to be made to AppleWorks, but also included a version of Mark Munz' Patcher program to correct some bugs that had made it into the program (and which Claris refused to fix via an upgrade). The Beagle program followed
John Link's lead by making it possible to remove most patches as easily as they were applied.
BEYOND APPLEWORKS
AppleWorks is probably the most powerful integrated program ever written, in terms of speed (being text-based) and overall useability for a wide range of purposes. Although Claris did release a IIGS version called AppleWorks GS (which was actually a re-write of an older program, GS Works, which they purchased from Styleware and remodelled slightly), that program is significantly different from AppleWorks and cannot be considered an upgrade. Claris as a company has shown absolutely no interest in releasing a v3.1 upgrade, even just to fix the known bugs in the program. Other features that could be added, such as the ones provided via TotalControl or DoubleData or even UltraMacros, could be made a part of AppleWorks out of the box, but Claris' attention is on the Macintosh. It is highly unlikely that any enhancements beyond those that appeared in version 3.0 will ever appear from Claris; but with prolific authors like Brandt, Munz, and others, additional features that some users want will continue to be available.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NEXT INSTALLMENT: Magazines
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTES
<1> Weishaar, Tom. "Miscellanea", Open-Apple, Nov 1986, p. 2.74.
<2> Williams, Warren, and Carlton, Steve. "AppleWorks", The Apple II Guide, Fall 1990, pp. 36-45.
<3> Weishaar, Tom. "Reality And Apple's Vision", Open-Apple, Nov 1987, pp. 3.73-3.74.
<4> Weishaar, Tom. "Does Your Mother Love You?", Open-Apple, Jan 1986, p. 1.97.
<5> Weishaar, Tom. "New $999 Apple IIGS Arrives", Open-Apple, Oct 1986, pp. 2.65-2.67.
<6> Deatherage, Matt. "Who's Who In Apple II", GEnie Lamp, Aug 1992.
<7> Brandt, Randy. (personal mail), GEnie, E-mail, Jul 1991.
<8> Brandt, Randy. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Jun 1992, Category 13, Topic 16.
<9> Weishaar, Tom. "AppleWorks 3.0 A Blockbuster", A2-Central, Jul 1989, pp. 5.41-5.46.
<10> Weishaar, Tom. "Miscellanea", Open-Apple, Jun 1986, p. 2.33.

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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1992, Zonker Software
(PART 20 -- MAGAZINES)
[v1.0 :: 14 Sep 92]
INFORMATION AND COMMUNITY
From the earliest days that AppleII user groups have sprung up, there have been newsletters shared within (and often between) these groups, providing hints and tips on how to make the best use of this computer. Some of these user groups eventually turned their newsletters into nationally distributed publications, sharing the information on even a wider scale. Nationally distributed magazines that dealt with computers began to run regular columns and special articles that dealt with the AppleII, while other magazines began with the purpose of serving the AppleII community exclusively. This segment of the History will take a look at some of the publications that have grown (and sometimes failed) during the age of the AppleII. I will be concentrating on those that were either exclusive to the AppleII or that dealt heavily with it.
Micro (1977-1985)
Micro began with the October/November 1977 issue, and covered the 6502 microprocessor (and later the 6809) in all the various computers that used it, including the KIM-1, the AIM-65, the C1P, Commodore's PET, the Ohio Scientific, the Atari 800, and, of course, the AppleII. It was an excellent source for machine level code for the 6502, eventually including more and more articles that applied specifically to the AppleII. Many general-purpose machine language articles appeared in its pages, such as "Improved nth Precision" (code optimization for the 6502), "Precision Programming", and "Computer Assisted Translation Of Programs From 6502 to 6809". They also carried do-it-yourself hardware articles, such as "C1P To Epson MX-80 Printer Interface", "PET/CBM IEEE 448 To Parallel Printer Interface", and "AppleII Digital Storage Oscilloscope".
Micro tended to use each issue for a particular theme, starting out with articles that concentrated on a particular brand of computer per issue, and later expanding to topics that applied to several computers (such as printers, games, and languages). The articles presented were usually technical in nature and could be very useful for the advanced Apple programmer.<1>
One feature that was unique to this magazine was the "Micro 6502 Bibliography", which presented a reference to many different computer publications and the topics these magazines covered that were specifically important to programming the 6502. Also, the magazine's cover was unique, giving the impression of looking out from the inside of a computer monitor, over the keyboard to the room beyond. Graphics on the screen would be reversed, since it was supposed to be a reverse view.
Call-A.P.P.L.E. (1978-1989)
This magazine began in February 1978 as a newsletter for a newly formed AppleII user group in Seattle, Washington. This group, which called itself the Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) was begun by several early AppleII owners in the area. They began a newsletter, Call-A.P.P.L.E., and under the leadership of its founder and editor, Val J. Golding, it grew to become a full magazine by 1979, and its boundaries spread well beyond the Seattle area. As pioneers in the era of AppleII exploration and expansion, the group's members and magazine subscribers discovered and published many hints, tips, and programming techniques necessary to the early AppleII community. Their major thrust, as with user groups today, came from assisting members in getting their systems to work. This covered anything from establishing communication between a computer and the newest low-cost printer, to the nuts and bolts of adding memory chips to get a full 48K. Call-A.P.P.L.E. also informed its readers with reviews of new software and programming languages, and entertained them with short Integer BASIC and Applesoft programs that did strange or unexpected things (in a recurring feature entitled, "So What Did You Expect?") They also served their members by scheduling guest speakers for the group meetings, and printing a summary of the meeting in the magazine. Their early speakers included notables such as Mike Scott (president of Apple Computer), Randy Wigginton, and Steve Wozniak.
By 1980, Call-A.P.P.L.E. had become a full magazine published on slick paper, and it carried advertising by some of the new software and hardware companies. Their articles became more complex, dealing with topics such as "Moving DOS 3.3 To The Language Card", and "Applesoft Internal Structure", as well as various hardware or construction articles.
The year 1984 saw many changes for Call-A.P.P.L.E. The front cover had previously been white, with the title logo at the top, followed by a list of major articles. Beginning with the January issue, the cover was now graced with color artwork, and a subtitle was included under the logo: "The World's Largest Apple User Group". In April, Val Golding stepped down as editor, handing that position over to Kathryn Halgrimson Suther. She had been working with him on production of the magazine since he hired her back in 1980, and was best qualified for the position. And finally, in September 1984 the membership voted to change their organization to a co-operative, officially named A.P.P.L.E. Co-op, to help improve their efficiency and allow them, under Washington state law, to continue expanding services in as inexpensive a manner as possible. Previously selling software written primarily by members, they now began to carry outside software and hardware items considered useful to their members.
A.P.P.L.E. also advanced the cause of providing useful technical information to AppleII (and Lisa and Macintosh) programmers by helping with the formation of APDA (Apple Programmers And Developers Association) in September of 1987. Through a membership in this Apple-sponsored group, a programmer could obtain up-to-date tech notes and preliminary material directly from Apple, to aid in the refinement of his project. (Apple later took APDA back under its own control in December 1988).
Another change for the magazine occurred beginning in June 1988. The cover artwork was toned down, and the thrust of Call-A.P.P.L.E. changed as it become more of a technical journal than the "hint and tip" magazine it had originally been. Again the cover listed the major features for that issue, but in a smaller typeface than in the old days. Articles were now much more complex, consistent with the increase in complexity found in the new AppleIIGS. This was also reflected in the subtitle now found under the logo on the front cover: "The Magazine For The Advanced AppleIIGS And AppleII User". Topics covered included a series by Mike Westerfield about "Programming On The GS With APW" (he was the author of the ORCA/M assembler used in the official Apple Programmer's Workshop on the IIGS), "NDAs 101" and "NDAs 102" (Tim Swihart writing about writing New Desk Accessories), and "A Powerful Graphics And Sound Trio" (utilities to allow use of super hi-res graphics and GS sound from Applesoft BASIC).
Even more significant in 1988 was the change in the name of the sponsoring group. In her monthly editorial in December of that year, Kathryn Suther wrote, "Sorry, Val, but the Co-op is undergoing a name change. Apple Computer, Inc., doesn't seem to appreciate the word Apple in our name with or without the periods. Rather than having to license the name back from them, we opted to change the name of the co-op to TechAlliance, a computer cooperative."<2> (Fortunately, they were not apparently required by Apple to change the title of the magazine). The members felt that this name more accurately reflected what the organization was doing; support, technical journals, and access to products and information. They also laid plans for a journal aimed at Macintosh programmers, called "MacTech Quarterly".
With declining AppleII sales in the late 1980's, it was becoming harder for TechAlliance to put out the type of magazine they wanted as a monthly publication. Part way through 1989, the decision was made to switch to a quarterly printing schedule to allow it to stay in print. However, with the ninth issue of that year they had to announce that they were ceasing publication. With the passing of Call-A.P.P.L.E. came the passing of an era. Val Golding wrote to A2-Central's Tom Weishaar about it: "The 12-year illumination of Call-A.P.P.L.E.'s guiding light is about to be extinguished. The next issue will be the last. 'Call' was my baby and I loved it very much, even these last several years when I didn't play a direct role. It is, after all, like a death in the family." He went on to mention that he believed that their research into Applesoft internals and the use of its ampersand command made it possible for the appearance of more advanced programs earlier than would have been possible otherwise. He included a copy of his guest editorial from that final issue, reprinted in the pages of A2-Central in January 1990:
The Editor Bytes Back
Val J. Golding, editor emeritus
Full Circle
Perhaps I've lived in a private dream world all this time, where visions of ampersand faeries were real and 16K of RAM sufficed. My 1978 world where, still wrapped in swaddling clothes, the infant Call-A.P.P.L.E., with wise men guiding, exploded upon the technological night sky--its contagious fountain of knowledge spreading like a Washington wildfire, a depth and rugged determination to share never before and never again to be seen.
Volume 12, number Nine; there will be no Volume 13. Words I thought would never be written blur my vision and scar the moist paper with ugly burn marks. "Our last issue". A doorway to another dimension has closed after 12 years.
It would take pages to list our accomplishments and firsts, more still for our failures. But we stood proud while others perished. And so it will be in the future, the Alliance remains to serve its members.
None of it would have been possible without those brilliant pioneering researchers and authors, far too numerous to even consider thanking individually. Virtually every Apple author writing today appeared first in these pages. It isn't fair, however, to leave without at least expressing my gratitude to and admiration for Kathryn Halgrimson Suther, without whom we would not have survived thus far. I love you, Ms. K.
Still everything is O.K. I wouldn't have missed it for anything. "The moving finger, having writ, moves on..."<2>
Softside (1978-unknown)
Softside was a magazine about software that began in October 1978. Edited by Mark Pelczarski, who was also an AppleII game author and publisher, it had a format similar to the early issues of "Nibble", but was not limited to the AppleII computer. It had articles and program listings to enter and try out. One problem readers had was with the listings; they were a copy of the printout from a dot matrix printer. The dot matrix printers of the time were not as legible as they are now and by the time it was photographed and put into the magazine, it had become a bit illegible. One reader commented, "After a short while of typing, you felt like you needed some of the 'coke bottle bottom' eye glasses!"<3>
Apple Assembly Line (1980-1988)
This was something more than a newsletter, but not quite a magazine. It was edited and printed by Bob Sander-Cederlof, author of the SC-Assembler, and was written initially for support of that product. It included information about how to write assembly language routines for various projects, and one of Sander-Cederlof's favorite pastimes was finding ways to squeeze the most code into the fewest bytes possible. Often he would take sections of code from Apple's system software, disassemble it, and point out how it could have been coded more tightly or efficiently. He also included various products that he or others had written that were useful for other programmers, including a package of extensions for Applesoft that allowed 18 digit precision math functions.
Nibble (1980-1992)
Begun in his living room in January 1980 by Mike Harvey, Nibble survived longer than most AppleII magazines. His original advertisement for the magazine stated:
NIBBLE is an unusual Newsletter for AppleII owners. Each Issue will follow a major theme...such as:
* DATA BASE MANAGEMENT
* PROGRAMS FOR THE HOME
* TEXT PROCESSING
* COMPUTING FOR KIDS
* SMALL BUSINESS JOBS
* GAMES AND GRAPHICS
* PRACTICAL PASCAL
* etc.
Significant programs will be in each issue, surrounded by articles which show how to USE the programming ideas in your OWN programs.
Examples of Upcoming Articles...
* Building A Numeric Keypad
* Home Credit Card Management
* LORES Shape Writing
* Designing Games That Last
* Arcade Shooting Gallery
* Random #'s in Assy. Lang.
* HIRES Weaving Design
And many many more. NIBBLE will literally "Nibble Away" at the mysteries of the AppleII to help Beginning and Advanced Programmers, Small Businessmen, and the Whole Family enjoy and USE the Apple MORE!
It costs a paltry $15.00 for 8 Issues! It will invite and publish user ideas and programs. DON'T WAIT! Send your check or money order right now, to receive the January issue! Mail to:
S.P.A.R.C.
P.O. Box [number missing]
Lincoln, Mass. 01773
Software Publishing And Research Co.<4>
Mike worked carefully to make sure that he was not under the pressure of banks or investors, and so worked out of his own savings, running the company on a "pay as you go" basis. He printed enough of the first issue, 42 pages long in black and white, to mail to the few who responded to his ad, and the rest were sent free of charge to Apple dealers to make them aware of Nibble's existence. Their initial schedule was for eight issues per year, which was what he could afford to put out. By mid 1981 the magazine had grown to the point where Harvey could quit his regular job (president of a subsidiary of Exxon Enterprises) and work full-time as publisher of Nibble.<4>,<5> His editorials over the years covered many topics that were helpful for small businesses, giving advice that would help them survive in good times and bad. He certainly took his own advice; although Nibble expanded to the point where it went to a monthly schedule (around 1984) and was printed as a square-bound magazine, it had to reduce by 1990 back to a center-stapled format with fewer pages. Eventually its newsstand distribution also had to be curtailed, and in the end it was available only by subscription.
Nibble's articles covered a wide array of topics, from simple Applesoft and Integer BASIC programs, to complex assembly language applications, BASIC extensions, and games. In its prime it also included a popular series called "Disassembly Lines", by contributing editor Sandy Mossberg, M.D. In his series, Mossberg taught some of the tricks and techniques of assembly language by taking parts of DOS 3.3, and later BASIC.SYSTEM and PRODOS, and "disassembling" them into readable assembly source code. This provided some insight into reasons why Apple's system programs worked the way they did, and made it possible to either modify them to fix bugs, or to incorporate the programming techniques in other projects. Mossberg later went on to delve into the AppleIIGS toolbox (built-in ROM routines).
Nibble was a good place to learn how to write programs. Their published listings were well commented, and the tricks used by the programmers who wrote their articles were available for all to see and learn. Along with the various utilities they published were games (some that were very complicated, with long tables of hex bytes to enter). They also included in later issues reviews of various commercial software products, and always made available disks containing all of the programs from a single issue of the magazine, for those who didn't want to enter by hand the programs.
In April 1985 a section was added to the magazine called "Nibble Mac", to cover topics of interest to Macintosh users. Later in 1985 this was split out and a separate publication (short-lived) with the same title was printed to concentrate on the Macintosh users. Nibble also helped establish the concept of copyright protection on program listings printed in magazines. This was important to Nibble, as they sold disks of their old programs to save readers the trouble of typing in by hand the long listings.
With decreasing sales, a decision was made in 1991 to no longer supply Nibble to newsstand vendors and continue the magazine on a subscription-only basis. The market for AppleII programming-oriented magazines continued to decline, and the July 1992 issue announced itself as the last one. The balance of subscriptions were filled out through A2-Central.
Peelings II (1980-unknown)
Started around August 1980, this magazine was devoted entirely to AppleII software reviews.<6>
Softalk (1980-1984)
Softalk... ah, this one was special. Of all the magazines that have dealt with the AppleII since its release in 1977, none have been quite like Softalk. Their first issue in September 1980 was 32 pages, including the cover which featured Darth Vader with the title, "Apple Helps The Empire Strike Back". This first issue opened with the following introductory remark. I reproduce it in its entirety here, because it highlights what I feel is the ideal in a computer magazine, and because the last two paragraphs are still very applicable today:
Welcome to Softalk. Whether you're a hobbyist or a businessperson, a programmer or a nonprogrammer, Softalk is designed for you, because each of you has chosen Apple for your computer; and so did we.
Softalk is a feature magazine, intended to pique the curiosity and intrigue the intellect of everyone who owns an Apple. In Softalk, you'll find articles about people who own and use Apples, some of them famous, some merely ingenious. You'll find articles about issues--those most pertinent within the microcomputer industry, such as piracy, and those the microcomputer is helping to solve, such as unemployment among the handicapped.
Softalk's regular columns will strive to keep you up with what's new in software and hardware and what's new in the companies that make software and hardware. We'll also try to keep you informed of how the computer is making news, both in the United States and abroad, both seriously and lightly.
Softalk is not a programming magazine. Beginning in October, our programming columns will be intended as tutorials, offering running courses on how to program. Although we believe that those of you who are seriously involved in programming will enjoy Softalk, for your programming applications we recommend that you seek out the excellent programming articles and tips in such magazines as Apple Orchard, Micro, Call-A.P.P.L.E., Creative Computing, and the many other fine magazines that address themselves to this aspect of computing.
Fun is another feature of Softalk. There will be puzzles, games, contests. The prizes won't be huge, but they will be fun. This month, you'll find a contest on page 2; later in the magazine lurks another puzzler.
We encourage you to patronize our advertisers. Those advertisers make it possible for you to receive Softalk. And, further, we hope you'll support your local computer store. A healthy retail sector is crucial to our industry on every level; it is to all our benefits to help our retailers prosper.
I hope you share my enthusiasm for Apple and for the remarkable microcomputer industry, because, when you share it, you'll find yourself looking forward to the fast-coming future with excitement and optimistic anticipation. If Softalk serves only to instill such a positive enthusiasm in you, it will be well worthwhile.<7>
Oddly enough, Softalk owed its beginning to a television game show. Margot Tommervik was a contestant on "Password", and with part of her winnings she purchased an AppleII computer. She was fascinated with the machine and what it allowed her to do. When a local computer store offered a prize for the first person to solve On-Line's Mystery House adventure, she dove into it headlong and had it solved in twenty-four hours. Later that year, she came across a publishing house that was trying to produce a magazine about software and wanted a partner. With the rest of her "Password" winnings, Margot and her husband Al agreed to do the magazine if they were allowed to determine its course and retain management control. It would be as much a magazine for AppleII enthusiasts to enjoy as a platform for software publishers to display their wares. Although it had the modest beginning of only 32 pages printed on newsprint stock, within a year there were over one hundred advertising pages in each issue. It was an ideal arrangement: The readers got a magazine that was specifically about their computer, and the software and hardware companies got a magazine with widespread distribution that could showcase their products to those readers.<8>
Part of the uniqueness of Softalk was due to the way it did business. Although it was a magazine that was available by mail or in computer stores (as were other computer magazines of the day), this one offered every AppleII owner a free six month subscription as a trial! One only had to provide the serial number on the bottom of the computer, and you were in the club. And it felt like a club, almost a family, of fellow AppleII (and later, AppleIII, Lisa, and Macintosh) enthusiasts. This unusual method of providing a magazine lasted even until the final issue.
Softalk carved its niche among the other AppleII magazines of the time by providing a variety of articles not available anywhere else. Whereas Nibble was best known for its games and utilities, Call-A.P.P.L.E. for its technical information, and Apple Orchard for its focus on beginners and Apple user groups, Softalk concentrated on the Apple computer industry. This included information about Apple Computer, Inc., as well as the many companies that provided software or hardware for the AppleII. A monthly series called "Exec" (taken after the DOS 3.3 disk command), profiled a company that made hardware or software for the AppleII, and gave some of the background about its products. They carried reviews of many new releases each month, and provided news on a continuing basis about the companies making those products. They also developed a monthly best-seller list for AppleII and III software, and used not the sales figures provided by the companies who marketed the programs, but rather the actual sales figures from the software and computer stores that sold them. Their reason for doing it this way was to get a more accurate picture of what was selling, not just what was shipping.
As time went by, Softalk expanded its coverage to include columns that dealt with specific programming areas on the AppleII, but chose to do so in a tutorial fashion, as they promised in their introduction article. Roger Wagner started in October 1980 with a column called "Assembly Lines" that taught 6502 assembly language (he says that what he knew about 6502 assembly was only about one month ahead of what the readers were learning<9>); Doug Carlston instructed users in the art of BASIC programming in "All About Applesoft"; Mark Pelczarski expounded on hi-res graphics techniques in "Graphically Speaking"; Taylor Pohlman (an Apple employee) wrote about the AppleIII in "The Third Basic"; Jim Merritt (who also worked for Apple) championed Pascal in "The Pascal Path"; Greg Tibbetts delved into Apple CP/M in "Softcard Symposium"; and Bert Kersey and Tom Weishaar deciphered DOS 3.3 and ProDOS in "DOSTalk". Other regular features included "Fastalk" (an annotated listing and description of current and classic software), "Marketalk News" (product release announcements) and "Marketalk Reviews" (detailed product reviews), "Tradetalk" (Apple industry news), "Hardtalk" (hardware projects or information), "Storytalk" (fiction, primarily computer related), and eventually a column called "Backtalk", which was a look back at older issues of Softalk itself (this began on the third anniversary of the magazine). One unusual column, called "Open Discussion", was quite similar to the interaction on today's online information services. They printed letters from readers that ranged from comments on previous articles to questions such as "How do I get Apple Writer to work with my printer?" Rather than directly answering each question, Softalk often left it to readers to send in replies with help. In its last year, Softalk did begin a column called "If Then Maybe", which actually took some of those technical questions and used some of its consulting writers (the "Softalk Sages") to answer them.
Each month there was a new contest, usually involving a puzzle of some sort that might or might not require the use of a computer to help solve it. The winners of the previous month's contests were awarded a credit towards $100 worth of products advertised in Softalk. The puzzles were creative and unique. One issue asked to have various shapes in a later part of the magazine identified (some that were obvious, such as a computer monitor, some less so, such as a hand phasor from Star Trek). Another contest consisted of only lists of five character scrambled words; no clues, no instructions, no direction. One month had a crossword puzzle with very obtuse clues. One November issue featured tiny little "hi-res" turkeys scattered throughout the magazine; the goal was to correctly count all of them. Some of the contests even allowed those entering to be creative; one asked entrants to write a short paragraph that might illustrate the use of an Apple computer by a fictional or non-fictional historical figure (an example being Emperor Nero playing an adventure game in which he is trying to figure out the correct commands to get it to allow him to burn down Rome). In the case of multiple entries with correct answers, the winner of the monthly contests was selected with a random-number generator. Even if you didn't enter the contests, they were fun to read and ponder, and some of the winning entries (when creative writing was involved) were great.
Softalk suddenly disappeared after the August 1984 issue was mailed. There was no announcement, nothing that had indicated that this was going to happen, and with its disappearance the "Golden Age" of the Apple also passed. (By this time Softalk Publishing also had two other magazines, "Softalk For The IBM PC" and "St. Mac", for the Macintosh). This ending could have been predicted by the way in which the magazine had gotten smaller and smaller in size over the previous few months, but its ending was still somewhat of a shock to the readers. One reader was reported to have said that if he had known that they were having financial problems he would have taken up a collection!
What led to the demise of Softalk? Several factors likely played a role. One was the explosion in the number of magazines for and about computers between 1981 and 1983. Each new magazine that appeared was yet another place where a vendor needed to consider putting advertising dollars, and for some small companies it was simply not affordable to put ads in all of them. Another factor that figured in was the introduction of the IBM PC, and the sudden need for companies to produce versions of their programs that would run on that computer. When the recession of 1982-84 arrived, the computer market began to loose steam, and small single-product companies either had to associate with larger ones or go out of business. Lower consumer spending on computer hardware and software hurt the market further, and the necessary advertising dollars were simply not available, and Softalk became, unfortunately, one of the casualties.<10> Perhaps the major factor that contributed to this was that Softalk did not have any large publishing company backing it up; it was owned and operated by the Tommerviks, and they didn't have the cash cushion that would allow them to pay expenses during time of slow advertising revenue.<11> Perhaps if a major publisher had taken an interest, Softalk would still be around today.
In its prime (December 1983), Softalk was over 400 pages long, but by its final issue in August 1984 it had shrunk down to only 128 pages. Although a next issue was in the works (according to the "previews" section in the table of contents), it never made it to the printer. Remaining subscriptions were filled out by inCider magazine, but sadly, the magic was gone.
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NEXT INSTALLMENT: Magazines, Cont.
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NOTES
<1> Peterson, Craig. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Mar 1992, Category 2, Topic 16.
<2> Suther, Kathryn Halgrimson. "The Inside Track", Call-A.P.P.L.E., Oct 1984, p. 34.
<3> Vanderpool, Tom. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Oct 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<4> Harvey, Mike. "Nibble At Seven Years...Roots And Blooms", Nibble, Jan 1987, p. 5.
<5> Harvey, Mike. "Time Flies When You're Havin' Fun!", Nibble, Jan 1985, p. 5.
<6> Golding, Val J. "Call-A.P.P.L.E. Book Review", PEEKing At Call-A.P.P.L.E., Vol 3, 1980, p. 249.
<7> Tommervik, Margot Comstock. "Straightalk", Softalk, Sep 1980, p. 3.
<8> Levy, Steven. Dell Publishing Co., Inc, Hackers: Heroes Of The Computer Revolution, New York, 1984, pp. 308-310.
<9> Bird, Alan, & Weishaar, Tom. "Old Timers: Two Survivors", 1991 A2-Central Summer Conference (tapes), July 1992.
<10> Golding, Val J. "The Magazine That Dared To Sing", Call-A.P.P.L.E., Oct 1984, p. 34.
<11> Statt, Paul, & Weishaar, Tom. "Old Timers: Apple II Magazines", 1991 A2-Central Summer Conference (tapes), July 1992.

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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1992, Zonker Software
(PART 21 -- MAGAZINES, CONT.)
[v1.0 :: 14 Sep 92]
Computist (1981-Present)
This magazine began originally back in 1981 with the name "HardCore Computing". A flier mailed out during 1982 gave this description of the magazine: "HARDCORE COMPUTING, a small magazine in Tacoma, Washington, warns pirates about the latest technology that companies are using against them. HARDCORE is a magazine dedicated to the Apple-user. There are a lot of computer magazines, but HARDCORE prints the information that other magazines refuse to print, information vital to you as a computer user."<1> By 1983 it was split into two separate publications: "HARDCORE Computist" (devoted to "kracking"; see below), and "CORE" (devoted to general AppleII topics). CORE was to have been published four times a year, but was dropped after only a few issues. The first issues of CORE, during 1983, covered graphics, utilities, and games. The third quarterly issue was to have been about databases, but the games topic was substituted and the database topic never appeared in print.<1>,<2>,<3>
For the first four issues, the name "HARDCORE" dominated the title page. Beginning with issue #5, "Hardcore" appeared in smaller type, with "COMPUTIST" taking over a dominating position on the cover. By issue #27, the name "Hardcore" was dropped completely from the cover. Although it began as a glossy format magazine, this was discontinued with issue #45 in 1987, and with issue #66 in 1989 they changed to a tabloid format. The publishers claim that one reason for the name change to simply "Computist" stemmed from a complaint sent in by a young subscriber whose mother was throwing out the magazine before he got it, because she thought it contained pornographic materials!<1>
"Computist" was, admittedly, in the business of teaching users how to "strip". But this did not refer to X-rated topics, but the ability to strip the copy-protection from commercial software. This technique, known as "kracking", was a popular pastime for some software hackers of the day. Using powerful programs such as Locksmith and Copy II Plus, Computist gave specifics on how to make a disk work as easily as a standard Apple DOS disk.<3> The combination of ProDOS and un-protected commercial programs took much of the wind out of Computist's sails, since the special help needed to copy disks was no longer necessary. There were, of course, those who used the techniques printed in Computist to "pirate" programs (duplicate and distribute protected software), but many used it to standardize the modified DOS so that the programs could be used with RAM disks, large floppies, and hard disks.<1>
Though it is still being printed, "Computist" is much different than it was in its early days. It is no longer AppleII-specific, and has expanded to also cover the Macintosh and IBM. Its publishing schedule has also become rather irregular. Each new subscription still comes with a tutorial by Wes Felty on disk de-protection and the use of a program called "Super IOB".<4>
A+ (1983-1989)
Ziff-Davis, who published other computer magazines such as Creative Computing, began publishing A+ in January 1983. This new AppleII magazine carried primarily hardware and software reviews and consumer-oriented articles. It was somewhat similar to today's inCider/A+ in terms of being a general interest AppleII magazine as opposed to the programming slant of Nibble (A+ had virtually no type-in programs).<5> During the time that both A+ and inCider were being published there continued a friendly rivalry between the two.
One of the features unique to A+ was a column called "Product All-Stars", a classified-style listing of the current popular software and hardware similar to the old "Fastalk" column in Softalk magazine.
During the latter part of A+'s publishing run, Gary Little became its editor. He had previously written books about the AppleIIe, IIc, IIGS, and their disk operating systems, and so was very qualified to know the computer and its uses. He replaced Lisa Raleigh, who left to take a job with Apple Computer. Not long after, and just prior to the magazine's merger with inCider, Gary Little also was hired away by Apple. It was felt by some subscribers that Little's short stint with A+ significantly improved the magazine, and they were saddened to see him go.
When Creative Computing had ceased publication in 1985, subscribers found their remaining issues were switched over to A+ Magazine by Ziff-Davis. In 1989, the publisher chose to discontinue A+, and allowed it to merge with inCider magazine.
inCider (1983-Present)
This magazine was originally begun by Wayne Green, who had been involved in technical magazines for many years. As mentioned above, it was not a programming magazine, though it carried columns that answered reader's questions about programming as well as other AppleII questions. The main direction that it has seemed to take over the years was in helping advertise available software and hardware, and carry articles that helped AppleII users learn to use the software they owned. These columns included "AppleWorks In Action" by Ruth Witkin; "Press Room" by Cynthia Field (which detailed ways to do desktop publishing with Print Shop, Publish-It!, AppleWorks GS, and GraphicWriter); "Bridging The Gap" by Gregg Keizer (discussing ways to help the AppleII and Macintosh work peaceably together); "AppleIIGS Basics" by Joe Abernathy (highlighting programming on the IIGS); and "Apple Clinic" (questions and answers about using AppleII's).
In 1989 inCider merged with A+ Magazine, as mentioned above, and in December 1990 the editors chose to broaden their audience by adding coverage of the Macintosh computer to their AppleII features. This was a highly unpopular move with many AppleII loyalists, who had already had quite enough of Apple Computer telling them to "move up" to a Mac. "Polluting" their AppleII publication with this better-loved younger sibling infuriated many, and they vowed to let their subscriptions expire. However, at this point in time there were few national AppleII-specific publications remaining, and no others that appeared on the magazine racks at large newsstands (since Nibble had gone to subscription-only distribution). Apparently inCider's distributing company, A+ Publishing, felt that they couldn't survive without making some attempt to broaden their customer base, and they chose this as what they felt was their best defense in a shrinking market. For several months afterward, the magazine got just a little bit smaller in size, eventually going from a square-bound back to a stapled format. This shrinkage stabilized in early to mid 1992, and by late that year, inCider/A+ was still in business.
Apple IIGS Buyer's Guide (1985-1990)
This magazine began originally under the name, "The AppleII Review" in the fall of 1985. After about five issues the name was changed to "The AppleIIGS Buyers Guide". The changed magazine began in the Fall of 1987, and it ceased publication in the Fall of 1990. It was published in a high gloss format, and over half of each issue was devoted to a listing of available IIGS software/hardware.<6>
II Computing (1985-1987)
This magazine published from October/November 1985 until February/March 1987. Trying to appeal to a variety of readers from beginners to experienced AppleII users, it printed program listings (including at one time listings made for the Cauzin strip reader), reviews, and general articles. It covered items in more depth than inCider, but less than Call-A.P.P.L.E. or Nibble, offering a combination of both type-in programs and general articles. It had available a companion disk available containing the programs in the magazine.<5>,<7>
Open-Apple / A2-Central (1985-Present)
As mentioned above, Tom Weishaar was a writer of Softalk's "DOSTalk" column beginning in April 1983, after Bert Kersey retired from the position. He continued with it until Softalk went bankrupt after the August 1984 issue. An AppleII user since 1980, and author of two programs sold by Beagle Bros (Frame-Up, a graphics slide-show displayer, and ProntoDOS, an enhanced version of DOS 3.3), Weishaar had previous experience with writing newsletters from his days with the Commodity News Service in Kansas City. After Softalk folded, he realized that there was still a market for a technical publication for the AppleII that also could be helpful for the beginning user. In January 1985 he began with a newsletter he called Open-Apple, which continued where "DOSTalk" left off. The initial issue (Volume 1, No. 0) included reader's letters (some left over from DOSTalk, but some intentionally phony, with return addresses like the Okefenokee Swamp), information about Applesoft and Logo, and one response to a reader asking how to create a disk that would boot without DOS 3.3. At $24 for a monthly eight page newsletter, its subscribing cost was as much as full-sized magazines of the day. However, Open-Apple did not carry any advertising, and the amount of useful information printed each month made it worth the expense.<8>
As the newsletter has matured over the years, the coverage of Logo has disappeared, and Applesoft has dwindled as well, reflecting changes in reader interests. During the late 1980's, coverage of AppleWorks was heavy, and nearly every issue would contain some way to patch the program to customize it for a certain function. Coverage of the IIGS was also prominent, and Weishaar has had to find a balance between articles that dealt with the new technology without ignoring the sizeable number of readers who still owned the older 8-bit AppleII's.
In December 1988, the name of the newsletter was changed to A2-Central. Several reasons were given for the change. One was similar to the reason given by A.P.P.L.E. for changing its name to TechAlliance; Apple Computer was in the habit of threatening legal infringement against those who used "their" name without permission (or at least licensing it). Another was to indicate philosophically what was the purpose of the magazine: To be the center of the AppleII universe, and a central source of information and programming resources. Earlier in the year, Weishaar had also agreed to be the manager of the AppleII roundtables on the online service GEnie. This extended the information available to him for his publication, as well as the ability for more prompt exchange of information for his readers. In fact, there was a great similarity between the conversations that took place on GEnie, in the reader questions section of A2-Central, and the old "Open Discussion" part of Softalk magazine. New users could ask "how do I get XYZ program to run with my ABC printer?", and experienced users could help them, either online or in a letter written to A2-Central.
Because the newsletter included international readers as well, and these people had difficulty in getting their hands on certain AppleII-related products or books, a catalog was added to the A2-Central line-up in early 1989. This initially carried books, but quickly expanded to include software and hardware. February 1989 also saw the first of A2 On Disk, which included a textfile of the current month's newsletter, as well as an assortment of the latest shareware and freeware programs for the AppleII. At times it also contained textfiles with useful information (such as updates to the official AppleII tech notes).
September 1989 saw a change in editors for A2-Central. After nearly five years of working constantly on it, Weishaar turned over the reins for the month-to-month work to Dennis Doms, and moved himself to the position of publisher. There was little change in the content or style of the newsletter (since Weishaar was still running the show), but it freed him to recover from the burnout of meeting a monthly deadline, and to work more on managing the company itself. One of the new items that appeared in December 1989 was a disk-based publication called Stack-Central (later changed to Studio City). What was unique about this bi-monthly product was that it was based on HyperStudio, the graphics, sound, and text manipulation program from Roger Wagner Publishing. As such, it could be read in a "non-linear" fashion; that is, you didn't have to start at the beginning and read through until you got to the end. You could jump from one topic to another, or thread through topics in a fashion that could not be duplicated in a printed publication.
More new disk-based products appeared from A2-Central in 1990. August 1990 saw the start of TimeOut-Central, devoted to AppleWorks and the TimeOut series of enhancements distributed by Beagle Bros. It was also a bi-monthly publication, and was originally edited by Richard Marchiafava, who had previously written a column called "AppleWorks Advisor" for user-group newsletters. In March 1991 the editorship was transferred to Randy Brandt, the Beagle Bros programmer who had written many of the TimeOut applications, as well as several for his own small software company.
8/16-Central, specializing in programming for both 8-bit AppleII's and the IIGS, began in December 1990. It was a continuation of a short-lived magazine called 8/16, published by Ross Lambert's Ariel Publishing Co., which itself was preceded by several separate newsletters that specialized in Applesoft or assembly language or other programming for the AppleII series. 8/16-Central was a monthly disk, but didn't keep enough subscribers to stay afloat. In October 1991 it was discontinued, and the remaining subscriptions were folded over into GS+ Magazine.
Hyperbole began in March 1991. It was also a HyperStudio-based disk publication, but its focus was not on making HyperStudio stacks, but on actually using the program to produce a literary form that had never been done before. It consisted of poetry, art, and sounds, combined together in a way that could not be presented in printed form. For example, one series of stories that appeared early on in Hyperbole involved a medieval theme, with the story told from various points of view, depending on which picture was selected on the "door" that introduced the story. To get the entire story required going back to the main door and selecting a different picture. Sound and graphics were also integrated into articles that appeared in this disk-magazine.
Finally, Script-Central began in June 1991. This was similar to Stack-Central, but was dedicated to HyperCard IIGS. It featured some animated sequences that introduced it, and the user could select the articles to read by pointing to doors in the Stack-Central "building" on the screen, and follow hallways to other articles (sort of like combining a magazine and a video game).
A2-Central itself has undergone few changes in its life. Its focus has shifted slightly to keeping abreast of the newest changes in the AppleII world (in terms of products and events that affect that computer), where previously it spent a lot of time talking about various specific products (such as AppleWorks, HyperStudio, etc.) The spin-off disk publications that were started have filled the niche needed to continue user-support of those AppleII products. The editorship has changed a couple of further times as well; Jan Jennings briefly took the place of Dennis Doms as editor in November 1991, before going to work for Softdisk. Ellen Rosenberg began editorship after that, and made the change of accepting feature articles from outside authors for the first time since A2-Central began publication. The newsletter, catalog, and all the disk publications continue today under the corporate umbrella of Resource-Central, Inc., which also has sponsored annual summer conferences since 1989. These conferences have brought together some of the top AppleII developers in the country for two days of classes and workshops on many topics. Held in Kansas City in July or August, it has been nicknamed "Kansasfest", since it contains AppleFest-like activities.
Weishaar's interest in and dedication to the AppleII has been much appreciated; he was chosen s a recipient of the AppleII Individual Achievement Aware for 1991. His philosophy was summed up in a statement made in a printing of the A2-Central catalog in the Fall of 1990, where he wrote: "The significant thing about the AppleII has always been the community of people that has sprung up around the machine, teaching other people how to use it, designing hard and software for it, exposing its inner flesh to the light of day, and using it to manage businesses, run church groups, educate children, and turn out prosperous and happy human beings."<9>
Compute!
"Compute!" was a hybrid magazine that catered primarily to the Commodore 64 computer. It would usually feature games that had versions written for several different computers, including the AppleII. In the late 1980's it began having special issues dedicated to some of the different platforms featured in the main magazine, and there were a few issues called "Apple Applications" for the AppleII.
Apple Orchard
Apple Orchard was published by the International Apple Corp for about several years. It was aimed primarily at user groups, and was billed as a user's group user's group. Contents of early issues were a compendium of articles from various user group newsletters.<3>
GS+ (1989-Present)
In the late 1970's, Steven Disbrow entered the world of microcomputers with his purchase of a TRS-80 ModelI, complete with cassette storage and 4K of memory. To learn more about his computer and what it could do, he picked up a newsstand magazine called "80-Micro" (published by Wayne Green, who had also started Byte and inCider magazines). He enjoyed the humor that the editors of that publication included, and the fun they showed one could have with a computer. Active also in the local TRS user's group, he originally disdained AppleII's and those who used them. However, in 1984 he found that he needed the ability to communicate with a mainframe computer in order to do some schoolwork. After looking into the cost of upgrading his TRS-80 to be able to do this, he found that it would actually cost him less to buy the newly released AppleIIc with a 300 baud modem (and at that time, a new IIc went for about $1300), so he crossed enemy lines and entered the Apple camp.
As he got more familiar with his IIc, his interest in that computer and the upcoming 16-bit IIGS also increased. While learning more about it from Apple magazines at the newsstand, he noticed that many of the publications that dealt with the Atari ST included a disk with each issue. Disbrow went so far as to contact several of the AppleII magazines that were in print at the time to see if they had any interest in a companion disk, but he did not find any interest. After purchasing his AppleIIGS, he saw that there still was no combination magazine and disk for this computer, and decided to start one himself.
When Disbrow started his magazine in September 1989, he chose to make it exclusively for the AppleIIGS, and so named it "GS+". Published bi-monthly, the byline on the cover of each issue reminded subscribers of what made his magazine unique: "The First AppleIIGS Magazine + Disk Publication!" He recalled the humor and fun that he had always seen in 80-Micro, and determined to make his magazine fun in a similar way. Disbrow felt that this was especially important, considering the generally negative attitude that was prevalent among AppleII users at the time, as they saw less and less active support from Apple for their computer. Still in print at the time of this writing, GS+ concentrates on news, software and hardware reviews, published programs and utilities for the IIGS (some with source code), and interviews with people who are involved with the IIGS.<6>
SoftDisk (Sep 1981-Present) / Softdisk GS (Nov 1988-Present)
One of the survivors in the AppleII magazine world is also unusual in terms of the type of publication that it is. Rather than using the traditional paper and ink medium, Softdisk came on the scene as one of the first magazines distributed in only a machine-readable form. Back in 1981, Jim Mangham, a programmer at LSU Medical Center in Shreveport, Louisiana, felt that the time was ripe for an AppleII disk-based magazine. It would have the advantage of providing ready-to-run programs that did not have to be typed in, yet could still be listed and modified by the "reader" if desired. Mangham's idea was not unique in the computer world as a whole; "CLOAD" for the TRS-80 began as a magazine on cassette as far back as 1978, and other paper publications offered companion disks as an extra, containing programs from a specific issue. But no one had yet put a whole magazine on disk for the AppleII, and Mangham decided to fill that gap.
Originally, he planned to call it "The Harbinger Magazette", and after getting a preliminary first issue prepared, he called Al Tommervik of Softalk magazine to discuss advertising. Tommervik thought it was a great idea, and not only did he want to advertise it, but asked to be a partner in the venture. He suggested that they change the name to "Softdisk" (since it would be, in essence, a Softalk publication). By the time Mangham was ready to mail out his first issue, he had fifty subscribers. Since he needed a minimum of two hundred pieces to qualify for a bulk postage rate, his father found one hundred and fifty disks appear in his mailbox that month.
To create his new "magazette", Mangham chose to use double-sided disks that were pre-notched on both edges, to ensure that both sides would be useable. (Recall that the Disk II drive could only use one side of the disk, and so it was common to conserve money and use the other side by cutting a notch on edge of the disk opposite the factory one and flipping the disk over). These double-sided disks were expensive, costing him three dollars apiece, and so he set up the subscriptions to require return of the previous issue in order to get the next one (it was left up to the reader to make his own copies to keep). When the disk was returned with the five dollars for the next issue, the reader could also use a simple text editor on the disk to return any "letters to the editor" he might have, commenting on the previous issue's contents or asking other questions. This return disk could also be used for submitting programs, pictures, or articles for use in future issues of Softdisk. Some of the subscribers that became prolific contributors of material even ended up _working_ at Softdisk!<10>
Softalk magazine provided free advertising for Softdisk, and the subscriber base gradually grew. Some of the revenue for the magazine came from subscription payments, and some came through advertising. Ads for Softdisk were sold by the disk sector, and provided an advertiser a unique opportunity; he could give a potential customer a chance to actually _see_ how the program he was selling looked. Some of the ads could be animated (usually using the text screen to use less disk space), and were actually entertaining. This was most prominent in the ads Softdisk had for their own products; by 1983 they had begun a line of software called "Rich And Famous" (which they said was what the authors wanted to become). Consisting of programs written by regular Softdisk contributors, these disks sold for $9.95 apiece, and a $4 royalty on each disk went to the author. The disks offered various types of games, including hi-res graphics adventures and card games, office-based utility software, general AppleII utilities, and disks of music (in Electric Duet format).
Each issue of Softdisk had a "cover", which consisted of a hi-res picture and the issue number. These eventually were created to look just like the Softalk logo, except the globe in the upper right corner was animated. Starting in August 1983, Softdisk expanded to two double-sided disks, and the two-way subscriptions now requested that only one of the two had to be returned. One-way subscriptions were also available by now, for those who didn't want to bother having to return the disks. By January 1984 (issue #27), Softdisk became available through retail stores (primarily computer stores, but later also through bookstores) at the price of $12.95 per issue. They also began putting out a disk magazine called "Loadstar" for the Commodore 64 computer in June 1984, at a price of $9.95 (since it was a single disk per issue it cost less).<11>
As mentioned earlier, Softalk magazine folded after its August 1984 issue, leaving the future of Softdisk somewhat in doubt. In return for some benefits that Softalk had provided (free full-page ads, space in their booth at computer shows, and permission to include some programs from the magazine on Softdisk), it had part-ownership in Softdisk. Since Softalk was now bankrupt, the possibility existed that Softdisk would be absorbed into the liquidation of assets. To avoid this outcome and to ensure the future of the magazine, Softdisk purchased back its shares from Softalk's creditors (at a price probably higher than what they were worth) and continued on their own. Although a few ads were placed in remaining AppleII magazines after that, Softdisk continued primarily on word-of-mouth referrals (which didn't increase circulation by much). Sales of some side items (primarily blank disks) helped keep the company going during this difficult time.<12>
In May 1985, the two-way disk subscriptions were discontinued, and Al Tommervik started a brief tenure as editor-in-chief. He helped develop a more professional appearance for the magazine (and for Loadstar), through higher quality graphics and cover design. When Greg Malone began as editor-in-chief in late 1985, he continued the improvements by starting a graphics-based presentation in favor of the older text-based method they had used from the beginning.<12>
Softdisk, Inc. added a disk magazine in 1986 for the IBM PC, called "Big Blue Disk".<13> At this time Softdisk magazine itself began including re-releases of older commercial software whose publishers were willing to inexpensively release publishing rights; they also began to publish some newer shareware programs. The first series of "reprints" were games previously released by Polarware/Penguin Software.<14>
By 1987, Softdisk began again advertising itself in magazines, a practice that has been continued up to the present time. This began a large expansion in circulation for the Softdisk magazette and their other disk publications.<14> Later that year saw the changeover from the older DOS 3.3 operating system exclusively to ProDOS (beginning with issue #73). This issue also saw the start of a more attractive graphic user interface that supported use of a mouse (as well as the keyboard), and had pulldown menus and animated graphics. Within the next year or so, retail distribution of their publications was discontinued (booksellers were not leaving the products on the shelf long enough to allow them to sell) and distribution returned exclusively to a subscription basis.<15>
In November 1988, the first issue of Softdisk GS was released, supporting the standard IIGS desktop interface standards. This publication has maintained a high quality standard and has done well. At the time of this writing, Softdisk, Inc. continues to put out the following monthly disk magazines: Softdisk for 8-bit AppleII's; Softdisk GS for the IIGS; On Disk Monthly (formerly Big Blue Disk) for the IBM PC; Gamer's Edge, also for the IBM PC; and Diskworld for the Macintosh. Loadstar for the Commodore 64/128 is still available, but only on a quarterly basis.
Foreign Apple II Magazines
The AppleII not only got press in the United States, but has also been on the newsstands in Europe in various forms, though most are no longer being published. One that began as "Windfall" (later changing its name to "Apple User") was the biggest magazine for some time. "Peeker" was published in Germany, and carried articles similar to those found in Nibble. In the Netherlands there are still a few hobbyist magazines that cater to the AppleII crowd, including "Klokhuis" (which means "Apple-Core"), "Pro-2" and "Het AppleDossier".<16>
In Britain there was at one time a magazine called "Orchard Computing", published by a company named Argus Specialist Publications. Some of the issues were primarily reprints from Nibble, but they also accepted articles from local readers.<17>
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NEXT INSTALLMENT: Telecommunications
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NOTES
<1> Hood, Hugh. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Oct 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<2> Wessel, Hank. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Oct 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<3> Vanderpool, Tom. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Oct 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<4> Felty, Wes. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Oct 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<5> McIntosh, Ross. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Oct 1991, Mar 1992, Category 2, Topic 16.
<6> Disbrow, Steven. "Old Timers: Magazines", 1992 A2 Central Summer Conference (tapes), July 1992.
<7> Schack, Robert. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Oct 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<8> Weyhrich, Steven. "MACH Interview: Tom Weishaar", M.A.C.H. News, Jul 1991, pp. 6-11.
<9> Weishaar, Tom. -----, A2-Central Catalog, Fall 1990, p. 2.
<10> -----. "The History of Softdisk: Part 1", Soft Talk (company newsletter), Oct 1987.
<11> -----. "The History of Softdisk: Part 2", Soft Talk (company newsletter), Nov 1987.
<12> -----. "The History of Softdisk: Part 3", Soft Talk (company newsletter), Dec 1987.
<13> -----. "The History of Softdisk: Part 4", Soft Talk (company newsletter), Jan 1988.
<14> -----. "The History of Softdisk: Part V", Soft Talk (company newsletter), Feb 1988.
<15> -----. "The History of Softdisk: Conclusion", Soft Talk (company newsletter), Mar 1988.
<16> Crouzen, Alex. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Oct 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<17> Alfter, Scott. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Oct 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.

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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1992, Zonker Software
(PART 22 -- TELECOMMUNICATIONS)
[v1.0 :: 14 Sep 92]
REACH OUT AND BYTE SOMEONE
Since the earliest days that it was available, there have been those who have found ways to communicate using their computers with other AppleII's users over the phone lines. Although some inexpensive imaginative methods have been employed (such as A.P.P.L.E.'s "Apple Box" that used the cassette port to send and receive programs via the phone line), the release of the DC Hayes MicromodemII in about 1979 made it possible for a new type of computing. Although there were those who wanted to use their AppleII as a home terminal for access to a school or business mainframe from home, many users created their own small systems that could be called from elsewhere. These "bulletin board systems" consisted of a single computer that was always waiting to answer the phone. When it rang, the computer would answer the phone and establish two-way communication via the modem. A program running on this computer would then allow the calling computer to do various things, such as reading messages left by other users, to posting messages for others to read. As these systems became more sophisticated, it became possible to send and receive programs or other data files on these BBS's, play games, and participate in online surveys. The system operator ("sysop") was responsible for maintaining the software and the message databases, often leaving his computer on for 24 hours a day to be available for callers.
The success of these small, local systems encouraged the larger, mainframe-based systems to expand and offer services to non-business users during off-peak hours. They figured that since the equipment was idle during that time anyway, they might as well have someone use it and earn them some extra money. Most of the major online services that started in the late 1970's are still in business, in one form or another, and others have entered the game since then. Competition has increased, the number of users accessing these national systems has grown, the number of features offered has also gone up, and the cost of online communication has dropped.
The ability to transfer files from one AppleII to another has evolved over time. Initially, an Applesoft or Integer BASIC program might be "downloaded" (sent from the BBS to the calling computer) by simply doing a "LIST" of it. That was fine, unless the program had some machine language parts added on. Then, the bytes of that assembly code had to be sent as hex digit pairs (i.e., 20 00 BF 65 10 03 04, etc.), since anything shared between the computers had to be in printable ASCII codes. With the noise possible on some telephone connections, this could result in a single character becoming garbled now and then, resulting in a program that wouldn't run because of the error that was introduced. Various programs for the AppleII were devised over time to make this more efficient, including some that used the method of encoding the hex bytes (digit pairs) into single printable ASCII codes that were then decoded on the receiving end into a usable program.
Eventually, AppleII BBS programs (and the terminal programs that were used to call those BBS's) began to use the "XMODEM" standard devised in 1982 by Ward Christensen to more efficiently and accurately send such files over a phone line. As Apple software became more sophisticated, and as the files to send became larger and larger (particularly with the introduction of the IIGS), protocols were established to allow more than one file to be sent in a single transmission. The first major protocol that was agreed upon among the major online services was the Binary II protocol. Designed in 1986 by Gary Little, this allowed a standard method of grouping files that could work for any of the disk formats available on the AppleII. In 1988, Andy Nicholas designed a more comprehensive method of not only putting several files into a single file (usually called an "archive"), but also compressing those files to save time and space when transmitting them between computers. He called this protocol "NuFX" (NuFile eXchange), and implemented it and the data compression in a program called ShrinkIt (and later GS-ShrinkIt) that he released as "freeware" (that is, he did not charge for the use and distribution of his program). The NuFX protocol was adopted by Apple Computer as the official protocol for file transmission for the AppleII, and Nicholas later went to work at Apple after his graduation from the college that he was attending when he designed the protocol.
NATIONAL ONLINE SERVICES
Since there are far too many local systems to discuss in even a passing manner here, let's take a look at the various nationally available systems and their history as it applies to the AppleII.
Internet (1970's-Present)
The United States Department of Defense began a computer network in the late 1960's called ARPAnet (Advanced Research Project Agency Network) to facilitate communication between widely scattered universities and research centers. To make it possible to have real-time intercommunications, electronic mail, and the ability to exchange files and other important information, they developed a set of standards to make it possible to carry out these functions. The effort was very successful, and eventually the university research groups wanted to use it for everything, not just Department of Defense work. Eventually it was opened up to non-Defense projects (with restrictions to prevent commercial ventures) and it was called Internet. To gain access to Internet required a computer "node" (usually through a university). Although the term "Internet" is often used to refer to all of these computer networks, there are at least three major ones that are linked together at most sites: Internet, Bitnet, and Usenet. Internet is most commonly used to send electronic mail and messages.<1>
With the widespread penetration of Internet across the country, there have developed many different groups and forums, including ones that were specific to the AppleII. Since Internet was already in existence when the AppleII was released, and long before any home users with modems created single-user bulletin board systems, it probably represents the first online "service" available for the AppleII. The original newsgroup was called "comp.sys.apple", and in 1990 its name was changed to "comp.sys.apple2" to distinguish it from newsgroups that were dedicated to the Macintosh. Through Internet addresses, AppleII users can even communicate directly with employees of Apple who have accounts on the net.<1>,<2>
The Source (1979-1989)
The Source began in 1979 and lasted until 1989. For much of its life, it was owned by Reader's Digest. It was accessible through Telenet or Tymnet nodes; that is, through computers in a locality that act as gateways to many other online computer services across the country. (Often there is an additional fee for using the Telenet or Tymnet node, in addition to the charges for the specific service being accessed). The Source had many services available online, including over twenty financial and business services, access to several national and international news services, and computer-specific news features. An online encyclopedia, shopping, interactive games, and airline reservations were also available. One feature unique to The Source was the capability to create "scripts" that the mainframe kept track of (rather than being on the user's local terminal program disk). These scripts could be used to quickly move to certain areas and perform repetitive functions (such as scanning and reading electronic mail, and checking for new files in the library).
The AppleII had a presence on The Source from its earliest days, but the APPLESIG was updated in 1987, and Joseph Kohn (who currently writes articles for inCider/A+ and works with the Big Red Computer Club) was the chief sysop. He operated the APPLESIG from May 1987 until The Source closed down.
Kohn worked to make APPLESIG a major information source for AppleII users. Registered with Apple as a user group, they had expert advice available, as well as a large library of articles and software. The online charges were lower for APPLESIG, which also made it attractive for users. As with other online services, a bulletin board section was also maintained for ongoing discussions between users about various topics of interest. They also had an online presence maintained by "The AppleIIGS Buyer's Guide", and were allowed to reprint articles from "MicroTimes" and "A+" magazines.<3>
According to Kohn, one thing that likely contributed to the demise of The Source was their insistence on a $10 monthly minimum charge, long after other national online services had either eliminated or significantly lowered such charges. Another problem that he identified was that their system was not as easy to use as some other services (although former users feel that the Source's library search protocol was better than any other). The Source was bought out by CompuServe, and its subscribers merged with that service in 1989.<4>,<5>
CompuServe (1979-Present)
This service originally began as "Compu-Serv" in 1969 as an in-house computer processing center for Golden United Life Insurance Co. During the next ten years they expanded their offerings to business users, and by 1972 had over four hundred accounts across the country. In 1977 the name was officially changed to "CompuServe Incorporated", and by 1979 they were ready to begin offering service to computer hobbyists. Their new service was called MicroNET, and it started on July 1, 1979 after two months of testing with the 1,200 members of the Midwest Affiliation of Computer Clubs. Items available online were bulletin boards, databases, and games. Soon after they started this, an AppleII special interest group was begun. It gave itself the name "MAUG" (for "MicroNetted Apple User Group").
In 1980, CompuServe merged with H&R Block, and changed their personal computer service name from MicroNET to CompuServe Information Service. They have continued to expand their services and capabilities through the years, and are widely available across the country.<6>
Each user on CompuServe is assigned an eight or nine digit ID code, divided into five digits, a comma, and then the other three or four digits. For example, a user's code might be 76543,4321. When directing electronic mail to a specific user, it is necessary to use that ID code so the system knows exactly which Joe Smith you want to receive your message.
The bulletin board and message sections on CompuServe are divided up into Forums, usually dedicated to a specific service. The MAUG section covers more than one forum, since the volume of message traffic is too large to manage in a single forum. Messages within a forum are organized under major subject, and then under minor subjects. Each message is assigned a number, and the various messages are linked together into "threads". For instance, user #1 asks a question about a brand of modem. User #2 links his answer to that message and answers the original question. User #3 also answers the question, but adds a comment about terminal programs. User #4 picks up on that comment, and adds his views about the terminal program that he likes, without mentioning anything about the modem question that user #1 asked. And on it goes. Eventually, the topic will probably die out, to be restarted later by someone else when it is necessary. The message thread can be followed when reading these posts, or you could simply read all the messages sequentially by their message number. A sequential scan would read all messages about all topics, whether the messages were connected or not. Following the thread pursues one conversation; following all of the messages pursues all conversations that are going on.
One problem that can occur with this type of system depends on the volume of message traffic. The software that CompuServe uses will assign a new number to each new message, but when the total number of messages has passed a certain point, the first messages will be deleted. If the range of messages when signing on Monday runs from 15000 to 17000, by Tuesday it may run from 15500 to 17500 (and the first 500 messages from 15000 to 15499 have disappeared). If there are any especially useful conversations going on, the Sysop (system operator) for that forum may choose to save the messages and their threads into a file in the library for access in the future by those who were not involved in the conversations when they were going on.
Each forum on CompuServe has the capability of supporting live conferences, where many users can be present at the same time and hold live interactive conversations (as opposed to the bulletin board conversations where you must post a message, and then log on later to see if there has been a reply to it).
The MAUG libraries hold programs that have been uploaded for years; some are from the early part of the 1980's (if you can wait for the file scan to get back that far). Of course, there are also many files that are new, and they are added daily by the active people there.
As with the other major online systems, there are many other services available online besides the MAUG forums, including news services, online shopping, games, and much more.<7>
Delphi (1982-Present)
In 1982 the General Videotex Corporation began an online service called Delphi (probably named after the oracle of ancient Greek mythology). They have not been a major player in the competition for customers between national online services, but neither have they succumbed to financial pressure and passed away. Like The Source, they are accessible through Telenet and Tymnet. They have had an AppleII SIG (Special Interest Group) since around 1985. Erik Kloeppel has been head Sysop for that SIG for the past several years.
In January 1992, General Videotex purchased the BIX online service operated by Byte magazine in an effort to enlarge Delphi and increase its market share.
GEnie (1985-Present)
GEnie is owned and operated by General Electric, and the name stands for "General Electric Network for Information Exchange". It has been in business since 1985, and, like other online systems, offers many different services to its subscribers, including news, an online encyclopedia, online shopping, games, financial information, and areas of interest to users of various brands of computers.
Where CompuServe's sections are called Forums, GEnie calls their sections Roundtables (or RTs for short). Each RT is divided up into a bulletin board, library, and conference rooms (called "Real Time Conferences", or RTC's). The bulletin board is divided up into a number of categories, and each category consists of a number of topics. Each topic then has individual messages that (hopefully) deal with that topic. Unlike CompuServe, messages will not disappear from a topic until the Sysop decides to delete them (and this does not occur until the number of messages either get too large to be manageable, or they become old and outdated). If a topic contains messages that are particularly helpful (such as information about the use of a common computer utility program), the messages may stay up for years. If it becomes necessary to purge old messages, they may be placed into the library so they are still available for reading in the future.
As for user ID's, GEnie decided to use a combination of letters and other symbols to give each user a unique name, instead of the number system CompuServe employs. A new user is typically assigned a user name that consists of their first initial, a period, and their last name. If there is another user with the same user name at that point, a number is added. For instance, Joe Smith would be given the name J.SMITH; if there already are three Joe Smith's on the system, then this name would be changed to J.SMITH4 to tell him apart from the other ones. A user may ask for a different name (for a price) if the one assigned to him or her is not satisfactory. These tend to be as varied as vanity license plates on automobiles. If J.SMITH4 owns a restaurant, he may ask GEnie to give him a name such as EAT.AT.JOES instead of his original name.
GEnie started supporting the AppleII computer on October 27th, 1985, about five days prior to its going public. Kent Fillmore was the first Apple Information Manager, and the first Sysop was Cathy Christiansen. Fillmore started the "America Apple RoundTable" (AART), for the Apple ][ and /// Computers, as well as the A2PRO RT (AppleII Programmers) with Michael Fischer (MFISCHER), A+ Magazine RT with Maggie Canon (A.PLUS), the Apple/Mac User Group RT with Leonard Reed (BIBLIA), the ProTree RT with Bob Garth (PROTREE), and the GEnie Sysop's private RoundTable.<8> Fillmore left GEnie in October 1987 and Tom Weishaar took over some of those RTs. Fillmore later returned to GEnie in June 1992 to become the Product Manager for Computing RoundTables/ChatLines.<9>
To stay competitive with older and sometimes larger information services, GEnie has usually kept its online costs below those of the other systems. The association with Tom Weishaar and his newsletter, "A2-Central" (originally "Open-Apple"), has been beneficial for both. GEnie's 100,000th member in March 1988 was an AppleII user that joined because of a special offer through Open-Apple. And Weishaar has been able to keep more direct contact with AppleII users, from both those who work professionally with the II to those who use their AppleII's for special purposes only.<10>
AppleLink-Personal Edition / America Online (1988-Present)
Beginning in May 1988, Apple Computer contracted with Quantum Computer Services to start a consumer version of its AppleLink network. Apple's original network, in operation since 1985, had been used primarily for communication functions within Apple Computer and its various sites across the country, as well as a source of technical support for certified Apple developers. When their new consumer service, AppleLink-Personal Edition (ALPE) was introduced, they changed the name of the original network to AppleLink-Industrial Edition. Apple's hope was to use ALPE as a method of providing better support to its customers.
AppleLink-Personal Edition was unique for an online computer service in its use of a custom terminal program. Rather than requiring the user, (possibly a novice) to spend a lot of time in learning how to use a terminal program, a modem, and ALPE, Quantum and Apple designed a special program that handled all the communications details, including the sign-on password. Each time that the user signed-off from ALPE, a new, randomly selected password was selected and saved on the ALPE disk for the next time. ALPE was aware of this password, and so the chances of someone breaking in on another user's account and using time (and money!) was nearly eliminated.
The ALPE terminal program was intuitive, as was the use of the Macintosh (and AppleIIGS) desktop interface. Icons (pictures of desired functions) were selected with the mouse or cursor (depending on how you had it configured). Making the call and logging in were handled by the terminal program, transparently to the user. When the connection was made, a choice between Apple-specific services and ALPE general services was available. The general section was directed to entertainment, business services, online shopping, and general education. There was also a place for playing online games, alone or with other users. An "auditorium" could be used for members to attend conferences with special guests, allowing direct questions and answers with the guests.
The Apple Community section was the part most important to the dedicated AppleII (or Macintosh) user. Here direct contact with Apple Computer, Inc. was available (through the "Headquarters" icon), as well as other hardware and software vendors. Apple product announcements and information about products in testing could be found here, as well as direct access to Apple engineers and developers. There were Forums (special interest groups) for various aspects of Apple computing, Apple University (with courses on productivity, programming, and specialized software applications), and Software (library of available programs for downloading).
In 1990, AppleLink-Personal Edition was modified to connect with the services Quantum provided for other home computers, and the name was changed to America Online. It was still slightly less expensive than the other major online services, and because of the icon-based terminal software, still the easiest to use for the beginner.<11>
The main benefit for an AppleII user on a large, online service such as those described above is the availability of many experienced users that can provide prompt, timely answers to questions or problems. Some hardware and software companies maintain an online presence, to allow immediate feedback for their customers with technical problems. There are also many files in the libraries on these services, providing software at low cost, some quite professionally written. Apple Computer has also allowed most of these services to act as official "user groups", and so have availability of official technical notes and file type description notes for the AppleII series.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NEXT INSTALLMENT: Renaissance?
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NOTES
<1> E'Sex, Lunatic. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Feb 1992, Category 2, Topic 16.
<2> Bouchard, J. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Jan 1992, Category 12, Topic 7.
<3> Kohn, Joseph. "The Source", Call-A.P.P.L.E., Jan 1989, pp. 25-28.
<4> Kohn, Joseph. (personal mail), GEnie, E-mail, Feb 1992.
<5> Utter, Gary. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Feb 1992, Category 2, Topic 16.
<6> Gerber, Carole Houze. "Online Yesterday Today And Tomorrow", Online Today, Jul 1989, pp. 12-19.
<7> Apfelstadt, Marc. "All About CompuServe", Call-A.P.P.L.E., Nov 1988, pp. 44-47.
<8> E'Sex, Lunatic. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Feb 1992, Category 2, Topic 16.
<9> Fillmore, Kent. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Sep 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<10> Weishaar, Tom. "All About GEnie: General Electric's Online Information Service", Call-A.P.P.L.E., Sep 1988, pp. 46-50.
<11> Cooper, Vince. "AppleLink-Personal Edition", Call-A.P.P.L.E., Jul-Aug 1988, pp. 8-13.

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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1992, Zonker Software
(PART 23 -- RENAISSANCE?)
[v1.0 :: 25 Sep 92]
We've come a long way, in this review of the events in the life of the AppleII computer and those who have helped shape and direct its course. My Flux Capacitor card has just about exhausted its capacity for, er, fluxing, and I've run into a wall that did not stop Marty McFly in his time-travelling adventures: The future. Although I could create any future I wish to in my own fertile imagination, the events yet to come are no more clear to me than to anyone else who wants to try their hand at prognostication. But one word does come to mind: Renaissance. Webster's Dictionary defines it as "a movement or period of vigorous artistic and intellectual activity; rebirth, revival". I believe this word accurately reflects the current level of activity in the AppleII world outside of Apple, Inc. In order to take a look at why I believe this to be true, and at what might be in store for this computer, let's start by reviewing in brief what we've already covered.
OVERVIEW OF APPLE II HISTORY (THE BIG PICTURE)
Back when Apple Computer, Inc. got its start, it was just one small part of the rapidly growing field of consumer-oriented uses of the new microprocessor technology. It was not the first computer available for home use, and some might argue that it was not the best for its time, either. But it did have an openness in design that made it possible (for those who were excited about exploring the digital unknown) to "boldly go where no one has gone before". Unbeknownst to these early AppleII enthusiasts, their computer did not necessarily have the same affection in the hearts of those who ran Apple Computer at the time.
The problems at Apple Computer in the two years after the release of the AppleII were not particularly unique to that company. They were suffering from the growth pains that can happen to any company that suddenly finds itself with a blockbuster product on its hands. There is a sudden influx of cash (which is a heady experience in itself), a demand for greater levels of production for the product, and the problems associated with trying to meet that demand. These difficulties were part of what bogged down MITS, maker of the Altair 8800, when demand for their computer far surpassed all their expectations.
It has become somewhat of an expectation in the minds of the American consumer that if a company has a product that is sold in a store, advertised in national magazines, and is professionally designed, that it must then be a "big company". When you as a consumer are dealing with this mythical large company, you expect that they have managers and employees who know exactly what is going on at all times, have a clear business plan for the future, and are firmly in control of all aspects of the product. When the consumer becomes strongly attached to that product (develops a "brand loyalty" of sorts), sometimes that loyalty artificially inflates the abilities of the company that made it, and of its employees, to a status of expectations that no one can really meet. A business-oriented purchaser of an AppleII just might have had his confidence shaken a bit if he had known, for instance, that one of the first activities of the founders and early employees of Apple when they moved out of Jobs' garage and into a real office was to play games with the office telephones. Was this sort of behavior an indication that the AppleII was a piece of junk? Not at all; but it does highlight one problem that could not be quickly overcome at the time, and that is the one of maturity and experience.
Steve Wozniak was brilliant in his design of the AppleII; Steve Jobs was outstanding in his insistence on a quality appearance for the finished product; and all the others that made contributions in terms of hardware and software for this first all-in-one home computer did a top-notch job as well. But without the experienced help that Apple's founders got from Mike Markkula and Mike Scott, the company would likely have drowned in its own success. Starting a business with a successful product is not that hard; what is difficult is maintaining that business after it gets going. Not only do you have the problems of meeting growing consumer demand, but in the case of a technologically complex device like a computer, you have more mundane things to do. You have to do customer support involving items that were clearly spelled out in manual (which the owner likely did not read), as well as for problems that could not be anticipated in advance. And as more computers are sold, there are more people that may need technical assistance. This was not something that only Apple had trouble with; every small company that began to sell microcomputers had these same problems. Although Apple could well have done things better, the help provided by those Apple executives who were experienced in business helped them survive the first few years.
The next hurdle that Apple had to overcome was what they should do for an encore. Sure, the AppleII was a success, and the introduction of the DiskII drive together with solid application software like VisiCalc ensured that they would do well for a while. But up to this time in the microcomputer industry, no other machine had survived much beyond two to three years. At that point in the typical life of a computer, it has usually been surpassed by more advanced technology that does more for the same or lower cost. If Apple were satisfied to be a single-product company, that would be fine; but the people running the company wanted it to survive and flourish. Consequently, the push was begun to establish both short term and long term goals for future products. In the short term, the AppleIII was designed to be a stop-gap machine until their long term goals could be achieved. It was unthinkable that the AppleII could possibly last much beyond six to twelve more months, and so they put considerable effort into creating something they thought would be better than an AppleII, something that would be more suitable for a business type of environment. As has been discussed before, this new computer was built with the capability of running AppleII software, so customers would have something they could do with it until an adequate supply of AppleIII-specific software became available. But the problems of growth pains and inadequate quality control killed the AppleIII, in spite of Apple's best efforts to overcome their false start. Meanwhile, the AppleII Plus continued to grow by leaps and bounds, ignoring the expectations of those within the company.
Apple's long-term goal was to get a radically new computer platform designed and into production, something that would be as much ahead of the AppleII and III as those computers were ahead of what came before them. The Lisa project (and later the Macintosh) were what executives at Apple really believed would be the future of the company. Certainly, with all the power and ease of use that these computers would promise, why would anyone want to still own an AppleII, or anything else? In actuality, it was probably the failure of the AppleIII and the continued successful growth of the AppleII that made a major contribution to the slow start the Lisa and Macintosh had. Combined with that factor was the very high cost of the Lisa, and the limited capability of the first Macs (with only 128K of RAM, there wasn't much you could do before you ran out of memory).
All this time, the AppleII had developed its own perpetual motion machine that not even Apple's neglect could halt. More AppleII computers in the home, school, and workplace meant more available customers for the fledgling software industry that provided fuel for these machines to run. And a software company, though also liable for the technical support issues that affected hardware manufacturers, was extremely easy to start out of a living room. Just write a program, package it, put a few ads in magazines, and wait for the orders to come pouring in. Though few did as well as VisiCalc, the growth of that company is an example of the potential that software authors could achieve, given the right circumstances.
Champions of the AppleII within the company still managed to upgrade the product when they were given enough leeway. The AppleIIe and IIc, with better graphics and expanded memory were products of this type of advancement. Those computers did not go very far in covering new territory; in fact, the major justification in the minds of Apple executives was that miniaturization made it less expensive to produce a machine that worked only incrementally better than the original AppleII, primarily adding features that most people were adding to the II Plus (upper/lowercase display and keyboard, and extra memory). Eventually, they allowed a true advancement in the form of the AppleIIGS, which held ties to the past by being compatible with old software and some hardware, and to the future by providing a whole new level of graphics, sound, and memory expansion capability. Whereas the AppleIIe was not necessarily a better computer than the first AppleII or the original IBM PC, the AppleIIGS was clearly a considerable step forward. Unfortunately, the IIGS was hindered from the start, not necessarily by blatantly obstructive efforts within the company, but more from the lack of corporate interest that had plagued the AppleII line since the AppleIII had first been conceived. By the time the IIGS came to be, Apple's corporate mindset (the beliefs that many in the company held as absolute truth) was that the Macintosh and its descendants definitely were the true future of the company. Consequently, it was difficult to get anyone to commit to making a realistic effort to promote and advertise the IIGS for the purposes where it would be best suited. There appeared to be a paranoia that a successful AppleII of any kind would cause Mac sales to suffer. Taken out of the active upgrade-support-upgrade loop, the IIGS made most of its advancements through the less-tangible system software development that was done for it. When the IIGS was first released, it was not much more able to do modern "desktop" computing (the graphic user interface) than was the first 128K Macintosh; it was primarily a larger, fancier IIe. But with the maturing of its system software, and active work by outside developers, the IIGS eventually has come into its own with a solid, mature operating system, and the ability to do many of the tasks for which people are buying other computers (not necessarily Macintosh).
By mid-1992 there was a further decrease in the amount of energy allocated within Apple for enhancements to the IIGS. It was decided to change the AppleII Business Unit (the section within Apple that concentrated on that computer) into a "Continuing Engineering Unit". The purpose of this group would be to maintain support and make small improvements for the existing AppleII and IIGS user base, but not to undertake any other major projects for either platform. Although the AppleIIe and IIGS are still being produced and sold at the time of this writing, it seems only a matter of time before their sales drop below the level where Apple can justify continuing to offer them.
SO WHO IS TO BLAME?
Let's take a look at the various major personalities at Apple that have had a major role in events there over the past fifteen years, and see how they affected the current state of affairs in regards to the AppleII. Now, bear in mind that what I write here is not a result of time spent personally talking with these people; they have already had others interview them many times over the years about the same topics, and what they have wanted to say has likely been said. Here I will summarize what has been written about them, and attempt to draw some conclusions. Obviously, once I leave the Kingdom Of Factual Reporting and enter the Land Of Commentary, there is a chance that the judgements I may make are not valid. I don't have an axe to grind against anyone, and it is not my intention to place blame squarely with any one person. Like any large company, Apple Computer is a collection of many different people's opinions, attitudes, and prejudices. The sentiments you could get from talking to one person may be entirely different from those heard in talking with another. With that disclaimer out of the way, let's begin.
First of all, consider Steve Jobs. In the eyes of many AppleII users, he is the quintessential villain, obstructing AppleII progress at every turn in favor of his baby, the Mac. Many things have been written about Jobs over the years, discussing his temperament and lack of love towards the AppleII. If accurate, these impressions could be summarized by saying that it appears Jobs was primarily a visionary, and was enamored of making Apple Computer a success and a Fortune 500 company (which he did, in the shortest period of time in business history). He was also a big fan of the newest, the best, and the most interesting technology available; the older stuff was just a yawn after it was released (this includes even the Mac, which eventually lost its shine for him as he wanted Apple to build something even better). He had an enthusiasm for the projects that looked like a good hack (this is what attracted him to Wozniak in the first place), and seemed to disdain anyone that did not wholeheartedly share his zeal. His problems tended to stem from the same things that gave him his strength: The single-mindedness of purpose was obnoxious to someone who was interested in upgrading older technology, like the AppleII (why waste the time working with something old like that when you could be spending your time working with something new and exciting like Macintosh?) His excitement about a pet project also tended to cause him to give out details about new projects when they should best be kept secret. Undoubtedly, Jobs played a strong role in the development of the mindset at Apple that the AppleII was "okay", but it was not something to waste much of your time with. In this way of thinking, it was much better to be doing the "right thing" and to work with the AppleIII or Lisa or Macintosh team.
What about Steve Wozniak? Although very good in the technical department of hardware and software design, he was not of a temperament to participate in office politics. Although he may have disagreed with the ways in which Jobs or others at Apple ran things, he did not have the business experience that let him feel qualified to counter their decisions with sufficient force to get things done his way. He just wanted to design and build things, and so he tended to work at that which he did best. When he had his opportunity, he left the company for a sabbatical in 1981, and then later returned to work on whatever else happened to interest him. But since he was involved in of the initial work on the AppleIIGS, he has not done much at Apple to champion the cause of the AppleII.
John Sculley, the former vice-president of PepsiCo that Jobs brought in to run the company after the departure of Mike Markkula, has little better a reputation with the AppleII community than does Steve Jobs. This may be because of his position at the head of the company that has been practicing passive euthanasia on the AppleII for years, or perhaps because people have gotten the idea that he likes to tell them what they want to hear, but does not make any substantial efforts to carry the AppleII forward. On the plus side, Sculley appears to be practical and a good businessman. He is clearly able to take advantage of the opportunities presented to him, and to promote what he feels to be best for the company. He started out at Apple with little experience in the technical areas that would be best suited for such a company, and had his rough times in trying to find his place. He was considerably influenced by Jobs during his early months at Apple, and this likely extended to the lack of enthusiasm towards the AppleII. Even after he realized the need to pull rank and to exclude Jobs from any influential role at Apple, it not because he repented and wanted to champion the AppleII, but rather because Apple needed stability at the helm.
As a company, Apple has felt that its business goals needed to be in a direction that did not put a great emphasis on the AppleII or IIGS computer. As the rest of the world advanced, digitally speaking, so also Apple needed to advance; it needed to make better, more capable, and more powerful computers for less money. The contention (whether true or not) was that the AppleII simply did not have the "horsepower" to handle the higher powered applications that computer users of the late 1980's and early 1990's demanded. As future advances are made in available technology, this will mean that even machines like the most advanced Macintosh II will eventually be surpassed by a newer generation platform (possibly the PowerPC project that Apple and IBM are jointly working on through their Kaleida company). But as progress continues, Apple has also learned that it cannot abandon its established user base, destroying the investment that people have made in a computer by making it obsolete. If nothing else, the vocal complaints made over the years by the AppleII community have taught them that lesson. Chris Espinosa, one of Apple's employees from the early days, was quoted in the March 9th, 1992 issue of InfoWorld as saying, "We're not going to do to the Macintosh what we did to the AppleII."<1> At the time of this writing, the Mac has achieved a degree of acceptance in the business marketplace, and this credibility would be hurt badly if they began to ignore the Mac in favor of yet another, more exciting computer.
One factor that has contributed significantly over the years to the apparent inconsistency over the way that Apple has handled much of what it does (not just the AppleII) is the frequency of change within the company. This change leads to different people with different ideas taking over projects that were begun by others. Tom Weishaar has said on more than one occasion, "[There is] this vision of Apple as an organism with a brain... that's [not] a correct metaphor. Like any large organization, what it does is based on politics, and how many votes there are; [also,] the employees turn over every three years."<2> Apple has undergone many reorganizations since it started business, as it has had to handle its phenomenal growth. Usually those changes took place in response to things not going well (such as with the AppleIII), but sometimes it was done in an attempt to streamline operations and make things run more smoothly.<3> A consequence of this change has been that as old people leave and new ones take their places, there is a natural desire to modify things that the old crew was doing. Thus we have events like:
o Apple allowing the Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange to form the Apple Programmers and Developers Association (Apple allowing A.P.P.L.E. to form APDA, if you prefer the short version), and then taking it back from them several years later.
o Apple spinning off their application software division (AppleWorks and Mac products) to a separate company, Claris (with the purpose of being less competitive as a computer manufacturer with third-party software developers), and then later buying back Claris to bring it back under corporate control.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE DIFFERENTLY?
Second-guessing events of the past is easy; we see what was done, and can say with presumed authority, "Well, if I had been running things, I would have done it like this!" At the time these decisions were made (or not made, as the case may be), the correct path to the future was still as muddy as it is today. Nevertheless, if I can make some idealistic statements, these are my thoughts on "what might have been."
ACCEPTANCE. Apple should have simply accepted the desire of the public for the AppleII computer, and responded by promoting it actively. This could have been done along with its promotions of the AppleIII, and later the Mac. When the AppleIIe was riding the high tide of popularity in December 1984, Apple should have capitalized on that, and redoubled the advertising for that computer. Increased sales and profit would still have been good for the company, whether or not it came from Macintosh sales.
REALISM. Apple should have been realistic instead of religiously idealistic. Job's visionary approach to Macintosh as a product that would change the world was clearly not reflected in its early sales. A company lives on its sales, regardless of whether or not what it is selling happens to fit with its current philosophy. The attitude should not be one that insists to the customer that this is what you want to buy, but to provide him with available choices and see what sells. If the Macintosh was going to be as "insanely great" as Jobs and the rest of the Mac team believed, it would eventually pick up steam and start selling, without having to ignore the already-successful AppleII.
ENHANCEMENT. The products sold by Apple should have been upgraded according to the success they showed. As Macintosh sales began to increase, advancing the machine to a larger memory size and more capabilities is perfectly reasonable. In the same way, the AppleII should have had opportunities given to it in proportion to the income it produced for the company. For example, at one time a notebook-sized AppleII (or IIGS) could have done extremely well, especially if it had been bundled with good general purpose software like AppleWorks. The IIc and IIc Plus were good starts, but things stopped there. The IBM clone market has shown that there is a place for a notebook-sized computer with lots of memory, built-in hard disks, and color LCD screens. A flat screen monitor could have been available for the AppleII as far back as 1985, had Apple been interested in developing it.
OUTSIDE EXPANSION. Even if Apple chose not to upgrade the AppleII themselves, the technology could have been licensed to someone else who was interested in pushing the machine to the limit. Even if these licensed AppleII products competed a bit with the Mac, it would also be competing with computers made by other companies. Furthermore, the larger the market share, the more people are aware of your product, which can stimulate future sales. And after all, license fees paid for use of AppleII technology would still generate income, with little effort on Apple's part.
ACTIVE RUMOR CONTROL. For years the rumors have been flying on a fairly regular cycle that claim that the AppleII has been or will be shortly discontinued. When a political candidate has something untrue said about him, he makes a quick and decisive effort to counter that gossip; it can be very damaging to his current image and future credibility if he lets it go unchallenged. Instead of making it very clear that the AppleII was not being terminated, Apple seemed to usually ignore such statements. Since a lack of denial is often taken as confirmation, this has led to many AppleII users and developers leaving this computer and going on to something else, often the IBM PC and clones. Decreased developers means less new and upgraded software, which prompts current users to also move to a different computer, leading to smaller sales of existing software, which starts the whole cycle over. Even "authorized" Apple dealers have been known to spout off that same old tired rumor, because they heard it from "someone in the company who knows". Official announcements from the company that strongly denied any discontinuation of the AppleII might have helped stop that cycle.
WHERE DOES THE APPLE II STAND TODAY: THE BAD NEWS
EDUCATION. Although the AppleII continues to have the largest installed user base of any computer in schools below the college level, it is rapidly being overtaken by the onslaught of less expensive MS-DOS clones. On top of this, Apple has given up on its strong support of the AppleII at the school level in the same way it has done so at the consumer level. Apple encourages schools to purchase Macintosh computers when they want to add to or replace their existing machines. This is demonstrated by Apple in their ads; one example that appeared in inCider/A+ during 1991 showed two students in a computer lab. One was sitting in front of an AppleIIe, and the other was at a Macintosh LC. The Mac LC had an attractive color screen with graphics, where the AppleIIe had a pitiful-looking black and white 40-column text menu displayed. If you were looking at which computer to buy, which one would you choose? (Notice that although the Macintosh LC is now one of the best selling Apple computers to educational institutions, the best selling peripheral for the Mac LC is the AppleIIe card).
DECLINING SUPPORT. The AppleII support market, both hardware and software is not dead, but neither is it robust and thriving. Companies making products that work with the AppleII are often finding it difficult to continue in business without making unpopular decisions. With flat or falling sales, they have had to either expand their coverage to other computer platforms, or face possible failure as a company.
One example of this change is Applied Engineering. For years they were prolific producers of hardware add-ons for the AppleII and IIGS, and often they had a large percentage of the total advertising pages in AppleII magazines. Their early ads touted AE as AppleII experts, "because that's all we do". Not only has AE begun making and selling peripherals for the Macintosh line, but they have also made the unpopular decision to begin providing technical for their AppleII line through a 900-number toll phone line. At the time of this writing, Macintosh users are not required to pay charges over and above long distance just to get technical support.
Beagle Bros, also a long time AppleII supporter in the software arena, has also taken flack, but perhaps more unjustly than Applied Engineering. They worked hard during 1991 in developing an integrated software product (BeagleWorks) for the Macintosh, and temporarily scaled back their AppleII support during the last days prior to the release of that new product. The reason? AppleII products simply were not selling at a rate high enough to meet overhead. In Beagle's defense, they have not just left their AppleII user base dangling. Not only have they released many of their older software products to online services for free distribution (rather than just letting them disappear), but they have also turned over further sales and development for the AppleII market to Quality Computers. Quality, already a well-established AppleII mail-order company, has begun releasing new products under the Beagle name, ensuring that they will continue to be available and upgraded.
MAGAZINES ARE FALTERING. Unlike the old days when there were several magazines that catered to the AppleII market, there are just two glossy publications left: inCider/A+, and GS+ Magazine. The latter is available only by subscription (you won't find it on the newsstand), and the former has been slowing shrinking in size, due to decreased advertising revenues and problems that some vendors are having in paying for the space they've already purchased. Newsletter-style publications like A2-Central and the National AppleWorks User Group are surviving, but they do not depend on advertising revenue to continue publication.
APPLE DEALER APATHY. Many of Apple's authorized dealers have picked up on Apple's corporate indifference to any advancement of the AppleII, and are themselves ignoring it. There are exceptions, but the general rule is that an Apple Dealer is not knowledgeable about the AppleIIe or IIGS and will not likely offer the IIGS as a solution for customer seeking a computer for a particular need. Some of this also has to do with the bottom line: The markup (profit margin) for an AppleIIe or IIGS is not as high as it can be with a Macintosh product, so there is less financial incentive to move those older products. In some cases, there is even a decreased technical knowledge about the AppleII by the very dealers that are supposed to be able to repair them.
READ MY LIPS: NO NEW CPU'S. A planned upgrade to the AppleIIGS that was to be announced at or soon after the 1991 KansasFest was killed at the last minute. This change, which admittedly would not have been a major upgrade, would have still provided in a bundled form many of the features that customers buying a IIGS need in order to get anything useful done (beyond simple IIe emulation). The improved IIGS was to have more memory, a hard drive (built-in, as is done on many MS-DOS machines these days), and possibly a built-in SuperDrive (which is capable of reading 3.5 inch MS-DOS disks). No reason for the cancellation was ever given; since it was never officially announced, the new IIGS CPU never officially existed anyway. ("We do not comment on unannounced products" is the established party line). The only public announcement Apple has made was that there would not be any new AppleII released beyond the IIe card for the Mac LC.
WHERE DOES THE APPLE II STAND TODAY: THE GOOD NEWS
With all this going against it, what possible good could there be to say about the current state of affairs regarding the AppleIIe and IIGS computer? Surprisingly, there are several things.
APPLE II SUPPORT CONTINUES. Although Apple has indicated that we should not expect to see any new AppleII CPU's released, they have also promised that they would continue to support the existing AppleII user base with hardware and software upgrades that will keep these computers useful. Products they have released that show they've kept this promise include:
o GS/OS System 6.0, which offers many features similar to Macintosh's System 7 package, as well as providing tighter compatibility between the ROM 01 and ROM 03 IIGS computer. The AppleII Continuing Engineering Unit has even gone so far as to announce System 6.0.1 for late 1992 or early 1993, coinciding with the planned release of the AppleII Ethernet card. This system update will include bug fixes, support for the Ethernet card, and possibly an MS-DOS FST, making it possible to read (and later an update to write) files from MS-DOS disks using a IIGS.
o ProDOS 8 v2.0.1, which offers AppleIIe and IIc users the capability of attaching large disk devices (such as hard drives with more than two partitions) to a card in a single slot.
o HyperCard IIGS v1.1, an upgrade that includes more of the features found in the latest Mac version of HyperCard.
o SuperDrive Card, a hardware add-on the makes it possible to use the higher-density (1.44 MB) 3.5 disks on the IIe and IIGS, and (if the proper conversion software becomes available) access to MS-DOS disks.
o Video Overlay Card, making possible multimedia computing on the IIGS that combines standard video signals with computer compatible video signals.
o Ethernet Card (release date mentioned above), which will make it possible to attach an AppleII to this non-Apple version of a networking environment.
A DEDICATED CORE OF THIRD PARTY SUPPORTERS. There are still many small individual programmers and hardware hackers who are devoted to the AppleII. They enjoy using this computer platform, and want to make new technology and programming techniques available for other AppleII users. They continue to provide products that larger companies (who must have large returns on their development investment) cannot afford to produce for the AppleII. The risk is that small one- or two-man companies may not be able to grow enough to ensure long-term support for their products. Also, some of the smaller companies cannot afford to work full-time on the AppleII and must have a "real" job to support their part-time activities.
Companies and/or products that fit into this category include:
o Procyon, which has come out with a Unix-like multitasking environment for the IIGS called GNO/ME. (Multitasking means that the computer is doing two things at once. "Unix" is a multitasking environment that has been in use on mainframes for years).
o JEM Software, Kingwood Micro Software, and Beagle Bros/Quality Computers all produce AppleWorks enhancements and add-ons.
o Seven Hills Software has several high quality IIGS products for the serious user, including a desktop publishing package, a font editor, disk utilities, drivers to make use of high quality output printers, and more.
o Vitesse, Inc. offers a GS/OS-based package of hard disk management utilities, as well as a IIGS printer driver for the better printers.
o Resource Central, a publisher, provides news, products, and technical support for the AppleII family, as well as helping sponsor continued technical education events ("KansasFest") each year. The AppleII support that comes directly from Apple through APDA (the Apple Programmers and Developers Association) has now been turned over to Resource Central.
o plus many more that I don't have room to mention here.
USER GROUPS. Just as in the beginning of the AppleII era, these groups still exist to provide the support for AppleII users that Apple and their authorized dealers cannot (or will not) provide. They give a sense of community and comradry that can keep a new user (or semi-experienced user) from abandoning the II in frustration, with the oft-mistaken notion that the grass will be greener on the MS-DOS or Mac side. Apple recognizes this and does provide many resources for Apple User Groups (but still tends to give much of its attention to the Mac side of things).
A NEW ERA OF SOFTWARE QUALITY. Since there are no longer a large number of companies writing software for the AppleII series, we have come full circle. In the early days, most of the available software came from amateur authors, and the best of it was distributed by fledgling software companies through computer stores and magazine advertising. Today, much newer software, especially for the AppleIIGS, is coming from the same source: Amateur authors. Instead of being sold through stores or ads, much of this comes via online services through the Shareware method, or via mail-order houses. Some companies, like Quality Computers, are also directing sales of the best programs, becoming a blend of software publisher and distributor. Although the days of becoming a millionaire through selling a blockbuster AppleII program have probably passed forever, it is still possible to do fairly well as an author.
A LARGE LIBRARY OF AVAILABLE SOFTWARE. The AppleII has fifteen years of software available, and much of the best of the old programs are available for bargain prices via private sales, or free for downloading from online services.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW?
If it is true that the sun is slowly setting on the age of AppleII computing, is there any point in hanging on any longer? Yes, indeed! First of all, if you own an AppleII computer, you have a platform that is extremely mature and well known. Unlike the IBM clones, who are evolving so fast that software cannot keep up with them, the 6502, 65c02, and 65816 have been around in one form or another for a long time. People who write software for the AppleII or IIGS know exactly how to make it do what they want it to do, and they can do it well. The AppleIIGS, though released back in 1986, is just now coming into its full maturity, and some very high quality software is being released for it. This software can make it possible to use hardware (such as large capacity hard disks, optical scanners, tape drives, touch windows, and much more) that has been made "respectable" in the IBM or Mac world, and is now available for reasonable prices to work on an AppleII. The disadvantage faced by the IBM user is that mature 386 software will never exist; the 486 and its descendants will be the center of attention before that can happen. The 486 will likely suffer the same fate. Software on those machines simply cannot keep up with hardware when it changes so rapidly. The stale "growth" of the IIGS may actually have been to its advantage!
So then, how do you handle the feelings of envy you may get from scanning through the magazine racks, viewing all the lovely things you can buy for one of those computers? How is it possible to not be angry at Apple for what "they've" done to your favorite computer? Here are some suggestions:
TAKE THINGS LESS SERIOUSLY. After all, IT'S JUST A COMPUTER. People who got very upset with Chevrolet for discontinuing their classic Chevelle Malibu had far too much of an emotional investment in the car. A computer, like a car, will not love you back, no matter how much time and devotion you put into it. If you view it as a tool, then do what a carpenter does: He continues to use his hammer, saw, and screwdrivers for as long as they remain useful to him. He does not go out each year and buy the next model of hammer, just because it has a few more features than the old one did.
Furthermore, make a decision to not let yourself become upset with Apple or with Apple dealers who are not interested in promoting the AppleII or IIGS. From their point of view, they are trying to make a living. As mentioned above, they don't have much of a profit margin on the AppleII, and they have to pay the rent, their employees, and feed their kids. Apple could possibly change this by dropping dealer cost for the IIGS, but that would drop Apple's profit margin, and make them even less interested in continuing to produce the IIe or IIGS. Resolve to emotionally divorce yourself from Apple and what it will or will not do. Time has shown that we can't make them change their attitudes, so why get ulcers over it?
LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS. This sounds rather defeatist, but it has a positive reason. If you don't expect anything new from Apple or Apple dealers, you won't be disappointed when your expectations are correct (that is, when nothing happens). Even if they never release another piece of hardware or system software for the AppleII or IIGS, they have provided us with tools that can be used for years to keep our hardware and software investment useful.
IGNORE THE RUMORS, both those about Apple releasing a new version of the AppleII (they have publicly said that this will not happen), and those about it being discontinued. Since the early 1980's there have been repeated rumors that the AppleII was just about to be killed, and it has never yet come to pass. Undoubtedly, it will happen some day. But even if the announcement were made this week, would that really have an effect on what you do with your computer? If you are using it for word processing, or desktop publishing, or home finances, and it still works, is the End Of The AppleII really that big a deal? There are still a large number of people in this country that are using AppleII Plus computers on a daily basis, because that is all the computer they have found that they need. They are not suffering because they cannot run a desktop publishing program like Publish-It! or GraphicWriter, or a font enhancer like Pointless; it is just not much of a priority with them. Dean Esmay, chief sysop on GEnie's A2 Roundtable, put it well when he stated the following: "The bandits in the AppleII division have always done their best to bring the machine to its ultimate limits and past them, despite the idiot marketing and the high corporate officials, [whose actions] those guys couldn't do anything about. They've given us all they could to take the machine to its furthest abilities. If the higher ups decide to drop it now that's not going to change much of anything for any of us. Look at the AppleIII. That thing sold barely 100,000 units before being discontinued and there are still people using it, still companies out there supporting it. Up to [1989 or so] there were people still writing software for it, and at that time the machine had been discontinued for at least five years. And with only 100,000 or so ever sold! There are at least fifteen times that many IIGS systems, and at least thirty times that many IIe/IIc systems, not even counting the clones. And a lot more software already available."<1> The IIe, IIc, and IIGS should be useful for a long time yet.
Now, if you are a major computer game aficionado, it may bother you that there are no longer a large number of games being released for the AppleII or IIGS. There are still some new games being released for the IIGS, and the quality seems to be better than ever. If that is not enough for you, though, perhaps you would be happier with a Ninetendo (oops! I mean the Super Ninetendo, which is incompatible with cartridges for the old Ninetendo. No, wait; the Ultra Ninetendo, with 32 bit graphics and seventeen joystick modes and...). Just remember, any game machine or computer will be obsoleted someday by the next advancement in home entertainment.
FIND AND HELP NEW USERS. Another area where local AppleII user groups can meet a need is in the growing number of people who are new owners of used AppleII equipment. Because there are many who have jumped the AppleII ship for the MS-DOS or Mac world, there are quite a few AppleII, II Plus, IIe, IIc, and IIGS computers that appear on the used market at bargain prices. The prices on these used computers are often low enough that an interested person can justify buying one just to try it out ($200 compared to $1200 makes it as affordable as a VCR). If it was interested in providing such a service, an AppleII user group could place small ads (perhaps in the classified sections of a newspaper or home shopper circular) to tell any new AppleII owners in the community that knowledgeable people are available to help them.
If they felt so inclined, user groups could even act as buying and selling coordinators for used AppleII hardware and software. This could make it easier both for those trying to sell used equipment, as well as for those looking to buy such equipment. This would require a higher level of volunteer time in these groups, but has the potential of stimulating a growth of membership.
CONCLUSION: ENJOY YOURSELF!
The current era of AppleII computing has the potential of being as exciting as the original days, when every new program was a discovery in learning more about the machine. As a community, AppleII users need to determine the direction of their own future, since Apple Computer, Inc. will not likely be putting much energy into that area. In 1977, the major sources of hardware and software were not from computer stores or Apple itself, but rather from the users. In a sense, that is also true today. The days of making a million dollars writing software for this machine are probably long past, but there are still many hackers out there who can write new and useful programs that will maintain our hardware investment. These authors can distribute their products as shareware through major online services, or possibly as a commercial program through one of the few remaining AppleII software distributors (such as Quality Computers), or through one of the small companies mentioned above that continue to actively support the II. Users of the AppleII can help maintain the flow of AppleII-related products by buying what they use (instead of making illegal copies), and by paying the shareware fees for what they download from online services.
We have the unique opportunity to actually direct and mold the future of the AppleII ourselves. Decide how you want to participate, and have fun with your computer!
AppleII Forever?
Well, nothing lasts forever... but it can last as long as we want it to!
NOTES
<1> Weyhrich, Steven. "So What Is Apple Up To Now? Dept", A2 News Digest, Apr 1992.
<2> Weishaar, Tom. "Old Timers: Apple II Magazines", 1992 A2-Central Summer Conference (tapes), July 1992.
<3> The frequency of personnel shifts at Apple prompted MacWorld magazine at one time to lampoon this by saying that Apple's company cafeteria had been distributing milk cartons with pictures of "lost" employees on the back, sporting the caption, "Have you seen me?"

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APPLE II HISTORY
===== == =======
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1992, Zonker Software
(APPENDIX C: GENEALOGY)
[v1.0 :: 25 Sep 92]
This table shows in an abbreviated format the approximate dates of product release and product discontinuation during the Apple II era. Generally, the left half of the table deals with the 6502/65816 Apple II series of computers (and the closely related Apple III), and the right half deals with the 680x0 Lisa and Macintosh series. The Mac data is more sketchy than I would like, but there have been so many new types of Macs released in the past few years that it is hard to keep track of when the new ones came out, and even more difficult to find when the old ones were discontinued.
Each year is divided up into six parts; so each horizontal tick refers to two months (Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, etc). For a product introduction, the line where the first part of the name appears (if it takes up more than one line) represents the date it was released. If the discontinuation date is known, the "===" mark represents that date; if it is not known, the vertical line will terminate in a "???".
In the case of several product lines, their revisions are designated in the same vertical line since they were modifications of the existing machines, but not entirely new products.
There is no implied significance in the vertical positioning of products. Ideally, I would have liked to display each different product on a separate vertical line, but did not have enough space to fit all of that information horizontally in this format.
____________________________________________________________________
1976 -| |-
-| Apple I |-
-| | |-
-| | |-
-| | |-
-| | |-
1977 -| | |-
-| | |-
-| === Apple ][ |-
-| | |-
-| | |-
-| | |-
1978 -| | |-
-| | |-
-| | |-
-| | |-
-| | |-
-| | |-
1979 -| | |-
-| | |-
-| Apple ][+ |-
-| | |-
-| | |-
-| | |-
1980 -| | |-
-| | |-
-| | |-
-| | |-
-| Apple /// | |-
-| | | |-
1981 -| | | |-
-| | | |-
-| | | |-
-| | | |-
-| | | |-
-| | | |-
1982 -| | | |-
-| | | |-
-| | | |-
-| | | |-
-| | | |-
-| | | |-
1983 -| | === Apple //e Lisa |-
-| | | | |-
-| | | | |-
-| | | | |-
-| | | | |-
-| Apple | | |-
1984 -| /// Plus | Lisa 2 Mac |-
-| === Apple //c | | | |-
-| | | | | |-
-| | | | | |-
-| | | | Mac 512K |-
-| | | | | |-
1985 -| | | Mac XL | |-
-| | Enhanced === | |-
-| | //e | |-
-| | | | |-
-| | | | |-
-| 3.5 ROM | | |-
1986 -| | | Mac Plus |-
-| | | | |-
-| | | | |-
-| | | | |-
-| Apple Mem Exp | | |-
-| IIGS ROM | | |-
1987 -| | | Platinum | |-
-| | | //e | Mac SE Mac II |-
-| | | | | | | |-
-| | | | | | | |-
-| ROM 01 | | ??? | | |-
-| | | | | | |-
1988 -| | Rev Mem | | | |-
-| | Exp ROM | | | |-
-| | | | | | |-
-| | | | | | |-
-| | === | Apple Mac IIx | | |-
-| | | //c Plus | | | |-
1989 -| | | | | | | |-
-| | | | | | | |-
-| | | | | | ??? |-
-| ROM 03 | | | | |-
-| | | | | | Mac IIci |-
-| | | | | ??? | |-
1990 -| | | | | | |-
-| | | | | | Mac IIfx |-
-| | | | ??? ??? | |-
-| | | | | |-
-| | | | Mac LC Mac Mac IIsi | |-
-| | | === | Classic | | |-
1991 -| | | | | | | |-
-| | Apple //e | | | | ??? |-
-| | Card for | | | | |-
-| | Mac LC | | | | |-
-| | | | | | | Mac Quadra |-
-| | | | | | | & |-
1992 -| | | | | | | Powerbook |-
-| | | | | | ??? | |-
-| | | | Mac LC II | | |-
-| | | | | Classic II | |-
-| | | | | | Mac | |-
-| | | | | | Performa | |-
1993 -|______|_______|_______|_______________|_______|_______|_______|_____|-
| | | | | | |
Apple Apple Apple Mac LC Mac | Mac Quadra
IIGS //e Card //e II Classic II | &
Mac Powerbook
Performa

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..The Pirates Hold..
From The Undertaker and the Vandal;
A little help for those that need it!
The Passwords to all the terminals on the first 6 levels.
These aren't clues, but the real thing.
Clue list later, I am having too much fun to worry about the rest of you now!
Alien Mind Password List;
Clues; Passwords;
1. Something I sent you. Telegram
2. Color of ancient Earth's seas. Aqua
3. A bed for a lazy afternoon. Hammock
4. Something a sun gives off. Radiation
5. What do you need info on? Elevator
6. Name of Aaron's Wife. Judy
7. Ancient Seductress. Siren
8. Greeting. Biologist HO!
9. A scale (musical). CDEFGAB
10. Goes thru water without getting wet. Light
11. Who to call. Bio-Lab
12. A musical Hat. Sombrero
13. A liquid that holds water. Glass
14. Roman numeral for 1,174. MCLXXIV
15. An Audio tool. Ear
16. A visual enhancer. Telescope
17. Legendary Continent. Alantis
18. Project we last worked on together Transit
19. Life giving fountain

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INTRODUCTION TO ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING
CHARLES R. SMITH
REPRINTED FROM: THE MAPLE ORCHARD
BOX 696, STATION B
WILLOWDALE, ONTARIO
WHAT IS ASSEMBLER AND MACHINE LANGUAGE ?
MOST OF US HAVE SOME FAMILIARITY WITH BASIC, WITH ITS ENGLISH LIKE
COMMANDS SUCH AS 'PRINT', 'INPUT' AND 'FOR .. NEXT'. THERE ARE OTHER
HIGH-LEVEL LANGUAGES, LIKE FORTRAN AND PASCAL, WHICH SIMILARLY ARE
FORMED OF ENGLISH LIKE COMMANDS. THE APPLE'S CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT
(CPU) CANNOT UNDERSTAND SUCH ENGLISH COMMANDS, BUT INSTEAD THE CPU
MUST 'INTERPRET' THE COMMANDS OR 'TRANSLATE' THEM INTO A FORM WHICH IT
CAN UNDERSTAND. WHEN RUNNING A PROGRAM IN BASIC, THE APPLE TAKES EACH
LINE OF THE PROGRAM AND INTERPRETS IT INTO A MACHINE LANGUAGE FORM
WHICH FOR THE CPU. ONCE INTERPRETED, THE CPU THEN EXECUTES THE LINE.
APPLESOFT IS THEREFORE CALLED A 'BASIC INTERPRETER' OR IS AN
'INTERPRETED BASIC'.
THE OPPOSITE OF THE HIGH-LEVEL, STRUCTURED LANGUAGES ARE ASSEMBLER AND
MACHINE LANGUAGE. THE TERMS 'ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE' AND 'MACHINE LANGUAGE'
ARE OFTEN USED INTERCHANGABLY, ALTHOUGH THERE IS A DIFFERENCE.
PROGRAMMING IN MACHINE LANGUAGE IS ACCOMPLISHED WHEN HEXADECIMAL OR
BINARY DATA IS LOADED INTO THE COMPUTER BYTE-BY-BYTE (EG. ENTERING THE
MONITOR BY CALL -151 AND INPUTTING '300: A9 0A ...'). WHEN COMPUTERS
WERE IN THEIR INFANCY, THIS WAS THE ONLY OPTION AVAILABLE. THIS FORM
OF PROGRAMMING CAN ONLY BE INTELLIGIBLE TO PEOPLE WHO THINK LIKE A
COMPUTER. TO WE LESSER MORTALS, WRITING A PROGRAM IN MACHINE LANGUAGE
IS THE ULTIMATE EXERCISE IN FRUSTRATION. (AN ASIDE: WHEN STEVE
WOZNIAK AND STEVE JOBS FIRST BUILT AN APPLE I COMPUTER, THEY TOOK IT
TO PARTIES AND ENTERED HUNDREDS OF HEX CODES BY HAND JUST TO LOAD IN A
PROGRAM TO DEMONSTRATE THIS FIRST APPLE'S ABILITY. ALLEGEDLY, DOS WAS
FIRST WRITTEN THIS WAY!)
ENTER ASSEMBLERS. AN ASSEMBLER IS SIMPLY A TOOL WHICH ALLOWS A PERSON
TO WRITE A PROGRAM USING SOMEWHAT MORE INTELLIGIBLE COMMANDS, AND THEN
THE ASSEMBLER PROGRAM CONVERTS ("ASSEMBLES") THE ENGLISH-LIKE COMMANDS
INTO THE CORRESPONDING MACHINE-LANGUAGE CODE.
WHILE THERE IS A DEFINITE AND SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
'ASSEMBLY' LANGUAGE AND 'MACHINE' LANGUAGE, THE TWO TERMS ARE OFTEN
USED INTERCHANGABLY. THROUGHOUT THIS ARTICLE, SUCH INTERCHANGABILITY
SHALL BE USED.
WHY PROGRAM IN MACHINE LANGUAGE ?
IF ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE IS TOUGHER THAN BASIC, WHY BOTHER BEING A GLUTTON
FOR PUNISHMENT? IS THERE SOMETHING TO BE SAID FOR SUCH AN ARCANE
LANGUAGE? CONSIDER THESE THREE REASONS: SPEED, FLEXIBILITY AND MEMORY
MANAGEMENT.
THE MOST PROMINENT BENEFIT OF A MACHINE LANGUAGE PROGRAM CAN BE SEEN
ANYTIME YOU PLAY A COMMERCIALLY-PRODUCED, ARCADE STYLE GAME. SUCH
GAMES ARE INVARIABLY WRITTEN ON AN ASSEMBLER (THE PEOPLE AT
SOUTHWESTERN DATA SYSTEMS TELL ME THAT THE GAMES FROM SIRIUS ARE
WRITTEN ON MERLIN). THE EXECUTION SPEED OF A MACHINE LANGUAGE PROGRAM
IS MUCH FASTER THAN A CORRESPONDING BASIC PROGRAM ARCADE QUALITY GAMES
SIMPLY CANNOT BE WRITTEN IN BASIC. EVEN BASIC WHICH HAS BEEN COMPILED
INTO MACHINE LANGUAGE (BY APPLESOFT COMPILERS SUCH AS TASC OR
SPEEDSTAR) IS STILL SLOWER AND MORE MEMORY-HUNGRY THAN AN EQUIVALENT
PROGRAM WRITTEN IN ASSEMBLER. THE ADVANTAGE OF SPEED CAN BE USED IN
OTHER SITUATIONS WHICH WILL SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE THE APPLE'S
CAPABILITY. SORTING, MATRIX OPERATIONS AND DISK UTILITIES ARE BUT A
FEW REASONS TO USE THE SPEED OF MACHINE LANGUAGE.
THE SECOND REASON TO PROGRAM IN MACHINE LANGUAGE IS THE INCREASED
FLEXIBILITY WHICH IT OFFERS. THE COMMANDS IN APPLESOFT CAN BE ENHANCED
BY THE USE OF SHORT MACHINE LANGUAGE ROUTINES HIDDEN AWAY IN MEMORY.
PRINT FORMATTING FUNCTIONS, SOUND GENERATION, SORTING, STRING HANDLING
AND SWAPPING, DECIMAL TO HEX CONVERSIONS, GARBAGE COLLECTION AND
MEMORY CLEARANCE, AND ARRAY OPERATIONS ARE BUT SOME OF THE MORE
COMMONLY USED SUBROUTINES. WHILE SUCH MACHINE LANGUAGE ENHANCEMENTS
ARE AVAILABLE COMMERCIALLY, THEY CAN ALSO BE HAD AT A VERY LOW COST,
AS THEY ARE LISTED IN SUCH PUBLICATIONS AS NIBBLE AND CALL-APPLE.
THE THIRD ADVANTAGE RELATES TO MEMORY MANAGEMENT. MACHINE LANGUAGE
PROGRAMS ARE MORE EFFICIENT IN THEIR COMSUMPTION OF MEMORY THAN ARE
THEIR BASIC COUNTERPARTS. BECAUSE OF THIS, IT IS POSSIBLE TO HAVE
SEVERAL MACHINE LANGUAGE ROUTINES RESIDING IN MEMORY CUNCURRENTLY,
THEREBY ENHANCING APPLESOFT WHILE AT THE SAME TIME AVOIDING A
SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN THE MEMORY AVAILABLE TO THE USER.
WHAT IS NEEDED TO GET STARTED
TO BEGIN PROGRAMMING IN ASSEMBLER/ MACHINE LANGUAGE, IT IS NOT
NECESSARY TO PURCHASE ANY SOFTWARE TOOLS. A GOOD BOOK, HOWEVER, CAN BE
INVALUABLE. ONCE YOUR INTEREST IS SPARKED, YOU MAY DEVELOP A SUDDEN
URGE TO PURCHASE AN ASSEMBLER. OTHER MACHINE LANGUAGE UTILITIES ARE
HELPFUL.
THERE ARE THREE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF SOPHISTICATION AT WHICH YOU MAY
ENTER MACHINE LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING:
1) MACHINE LANGUAGE USING THE MONITOR
2) ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE USING THE MINI-ASSEMBLER
3) ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE USING AN ASSEMBLER.
LET'S LOOK AT EACH OF THESE IN ORDER.
MACHINE LANGUAGE USING THE MONITOR
ALTHOUGH NOT THE MOST FLEXIBLE APPROACH TO MACHINE LANGUAGE, THIS IS
THE CHEAPEST ROUTE TO GO, AND IT FORMS A GOOD STARTING PLACE. THE WAY
TO BEGIN IS TO EXIT APPLESOFT AND GET INTO THE MONITOR BY MEANS OF THE
COMMAND:
]CALL -151
WHICH YIELDS THE '*' PROMPT.
FROM HERE WE CAN ENTER A PROGRAM BY GIVING THE STARTING ADDRESS AND
THE HEXADECIMAL DATA. TRY THE FOLLOWING:
*300:AD 30 C0 88 D0 FD 4C 00 30 <RET>
WHERE YOU ENTERED THE NUMBER 300, A COLON, THEN 9 SETS OF HEXADECIMAL
DATA. BE SURE THAT YOU DO NOT LEAVE A SPACE BETWEEN THE COLON AND THE
FIRST NUMBER. AT THE END OF THE LINE, ENTER A <CARRIAGE RETURN>. UP TO
85 HEXADECIMAL NUMBERS CAN BE ENTERED AT ONCE THIS WAY.
WHAT THIS PROGRAM DOES IS TOGGLE THE SPEAKER BY ADDRESSING ITS MEMORY
LOCATIO (AD 30 C0), COUNTING DOWNWARDS FROM 255 TO 0 (88 D0 FD) AND
THEN JUMPING BACK TO THE START (4C 00 30). IN OTHER WORDS, THIS SHORT
ROUTINE KEEPS A CONSTANT TONE GOING ON THE SPEAKER UNTIL YOU HIT
<RESET> TO GET OUT OF IT. TO START THIS CPROGRAM ONCE YOU HAVE TYPED
IN THE ABOVE LINE, SIMPLY GO TO LOCATION $300 AND DO WHAT'S THERE BY
THE COMMAND:
*300G <RET>
YOU HAVE JUST ENTERED YOUR FIRST MACHINE LANGUAGE PROGRAM (THIS
PROGRAM EXAMPLE IS COURTESY OF SC MACRO ASSEMBLER).
NOW GO ON TO GREATER THINGS. GRAB AN ASSEMBLY/MACHINE LANGUAGE LISTING
AND ENTER IT INTO YOUR COMPUTER. IF YOU ARE ENTERING AN ASSEMBLY
LISTING, YOU WILL SEE THE HEX CODE IN THE LEFT HAND COLUMNS. FOR
EXAMPLE, THE ABOVE PROGRAM LOOKS LIKE:
0300 - AD 30 C0 1 TONE LDA $C030 0303 - 88 2 LOOP DEY 0304 - D0 FD 3
BNE LOOP 0306 - 4C 00 03 4 JMP TONE
REMEMBER TO SAVE YOUR WORK ON DISK. THIS IS DONE WITH THE BSAVE
COMMAND. IT IS NECESSARY TO SPECIFY THE STARTING ADDRESS AND LENGTH
PARAMETERS USING THE 'A$___' AND 'L$___' COMMANDS. IF A PROGRAM WENT
FROM 0300 TO 0320, IT WOULD BE (HEX) 20 OR (DECIMAL) 32 BYTES LONG.
THEREFORE IT WOULD BE SAVED BY THE COMMAND:
*BSAVE MYPROGRAM,A$300,L$20
WHERE A$ IS THE STARTING ADDRESS IN HEXADECIMAL AND L$ IS THE LENGTH
IN HEX. IT COULD ALSO BE SAVED BY THE COMMAND:
*BSAVE MYPROGRAM,A768,L32
WHERE A IS THE STARTING ADDRESS IN DECIMAL (768=300 HEX) AND L IS THE
LENGTH IN BYTES.
TO CHECK A PROGRAM LISTING, ENTER THE START AND END ADDRESS, SEPERATED
BY A PERIOD. FOR THE SHORT TONE PROGRAM ABOVE, ENTER:
*300.308 <RET>
IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE DISASSEMBLED CODE, ENTER THE STARTING ADDRESS
AND "L" TO LIST 20 COMMANDS. TO SEE THIS PROGRAM, ENTER:
*300L <RET>
(TO MAKE THE ENTRY AND CORRECTION OF MACHINE LANGUAGE PROGRAMS, ONE OF
THE DISKS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL APPLE CORE (DISK 25, MACHINE LANGUAGE
UTILITIES) CONTAINS A UTILITY TO FACILITATE THIS PROCESS. IT IS CALLED
BEU (FOR BINARY ENTRY UTILITY) AND WILL LOCATE ITSELF EITHER ON A 16K
RAM CARD OR IN THE APPLE'S 48K RAM.)
PROGRAMMING WITH THE MINI-ASSEMBLER
IN THE ORIGINAL APPLE II MACHINE WAS A MONITOR FUNCTION ENTITLED THE
"MINI-ASSEMBLER". ITS JOB WAS TO FACILITATE ENTRY OF MACHINE CODE INTO
THE COMPUTER. WHEN APPLESOFT WAS DEVELOPED FOR THE APPLE II PLUS, THIS
FUNCTION (ALONG WITH STEP AND TRACE IN THE MONITOR ROM) WERE DELETED.
THAT IS THE BAD NEWS. NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS. IF YOU HAVE A 16K RAM
CARD, LOADING INTEGER BASIC UPON BOOTING UP THE DOS 3.3 SYSTEM MASTER
DISK WILL LOAD THE MINI-ASSEMBLER INTO YOUR MACHINE. THIS CAN BE
ACCESSED BY ENTERING INTEGER WITH THE COMMAND:
]INT
WHICH YIELDS THE '>' PROMPT. THEN ENTER:
>CALL -151
TO GET THE MONITOR '*' PROMPT. THEN GO TO THE MINI-ASSEMBLER WITH THE
COMMAND:
*F666G
WHICH YIELDS THE EXCLAMATION (!) PROMPT.
THE MINI-ASSEMBLER IS STILL AVAILABLE TO THE OWNER OF A 48K APPLE ][
PLUS, AS IT HAS BEEN MODIFIED AND INCLUDED ON THE IAC DISK #25.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ITS USE ARE GIVEN IN AN ACCOMPANYING FILE, WHILE MORE
COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS ARE GIVEN IN THE APPLE ][ REFERENCE MANUAL.
APPLE //E OWNERS CAN ACCESS THE MINI-ASSEMBLER THROUGH INTEGER BASIC.
3) ASSEMBLER
ONCE YOU'VE GOTTEN YOUR FEET WET BY GAINING ACCESS TO THE MONITOR AND
ENTERING A HEX LISTING, YOU WILL REALIZE THE FACT THAT THERE HAS TO BE
A BETTER WAY. OBTAINING AN ASSEMBLER IS THAT WAY. THERE ARE AT LEAST
TEN COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE EDITOR/ASSEMBLERS, AND THE PERFECT ONE IS
PROBABLY STILL TO BE WRITTEN. BUYING AN ASSEMBLER IS LIKE OBTAINING
ANY OTHER SOFTWARE, AS THE AMOUNT OF MONEY TO BE SPENT AND THE
CONFIGURATION OF YOUR MACHINE WILL BE CONTROLLING FACTORS. SEVERAL
ASSEMBLERS ARE REVIEWED IN THIS ISSUE. A PUBLIC DOMAIN ASSEMBLER
CALLED MASM IS INCLUDED IN THE IAC'S SPECIAL MACHINE LANGUAGE UTILITY
DISK.
OTHER AIDS
OTHER TYPES OF AIDS ARE ALSO WORTHY OF CONSIDERATION. A DISASSEMBLER
IS A HANDY TOOL WHICH WILL PERMIT YOU TO TAKE MACHINE LANGUAGE
(HEXADECIMAL) CODE AND RE-CONVERT IT INTO AN ASSEMBLER SOURCE LISTING.
FROM THERE, YOU CAN EDIT, ALTER AND RE-ASSEMBLE THE CODE TO MAKE IT
FUNCTION IN A DIFFERENT MANNER OR AT A NEW MEMORY LOCATION. A
DISASSEMBLER IS AVAILABLE IN THE APPLE'S MONITOR AND IS ABLE TO
DISASSEMBLE TO THE SCREEN, USING THE
*XXXX L <RETURN>
COMMAND, WHERE XXXX IS THE MEMORY LOCATION AT WHICH TO BEGIN
DISASSEMBLY. A PUBLIC DOMAIN DISASSEMBLER IS INCLUDED ON THE MACHINE
LANGUAGE DISK, AND SOME VERY GOOD ASSEMBLERS ARE INCLUDED WITH SOME
ASSEMBLER AS PART OF THE PACKAGE (EG. MERLIN AND LISA). OTHERS ARE
AVAILABLE AS A STAND-ALONE PRODUCT (SUCH AS DISASM FROM RAK-WARE).
DEBUGGERS ARE FOR THOSE WHO ARE VERY SERIOUS - THEY PERMIT STEP AND
TRACE FUNCTIONS AND A HOST OF OTHER ADVANCED FEATURES. TWO EXAMPLES
OF COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS ARE BUG BYTER AND MUNCH-A-BUG. BEU ON THE
MACHINE LANGUAGE DISK ALSO CONTAINS DEBUG ROUTINES.
THERE IS EVEN A NEW PRODUCT WHICH WILL TURN YOUR MACHINE INTO A
'VISIBLE' APPLE AS IT SHOWS YOU ON THE HI-RES SCREEN HOW YOUR APPLE
WORKS, DISPLAYING THE INSTRUCTIONS, REGISTERS, FLAGS AND MEMORY
LOCATIONS AS IT EXECUTES A PROGRAM ONE STEP AT A TIME.
AND WHERE WOULD WE BE WITHOUT BOOKS? A VARIETY ARE AVAILABLE, EACH ONE
FOR A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT READER. THERE ARE SOME GENERAL REFERENCES ON
PROGRAMMING THE 6502 MICROPROCESSORS, SEVERAL GOOD BOOKS SPECIFICALLY
WRITTEN FOR APPLE 6502 MACHINE LANGUAGE (REVIEWED IN THIS ISSUE), AND
BOOKS WHICH SERVE AS A ROAD-MAP OR ATLAS TO THE APPLE'S INTERNALS
(ALSO REVIEWED HERE). MUCH IS WRITTEN IN THE MONTHLY MAGAZINES, AND
THERE IS EVEN A MONTHLY PUBLICATION ON MACHINE LANGUAGE PROGAMMING.
BUT THE BEST STARTING PLACE IS THE APPLE ][ REFERENCE MANUAL, WHICH
LISTS THE OPCODES AVAILABLE ON THE 6502 AND SOME IMPORTANT INTERNAL
ROUTINES.
WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE, A PERSON WHO KNOWS A FEW BASIC COMMANDS CAN
EASILY FIND THEIR WAY AROUND MACHINE LANGUAGE. THERE IS A CERTAIN JOY
IN ENTERING, DEBUGGING AND RUNNING A PROGRAM, BE IT IN BASIC,
ASSEMBLER OR WHATEVER. AND ISN'T THAT JOY A BIG REASON FOR OWNING AN
APPLE?

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_O
Number : 17 of 21 [ ACOS/MACOS Programming ]
Subject : ANSI/VT-100 CODES
Addressed to : ALL
Author : Nuke at The Space Bar (#198@#4)
Date Posted : Thursday, January 13th, 1994 20:57:51 PST
Size : 24632 bytes
-O
Somebody was asking for the VT-100 codes, well here is a listing of boith
ANSI/VT-100 codes from the Supertac docs I have.....hope this helps you out??
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SuperTac Tech note #2 - ANSI & DEC VT100 CODES...
Oct 30, 1990 - Larry Hawkins
v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v
ANSI & DEC VT100 Codes
^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^
The following text will describe the various escape codes that allow
computers to transmit color text over communication lines. Using ANSI
escape codes, any computer can receive and transmit color text as long as
the communication program can interpret the escape sequences.
The escape sequences can be thought of the same as ones sent to a printer
to change the appearance of the output. All ANSI codes begin with the one
byte character ESC (decimal 27), and are followed by the left bracket "[".
Additional parameters, which follow the bracket are seperated with a semi-
colon.All codes are ended with a single alphabetic character which determines
the function of the escape sequence.
Since the characters come in one at a time, as soon as the ESC character
is received start building the sequence until an alphabetic character is
input.The case of the alphabetic character is very important since they
mean different things. For example,"H" (which means set cursor position)
is different than "h" ,(which means set the display width and type).
Notes:
1) The default value is used when no explicit
value is given, or a value of zero, is
specified.
2) The default value is 1 unless otherwise
specified below.
3) # - Numeric Parameter. A decimal number
specified with ASCII characters.
4) In the control sequences described below,
ESC is the 1 byte code for ESC (decimal 27),
and not the three characters "ESC".
CURSOR CONTROL
Cursor Position (CUP)
ESC[#;#H Moves the cursor to the position
specified by the parameter. The first
parameter specifies the line number and
the second parameter specifies the column
number. If no parameter is given, the
cursor is moved to the home position
(Row 1, Column 1).
Example: ESC[10;20H - moves the cursor to
row 10, column 20.
Cursor Up (CUU)
ESC[#A Moves the cursor up # lines without
changing columns. The value of #
determines the number of lines to move up.
This sequence is ignored if the cursor is
already on the top line.
Example: ESC[5A - moves the cursor up
5 lines without changing
columns.
Cursor Down (CUD)
ESC[#B Moves the cursor down # lines without changing
columns. The value of # determines the number
of lines to move down.
This sequence is ignored if the cursor is
already on the bottom line.
Example: ESC[5B - moves the cursor down
5 lines without changing
columns.
Cursor Forward (CUF)
ESC[#C Moves the cursor forward # columns without
changing lines. The value of # determines
the number of columns moved forward.
This sequence is ignored if the cursor is already
in the rightmost column.
Example: ESC[25C - moves the cursor forward
25 columns.
Cursor Backward (CUB)
ESC[#n Moves the cursor back # columns without changing
lines. The value # determines the number of
columns moved backwards.
This sequence is ignored if the cursor is already
in the leftmost column.
Example: ESC[1n - moves the cursor backwards
1 column.
Horizontal and Vertical Position (HVP)
ESC[#;#f This control sequence is the same as CUP.
Example: ESC[10;20f - moves the cursor to
row 10, column 20.
Device Status Report (DSR)
ESC[6n Upon receipt of this command, the console
driver will output a CPR sequence as described
below.
Cursor Position Report (CPR)
ESC[#;#R The CPR sequence reports the current cursor
position through the standard input device. The
first parameter specifies the current line and
the second parameter specifies the current column.
Save Cursor Position (SCP)
ESC[s The current cursor position is saved. This
cursor position can be restored with the RCP
sequence.
Restore Cursor Position (RCP)
ESC[u Restores the cursor to the value it had when
the control sequence SCP was received.
Erase in Display (ED)
ESC[2J Erases all of the screen and the cursor goes
to the home position (row 1, column 1).
Erase in Line (EL)
ESC[k Erases from the cursor to the end of the line
and includes the cursor position.
Set Graphics Rendition (SGR)
ESC[#;...;#m Set the character attribute specified by then
parameter(s). All following characters will
have the attribute according to the parameter(s)
until the next occurrence of SGR.
Note: attribute means the foreground color, the
background color, blink, high intensity,
underscore, reverse video, and invisible.
Parameter Meaning
0 All Attributes Off (white on black)
1 Bold On (high intensity)
4 Underscore On (Some monitors only)
5 Blink On
7 Reverse Video
8 Cancelled On (invisible)
30 Black Foreground
31 Red Foreground
32 Green Foreground
33 Yellow Foreground
34 Blue Foreground
35 Magenta Foreground
36 Cyan Foreground
37 White Foreground
40 Black Background
41 Red Background
42 Green Background
43 Yellow Background
44 Blue Background
45 Magenta Background
46 Cyan Background
47 White Background
Example: ESC[33;40;1m - all following
characters will have
a Yellow foreground,
a Black background,
and be in high intensity
until receipt of another
SGR control sequence.
ESC[0m - all following
characters will have
a white foreground, on
a black background, in
normal intensity.
Note: Several parameters can be stacked. For
example, ESC[0;1;5;7;31;44m
the above example will reset the
attributes, set high intensity,
set blink on, set reversed video,
set foreground color to red, and
set background color to blue.
Note that since reverse video
is on the foreground will
actually be blue and the
background will be red.
Here is the requested list of ANSI control sequences. I picked it
up off of the Usenet a while back.
ANSI Standard (X3.64) Control Sequences for Video Terminals and Peripherals
in alphabetic order by mnemonic
(Inspired by the article "Toward Standardized Video Terminals: ANSI
X3.64 Device Control" by Mark L. Siegel, April 1984 BYTE, page 365)
Note: This describes the VT-100 standard.
(Ps and Pn are parameters expressed in ASCII.)
(Numeric parameters are given in decimal radix.)
(Abbreviations are explained in detail at end.)
(Spaces used in this table for clarity are not
used in the actual codes.)
Default Type
Sequence Sequence Parameter or
Mnemonic Name Sequence Value Mode
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
APC Applicatn Program Command Esc Fe Delim
CBT Cursor Backward Tab Esc [ Pn Z 1 EdF
CCH Cancel Previous Character Esc T
CHA Cursor Horzntal Absolute Esc [ Pn G 1 EdF
CHT Cursor Horizontal Tab Esc [ Pn I 1 EdF
CNL Cursor Next Line Esc [ Pn E 1 EdF
CPL Cursor Preceding Line Esc [ Pn F 1 EdF
CPR Cursor Position Report Esc [ Pn ; Pn R 1, 1
CSI Control Sequence Intro Esc [ Intro
CTC Cursor Tab Control Esc [ Ps W 0 EdF
CUB Cursor Backward Esc [ Pn D 1 EdF
CUD Cursor Down Esc [ Pn B 1 EdF
CUF Cursor Forward Esc [ Pn C 1 EdF
CUP Cursor Position Esc [ Pn ; Pn H 1, 1 EdF
CUU Cursor Up Esc [ Pn A 1 EdF
CVT Cursor Vertical Tab Esc [ Pn Y EdF
DA Device Attributes Esc [ Pn c 0
DAQ Define Area Qualification Esc [ Ps o 0
DCH Delete Character Esc [ Pn P 1 EdF
DCS Device Control String Esc P Delim
DL Delete Line Esc [ Pn M 1 EdF
DMI Disable Manual Input Esc \ Fs
DSR Device Status Report Esc [ Ps n 0
EA Erase in Area Esc [ Ps O 0 EdF
ECH Erase Character Esc [ Pn X 1 EdF
ED Erase in Display Esc [ Ps J 0 EdF
EF Erase in Field Esc [ Ps N 0 EdF
EL Erase in Line Esc [ Ps K 0 EdF
EMI Enable Manual Input Esc b Fs
EPA End of Protected Area Esc W
ESA End of Selected Area Esc G
FNT Font Selection Esc [ Pn ; Pn Space D 0, 0 FE
GSM Graphic Size Modify Esc [ Pn ; Pn Space B 100, 100 FE
GSS Graphic Size Selection Esc [ Pn Space C none FE
HPA Horz Position Absolute Esc [ Pn ` 1 FE
HPR Horz Position Relative Esc [ Pn a 1 FE
HTJ Horz Tab w/Justification Esc I FE
HTS Horizontal Tab Set Esc H FE
HVP Horz & Vertical Position Esc [ Pn ; Pn f 1, 1 FE
ICH Insert Character Esc [ Pn @ 1 EdF
IL Insert Line Esc [ Pn L 1 EdF
IND Index Esc D FE
INT Interrupt Esc a Fs
JFY Justify Esc [ Ps ; ... ; Ps Space F 0 FE
MC Media Copy Esc [ Ps i 0
MW Message Waiting Esc U
NEL Next Line Esc E FE
NP Next Page Esc [ Pn U 1 EdF
OSC Operating System Command Esc ] Delim
PLD Partial Line Down Esc K FE
PLU Partial Line Up Esc L FE
PM Privacy Message Esc ^ Delim
PP Preceding Page Esc [ Pn V 1 EdF
PU1 Private Use 1 Esc Q
PU2 Private Use 2 Esc R
QUAD Typographic Quadding Esc [ Ps Space H 0 FE
REP Repeat Char or Control Esc [ Pn b 1
RI Reverse Index Esc M FE
RIS Reset to Initial State Esc c Fs
RM Reset Mode Esc [ Ps l none
SD Scroll Down Esc [ Pn T 1 EdF
SEM Select Edit Extent Mode Esc [ Ps Q 0
SGR Select Graphic Rendition Esc [ Ps m 0 FE
SL Scroll Left Esc [ Pn Space @ 1 EdF
SM Select Mode Esc [ Ps h none
SPA Start of Protected Area Esc V
SPI Spacing Increment Esc [ Pn ; Pn Space G none FE
SR Scroll Right Esc [ Pn Space A 1 EdF
SS2 Single Shift 2 (G2 set) Esc N Intro
SS3 Single Shift 3 (G3 set) Esc O Intro
SSA Start of Selected Area Esc F
ST String Terminator Esc \ Delim
STS Set Transmit State Esc S
SU Scroll Up Esc [ Pn S 1 EdF
TBC Tab Clear Esc [ Ps g 0 FE
TSS Thin Space Specification Esc [ Pn Space E none FE
VPA Vert Position Absolute Esc [ Pn d 1 FE
VPR Vert Position Relative Esc [ Pn e 1 FE
VTS Vertical Tabulation Set Esc J FE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abbreviations:
Intro an Introducer of some kind of defined sequence; the normal 7-bit
X3.64 Control Sequence Introducer is the two characters "Escape ["
Delim a Delimiter
x/y identifies a character by position in the ASCII table (column/row)
EdF editor function (see explanation)
FE format effector (see explanation)
F is a Final character in
an Escape sequence (F from 3/0 to 7/14 in the ASCII table)
a control sequence (F from 4/0 to 7/14)
Gs is a graphic character appearing in strings (Gs ranges from
2/0 to 7/14) in the ASCII table
Ce is a control represented as a single bit combination in the C1 set
of controls in an 8-bit character set
C0 the familiar set of 7-bit ASCII control characters
C1 roughly, the set of control characters available only in 8-bit systems.
This is too complicated to explain fully here, so read Jim Fleming's
article in the February 1983 BYTE, especially pages 214 through 224.
Fe is a Final character of a 2-character Escape sequence that has an
equivalent representation in an 8-bit environment as a Ce-type
(Fe ranges from 4/0 to 5/15)
Fs is a Final character of a 2-character Escape sequence that is
standardized internationally with identical representation in 7-bit
and 8-bit environments and is independent of the currently
designated C0 and C1 control sets (Fs ranges from 6/0 to 7/14)
I is an Intermediate character from 2/0 to 2/15 (inclusive) in the
ASCII table
P is a parameter character from 3/0 to 3/15 (inclusive) in the ASCII
table
Pn is a numeric parameter in a control sequence, a string of zero or
more characters ranging from 3/0 to 3/9 in the ASCII table
Ps is a variable number of selective parameters in a control sequence
with each selective parameter separated from the other by the code
3/11 (which usually represents a semicolon); Ps ranges from
3/0 to 3/9 and includes 3/11
v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v
v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v
Format Effectors versus Editor Functions
A format effector specifies how the final output is to be created.
An editor function allows you to modify the specification.
For instance, a format effector that moves the "active position" (the
cursor or equivalent) one space to the left would be useful when you want to
create an over strike, a compound character made of two standard characters
overlaid. Control-H, the Backspace character, is actually supposed to be a
format effector, so you can do this. But many systems use it in a
nonstandard fashion, as an editor function, deleting the character to the
left of the cursor and moving the cursor left. When Control-H is assumed to
be an editor function, you cannot predict whether its use will create an
over strike unless you also know whether the output device is in an "insert
mode" or an "overwrite mode". When Control-H is used as a format effector,
its effect can always be predicted. The familiar characters carriage
return, linefeed, formfeed, etc., are defined as format effectors.
v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v
^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^
ANSI X3.64 Mode-Changing Parameters for use with the
Select Mode (SM) and Reset Mode (RM) functions
Parameter Mode Mode Function
Characters Mnemonic
column/ graphic
row repres.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3/0 0 an error condition
3/1 1 GATM guarded-area transfer mode
3/2 2 KAM keyboard action mode
3/3 3 CRM control representation mode
3/4 4 IRM insertion/replacement mode
3/5 5 SRTM status-reporting transfer mode
3/6 6 ERM erasure mode
3/7 7 VEM vertical editing mode
3/8 8 reserved for future standardization
3/9 9 reserved for future standardization
3/10 : reserved separator for parameters
3/11 ; Standard separator for parameters
3/12 < reserved for private (experimental) use
3/13 = reserved for private (experimental) use
3/14 > reserved for private (experimental) use
3/15 ? reserved for private (experimental) use
3/1 3/0 10 HEM horizontal editing mode
3/1 3/1 11 PUM positioning unit mode
3/1 3/2 12 SRM send/receive mode
3/1 3/3 13 FEAM format effector action mode
3/1 3/4 14 FETM format effector transfer mode
3/1 3/5 15 MATM multiple area transfer mode
3/1 3/6 16 TTM transfer termination mode
3/1 3/7 17 SATM selected area transfer mode
3/1 3/8 18 TSM tabulation stop mode
3/1 3/9 19 EBM editing boundary mode
3/1 3/10 1: reserved separator for parameters
3/1 3/11 1; Standard separator for parameters
3/1 3/12 1< error condition--unspecified recovery
3/1 3/13 1= error condition--unspecified recovery
3/1 3/14 1> error condition--unspecified recovery
3/1 3/15 1? error condition--unspecified recovery
3/2 3/0 20 LNM linefeed/newline mode (not in ISO 6429)
3/2 3/1 21
. .
. . reserved for future standardization
. .
3/9 3/9 99
3/12 3/0 <0
. .
. . reserved for private (experimental) use
. .
3/15 3/15 ??
v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v
^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^
NOTES ON THE DEC VT100 IMPLEMENTATION
In the case of the popular DEC VT100 video-terminal implementation,
the only mode that may be altered is the linefeed/newline (LNM) mode.
Other modes are considered permanently set, reset, or not applicable
as follows:
Set: ERM
Reset: CRM, EBM, FEAM, FETM, IRM, KAM, PUM, SRTM, TSM
N/A: GATM, HEM, MATM, SATM, TTM, VEM
Control sequences implemented in the VT100 are as follows:
CPR, CUB, CUD, CUF, CUP, CUU, DA, DSR, ED, EL, HTS, HVP, IND,
LNM, NEL, RI, RIS, RM, SGR, SM, TBC
plus several private DEC commands.
Erasing parts of the display (EL and ED) in the VT100 is performed thus:
Erase from cursor to end of line Esc [ 0 K or Esc [ K
Erase from beginning of line to cursor Esc [ 1 K
Erase line containing cursor Esc [ 2 K
Erase from cursor to end of screen Esc [ 0 J or Esc [ J
Erase from beginning of screen to cursor Esc [ 1 J
Erase entire screen Esc [ 2 J
The VT100 responds to receiving the DA (Device Attributes) control
Esc [ c (or Esc [ 0 c)
by transmitting the sequence
Esc [ ? l ; Ps c
where Ps is a character that describes installed options.
The VT100's cursor location can be read with the DSR (Device Status
Report) control
Esc [ 6 n
The VT100 reports by transmitting the CPR sequence
Esc [ Pl ; Pc R
where Pl is the line number and Pc is the column number (in decimal).
v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v
^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^
The complete document describing the standard, "ANSI X3.64-1979:
Additional Controls for Use with the American National Standard
Code for Information Interchange," can be ordered for $13.50 (plus
$4 postage) from
Standards Sales Department
American National Standards Institute
1430 Broadway
New York, NY 10018
212/354-3300
It's best to read the full standard before using it. It also helps
to have copies of the related standards "X3.4-1977: American
National Standard Code for Information Interchange" (the ASCII
standard) and "X3.41.1974: Code-Extension Techniques for Use with
the 7-Bit Coded Character Set of American National Standard for
Information Interchange."
See also the chapter "Using Extended Screens and Keyboard Control"
in the IBM PC-DOS manuals (versions 2.0, 2.1, and 3.0), especially
for the coding for character attributes.
The specification for the DEC VT100 is document EK-VT100-UG-003,
available for $13.00 prepaid from:
Digital Equipment Corporation
Accessories and Supplies Group
POB CS-2008
Nashua, NH 03061
(Copyright 1984 BYTE Publications, subsidiary of McGraw-Hill Inc.)
(Permission granted to reproduce for noncommercial uses.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
_O

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NEW TECHNOLOGY ANNOUNCEMENT FROM APPLE
In a surprise announcement yesterday, Apple Computer said that is is
finally doing away with the keyboard. Apple stated that the
microcomputer user has suffered too long with this awkward and
inefficient input device. According to an Apple spokesperson, the
technology for replacing the keyboard with only a mouse is here and the
computer user is ready for it. The spokesperson said that Apple has
received a steady stream of complaints over the years about the need to
constantly move the hands between the Mac keyboard and the mouse. "The
solution was obvious - do away with the keyboard completely."
Acknowledging that there are still a few Mac applications that depend on
textual input in addition to graphical manipulation, Apple said the poor
people stuck with such outdated technology have not been forgotten.
They are introducing the Spinning Alphabet Wheel (SAW) to replace the
keyboard. The SAW is a screen display object consisting of concentric
circular strips showing all of the characters which normally appear on
the keyboard. The wheel rotates continuously under character selector
windows. The user selects a character by placing the mouse pointer in
the appropriate window at the same time as the desired character is
about to appear. "...and, ta-da, the selected character appears on the
screen just as though it had been typed on an old fashioned keyboard."
"This is a marvelous new technology with plenty of room for growth,"
said the spokesperson. For example, the user can configure separate
wheels for vowels vs. consonants. Or digits can be placed on their own
special low speed wheel. "We have conceptualized the keyboard as a big,
bulky menu selection device and replaced it with dynamic display menus
instead. Apple will eventually replace all menus with their new
Rotating Wheel Technology (RWT)."
When asked why the wheels have to rotate, the spokesperson said that
Apple's engineers had considered using conventional "point-and-click"
technology for the wheel. "However, we feel that this type of operation
is too complicated for the typical Mac user. So, we have done away with
the mouse button, too. It is still hard for us to believe that the IBM
world has stepped backwards in technology by providing two or more
buttons to confuse the user. The IBM compatible sector has not yet
recognized that 95% of computer usage is devoted to experimenting with
different fonts and character styles in documents."
Asked if this new technology would reduce the price of the typical Mac
computer, the spokesperson countered that it would probably increase the
price of the Mac. "After all, display space is already scarce on the
current screen. We will now deliver Macs with two screens - one for the
normal display and a larger one for the multitude of rotating wheels the
user needs to access." Apple said that the user who is confused by
complicated devices such as keyboards and mouse buttons will gladly pay
a premium to avoid them. "In fact, the easily-confused user is our best
customer," replied the spokesperson. "Not only are we doing away with
the pesky keyboard, but we are also giving them something they have
demanded for a long time - more screen space. this is definitely a
win-win situation."
Beta testers of the new technology were impressed by its ease of use,
but said there are still some minor problems to work out. for example,
one tester left his machine unattended with the uppercase character
wheel spinning at medium speed. While he was away somebody must have
jarred his desk, moving the mouse pointer into the selector window.
When he got back he found that his Word document now had one huge
paragraph consisting of all of the characters of the uppercase alphabet
repeated 2,539,987 times. "At first glance, this appeared to be a big
problem. But after I formated the new paragraph with 33 different fonts
and 11 different type styles, it looked great. I hope that Apple fixes
this problem before they release it, because these accidents can greatly
increase the time spent formatting documents."


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Path: bimacs!barilvm!psuvm!psuvax1!rutgers!mailrus!uunet!looking!funny-request
From: rww@demon.siemens.com (Richard W West)
Newsgroups: rec.humor.funny
Subject: Apple IIgs
Keywords: computer, original, chuckle
Message-ID: <S129.451b@looking.on.ca>
Date: 10 Jun 90 23:30:06 GMT
Organization: Crazy Productions
Lines: 198
Approved: funny@looking.on.ca
{ed Well, what can I say. This piece is long and rather nasty to Apple, but
it has its good moments. If you're from Apple, don't read it.}
Ever watch a TV show and someone'll say:
"Take this, you son-of-a-[BEEP]!!"?
And you, of course, fill in the missing word.
"Son-of-a-Bitch," you say in your mind.
And so does every human being who hears the beep, because the mind
naturally completes recognized patterns, no matter how fragmented they
are. We know that "bitch" follows "son of a" just like night follows
day or Pete Rose follows bookies. Unless of course you're Russian.
Then, "son of" is usually followed by "Ivan" or "Mikhail" or somesuch
male Russian name that reminds you of various blackspots on the
otherwise clean and white tapestry of Russian history.
But anyways, I was talking about how censors cover-up swear words
with bleeps and stupid sound effects. The whole reason they go through
all this bullshit and cut up decent movies into nonsequential nonsense
is so our children won't hear words usually only associated with the
description of Apple products.
Now, I don't wanna get on anyone's case about this, but I am wholly
amazed by Apple's IIGS system. This is the most mazing case of reverse
technology in computer history! In the age of the 386/33 and the
486/25, Apple Computer comes out with a machine that runs at an
astounding 2 mHz! AND, you can speed it up to a blinding 2.5 mHz.
HOLY SHIT! Two point five? You know how they play THAT one off? The
salespeople tell ya "Yeah, and the high-speed mode speeds up the CPU
25 PERCENT!" What the HELL is this?! Did some dude at Apple get Woz
really plastered and then say:
"Hey Steve! I'll tell ya what -- if we can't beat 'em at making
the fastest machine, by God -- we'll beat 'em at making the SLOWEST!"?
Because they DID!
This thing's like a slug in winter! And as if this Yugo CPU wasn't bad
enough, they get a disk drive straight out of computer Hell! You ever load a
program on a Commodore 64? I mean waiting 20 minutes for Zork to load may
have seemed like a long time then, but you load Zork on a IIGS, and boy, you
are in for a WAIT! Your grandkids'll be sittin' there waitin' for that
fucker to load. I'm not joking! If you have a monitoring program, you can
see the drive plinking off bits in a completely leisurely manner. Plodding
doesn't even BEGIN to describe it! Plodding suggests MOVEMENT, and if
can master the almost Zen Buddhist-like art of sitting still in front of a
II GS drive long enough to detect the motion of the disk, then you've got
pretty good idea of what taking THORAZINE is like! If you can sit still that
long, you're qualified to be a National Monument!
And when you pay for it, it's like you bought a C-64, BUT AT AN
IBM PRICE! A good (and that's a word not commonly used in conjuncture
with "GS") system will put you back close to $3,000! You can get a
decent (there's another one of those aforementioned words) 286 system
for that! And a 286/12 kicks this thing's ass so many ways you can't
count 'em! (at least not on a GS).
They call it "GS", but they don't tell you it stands for "Goddamn SLOW"!
Oh, it's got great graphics. Serious, this thing's got the
graphics. But it's like having unlimited credit at a Goodwill shop!
You'll also wait MONTHS before their demo picture of the golden King
Tut finally gets to the screen. The whole time, at wholly random
intervals, you'll get messages like:
"Now computing byte 53, bit 6, of 648,457 bytes. Next report in 20 mkNf."
And just about the time you've gotten the .12 gauge outta the
closet with the computracide on your mind, the little fucker'll pop up
some Fable ROM program imbedded in its enfeebled memory and tell you a
little a story like:
"Once upon a time, there was a sloth and a cheetah. The cheetah
was a very fast cat and the sloth a plodding oaf. Too many times was
the cheetah caught speeding by the CHP (oh hey, for those of you who
have the unfortunate fate of living outside California, CHP means
California Highway Patrol) and the CHP sawed the poor cheetah's legs
off.
"Moral: People who buy fast machines often get their legs sawn off."
You stand there, looking dumbfounded.
"What?" you ask yourself.
And the GS answers:
"Now computing byte 53, bit 7, of 648,457 bytes. Next report in 20mins."
You'll blast that son of a ----- (y'all said 'bitch', dinja? See?
straight to computer Hell where some poor bastard'll hafta wait for it to
compute PI to 20 billion digits (NOW you know why you need PI calculate
billion digits!) before he can go to Heaven!
THIS THING IS A TURD! It's a cattle-dropping of a computer! The
day Apple introduced this li'l gem was forever to be known as "The Day
Silicon Valley Smelled like BULLSHIT" because if you call a turd "a
rose", IT'S STILL A TURD! I don't care what PR says! If it's brown and
smells like shit, IT'S PROBABLY A TURD!
You want to have some fun with an Apple Dealer? Get dressed in
your best business suit and walk into AppleLand or any store that only
sells Apple and go up to a dealer. Look for the slimiest one. Tell him
you've been thinking about getting a II GS for your family for months
and have finally decided to buy the best II GS system available. Now
if you could only see a demo, you would be convinced that you were
spending your money wisely. They'll put on the dog and pony show for
ya and show you some cute program.
Then tell the dealer you use "Harvard Graphics" a lot at work (or
any other HUGE program they have II GS versions of) and seeing how it
looks on the II GS would close the deal. And the whole time, talk
about hard drives, expensive monitors, and lots of software. But don't
over-do it or they'll figure you out.
But anyway, when he plops in the full 1.8 meg floppy to be read
at 300 baud by the disk drive, you start a conversation, and casually
introduce how speed in a computer is important to you. Mention the
fact that you work with a 386/33 at your office and tell him that the
baby really flies! Keep talking about how impressed you are with the
22 millisecond access time on a Compaq 110 megabyte hard drive. Tell
'em how you load MS Windows in 3 seconds. 2 seconds for Harvard
Graphics. Then, VERY casually look at the II GS drive, then look at
your watch. Frown. Do it again with a very slight look of disbelief.
Ask, "Is it done yet?" quizzically . . .
Watch the little weasel SWEAT!
Oh, it will do you a WORLD of good!
Caution! If you start busting up now, it's OVER! You won't EVEN
stop! But if he recovers and gets the conversation going again, just
look over towards the drive every so often and sound slightly more
irritated each time you reply to the dealer. THEN: Look at the drive
and then at your watch again. Look the dealer right in the eye and
ask, "Is it done loading yet?" with a little more irritation.
Just see how many times you can repeat the cycle. When the Dealer
starts getting really pissed about being asked "Is it done loading
yet?" a million times and gets rude, or the program actually loads,
you close the deal. But then look at the computer, then at your watch
and tell him "I need to reconsider this. I'll come by again if I
decide to stay with this machine." Look at the machine and shake your
head while saying "But it's doubtful," and walk out.
You will have fucked that guy's day!
If you wanna really dangle the dude on the hook, get him to admit
Compaq is superior to Apple. Just mention the 386/33 in your "office"
again and then ask:
"What does this machine run at? 10 megahertz? 8?"
"2" the Dealer will admit.
Look him right in the eye and ask in the your most astounded voice:
"2?"
The dealer will shrivel up like a snail with salt poured on it!
If you have enough Apple-only dealers in your town, you and a friend
can make an afternoon of it! And every time you walk out of one of thos
places, after rightfully humbling those toadies, you feel at one with
nature, and animals will cross the street to be near you.
Heh heh heh.
I'm sorry, before I got off on all the Apple stuff, (by the way,
I don't want everyone thinking I hate Apple computers. That was just a
little good-natured prod to remind the folks at Apple which half of
the 80's we are in.) I wuz talkin' about censoring TV programs for
the sake of our chidrens' language. Okay, do this:
Tonight when you go home, walk up to your kid and ask him/her to
complete this sentence:
"Mike Tyson is one bad mother _______!"
Your kid'll look you straight in the eye and say:
"Fuhka."
This is the exact and true nature of what censoring TV movies
accomplishes.

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CTRL-S STOP/START CTRL-X TO EXIT
+----------------+
! APPLE CAT MODS !
+----------------+
! COURTESY OF: !
! MR. HOUDINI !
+----------------+
HERE ARE A COUPLE OF MODS YOU CAN
MAKE ON AN APPLE CAT ][ MODEM. IF
YOU DECIDE TO MAKE THESE MODS AND
BLOW TOUGH SHIT. IT ISN'T MY PROBLEM!
HERE WE GO...
MODIFICATION NUMBER I
THIS MOD WILL ALLOW YOU TO TELL IF
THE MODEM IS ON/OFF HOOK. THE LED
WILL BE LIT WHEN YOU ARE OFF THE
HOOK.
ESTIMATED COST: $1.00
INSTALLATION TIME: 5 MINUTES
INSTRUCTIONS: TAKE A 12 VOLT LED TO
PINS 8 AND 12 ON "J2"
CONNECTOR ON THE CARD.
SEE MANUAL FOR LOCATION
OF J2. ALSO NOTE THAT
PIN 1 IS THE CLOSEST TO
THE REAR OF THE MODEM
(AND COMPUTER)
MODIFICATION NUMBER II
THIS MOD WILL ALLOW YOU TO HOOK UP A
SPEAKER LIKE THE MICROMODEM IIE HAS.
THIS IS ALOT BETTER THAN THE HANDSET.
COST: N/A (YOU CAN HOOK IT TO A
MONITOR OR YOU CAN GO
BUY A RADIO SHACK
SPEAKER
INSTALLATION TIME: 5 OR 6 MINUTES
INSTRUCTIONS: HOOK THE WIRE FROM ANY
SPEAKER TO PINS 21 AND
22 ON THE "J2" PIN ROW
THAT'S IT!!!
IF YOU HAVE ANY NEW MODS OR COR-
RECTIONS PLEASE TELL ME IN FEEDBACK
OR CHAT. THANX
WHICH 1-5 (?=MENU,<CR>):

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**************************************
* *
* Apple-Cat Modem A.P.I. *
* *
* By: The Tailpipe *
* *
**************************************
This is a disk copy of what is in the
Cat-API book..
Register Index
Hex Decimal Read Write
---------------------------------------
$C080 -16256 SWBYT DACBYT
$C081 -16255 TONBYT SQUBYT
$C082 -16254 --- SHBYT
$C083 -16253 --- BSRBYT
$C089 -16247 --- RECBYT
$C08A -16246 --- CON
$C08B -16245 INDAT SPDBYT
$C08C -16244 --- COM
$C08D -16243 ACBYT XMBYT
$C08D -16242 --- OUTDAT
$C08F -16241 STATUS DEVBYT
212 CARD
$C080 -16256 --- 212BYT
* ADD $N0 to hex address or 16*N to
decimal base address (where N=slot of
apple cat or 212 card) to obtain slot
adjusted address.
---------------------------------------
BIT COMPONENT INDEX
Bit Component Register
---------------------------------------
Audio detect SWBYT
BSR 60 Hz input SWBYT
BSR 120 KHz output BSRBYT
Carrier detect SWBYT
Carrier detect timing RECBYT
Clear DV SHBYT
Clear to send ACBYT
DAC bits DACBYT
DV from touch tone SWBYT
Fiarmware switches SWBYT
From UART tdx to DEVBYT
IRQ 29.1 Hz enable XMTBYT
IRQ 29.12 Hz enable RSRBYT
IRQ 29,12 Hz status TONBYT
Microphone squelch SQUBYT
Mode control bits RECBYT
Receive baud rate SPDBYT
Receive data from UART INDAT
Ring detect ACBYT
Speaker squelch SQUBYT
Swith hook SHBYT
Tape recorder motor cont. SQUBYT
Touch tone bits TONBYT
Transmit baud rate SPDBYT
Transmit data to UART OUTDAT
Transmitter mode XMTBYT
UART command receiver COM
UART command transmitter COM
UART control parity mnable CON
UART control parity CON
UART control #stop bits CON
UART control #data bits CON
UART rxd to DEVBYT
UART status overrun error STATUS
UART status framing error STATUS
UART status parity error STATUS
UART status tx data
register empty STATUS
UART status rx data
register full STATUS
UART status transmit IRQ STATUS
UART status receive IRQ STATUS
UART status ring IRQ STATUS
212 analog loopback 212JYT
212 carrier ACBYT
212 character length 212BYT
212 digital loopback 212BYT
212 enable SQUBYT
212 mode SQUBYT
212 remote digital loopback 212BYT
212 reset option 212BYT
--------------------------------------
SWBYT
$C080
-16256
READ
---------------------------------------_
BIT #
7 DV FROM TOUCHTONE
1 valid touch tome present
0 no valid touch tone present
(CLRDV high)
6 BSR 60 HZ INPUT
continuous 1 no 60 Hz
alternation 60Hz
5 CARRIER DETECT
1 carvier present
0 no carrier present
4 AUDIO DETECT*
1 no audio present
0 audio present
3 FIRMWARE SWITCH 4
1 open (off)
0 closed (on)
2 FIRMWARE SWITCH 3
1 open (off)
0 closed (on)
1 FIRMWARE SWITCH 2
1 open (off)
0 closed (on)
0 FIRMWARE SWITCH 1
1 open (off)
0 closed (on)
* Audio detect input changes with
speach, dial tone, and busy signal.
The input to the audio detector is the
output of the receiver filter.
---------------------------------------
TONBYT
$C081
-16255
READ
---------------------------------------
7 NOT USED
6 NOT USED
5 NOT USED
4 IRQ29.12 HZ STATUS
3 TOUCH TONE BIT D8
2 TOUCH TONE BIT D4
1 TOUCH TONE BIT D2
0 TOUCH TONE BIT D1
--------------------------------------
SQUBYT
$C081
-16255
WRITE
--------------------------------------
7 212 ENABLE*
1 212 disable
0 212 enable
6 NOT USED
5 212 MODE
1 212 originate
0 212 answer
4-2 TAPE RECORDER MOTOR CONT.
111 motor on
000 motor off
1 SPEAKER SQUELCH
1 not squelched
0 squelched
0 MICROPHONE SQUELCH
1 squelched
0 not squelched
* 212 ENABLE is sut to 1 in 212 analog
loopgack test (see 212BYT)
NOTE: When changing ANS/ORIG dome, first
write word with bit 5 in desired state
and with bit 7 high; then wait 5-10 msec
and write word with same state for bit
5 but with bit 7 low. Bit 7 must be
left enabled (low) whenever operating
212.
--------------------------------------
SHBYT
$C082
-16254
WRITE
--------------------------------------
7 NOT USED
6 NOT USED
5 NOT USED
4 NOT USED
3 NOT USED
2 NOT USED
1 SWITH HOOK
1 off hook (holding line)
0 on hook (not holding line)
0 CLEAR VD (reset touch tone)
1 clear DV to 0
0 DV set
--------------------------------------
BSRBYT
$C083
-16253
WRITE
--------------------------------------
7 NOT USED
6 NOT USED
5 NOT USED
4 NOT USED
3 NOT USED
2 IRQ 29.12 HZ ENABLE
1 IRQ disabled/rest*
0 IRQ enabled
1 BSR 120 KHZ OUTPUT
1 disabled
0 enabled
0 NOT USED
* To clear IRQ< Bit 2 nust be disabled,
then enabled immediately.
--------------------------------------
RECBYT
$C089
-16247
WRITE
--------------------------------------
7 NOT USED
6 CARRIER DETECT TIMING*
1 normal carrier
0 fast carrier
5-0 MODE CONTROL BITS
mode value
103 ANS $64
103 ANS (mark carrier detect) $60
103 ORIG $65
103 ORIG(mark carrier detect) $61
202 $5C
202(mark carrier detect) $58
DEAF(TDD) $2D
ANS V.21 $66
ANS V.21(mark carrier detect) $62
ORIG V.21 $67
ORIG V.21(mark carrier detect) $63
900 Hz detect $6F
dial tone & busy signal* $7E
* This mode does not detect dial tone
or busy but simply puts the receiver
filter in the frequency range of dial
ton, busy signals and ringing. The
audio detect bit (SWBYT bit 4) should
be looked at to determine what is dial
tone, busy, or speech.
---------------------------------------
CON
$C08A
-16246
WRITE
--------------------------------------
7 NOT USED
6 PARITY ENABLE
1 enabled
0 disabled
5-4 PARITY*
Z1
mark
10 odd
01 space
00 even
3-2 NUMBER OF STOP BITS
11-
10 2
01 1.5
00 1
1-0 NUMBER OF DATA BITS
11 8
10 6
01 7
00 5
* The parity bit is additional to the
number of data bits.
--------------------------------------
SPDBYT
$C08B
-16245
WRITE
--------------------------------------
7-4 TRANSMIT BAUD RATE*
3-0 RECEIVE BAUD RATE*
baud bit value
rate time
1200 .831ms $0
600 1.66ms $1
300 3.33ms $2
150 6.65ms $3
110 9.15ms $5
75 13.3ms $6
50 20.0ms $7
45.5 22.0ms $4
* Transmit and receive baud rates are
independent.
--------------------------------------
COM
$C08C
-16244
WRITE
--------------------------------------
7 NOT USED
6 NOT USED
5 NOT USED
4 NOT USED
3-2 TRANSMITTER
11 xmit off
10 xmit on, enable IRQ
01 xmit on, disable IRQ
00 xmit bread (space)
1-0 RECEIVER
11 --
10 receiver on, enable IRQ
01 reveiver on, disable IRQ
00 receiver off
--------------------------------------
ACBYT
$C08D
-16243
READ
--------------------------------------
7 NOT USED
6 NOT USED
5 NOT USED
4 NOT USED
3 CLEAR TO SEND
printer handshake (busy)
Follows input
2 212 CARRIER DETECT
1 carrier present
0 no carrier present
1 NOT USED
0 RING DETECT*
1 ring present
0 ring not present
* If IRQ enabled on ring, IRQ occurs on
leading edge of ring (when RING goes
high)
--------------------------------------
XMTBYT
$C08D
-16243
WRITE
--------------------------------------
7 NOT USED
6 NOT USED
5 NOT USED
4 IRQ RING ENABLE*
1 disabled/reset
0 enabled
3-0 TRANSMITTER MODE
function value
103 ANS $0
103 ORIG $1
CCITT ANS $2
CCITT ORIG $3
DEAF (TDD) $4
202 SOFT CAR $5
202 U.S. OR CCITT V.23 $6
REV CHAN ING (VIEWDATA) $7
disabled >$7
* To clear IRQ, write 1 then 0
--------------------------------------
STATUS
$C08F
-16241
READ
--------------------------------------
7 OVMRRUN ERROR
1 error
0 ok
6 FRAMING ERROR
1 error
0 ok
5 PARITY ERROR
1 error
0 ok
4 TX DATA REG EMPTY
1 empty
0 full
3 RX DATA REF FULL
1 full
0 empty
2 TRANSMIT IRQ
1 transmit IRQ
0 no transmit IRQ
1 RECEIVE IRQ
1 receive IRQ
0 no receive IRQ
0 RING IRQ
1 no IRQ
0 IRQ
--------------------------------------
DEVBYT
$C08F
-16241
WRITE
--------------------------------------
7 NOT USED
6 NOT USED
5 NOT USED
4 NOT USED
3-2 FROM UART TXD TO
11 --
10 add-on 212
01 printer port
00 main modem
1-0 UART RDX TO
11 --
10 add-on 212
01 printer prot
00 main modem
* Register must be written to when
entering 212 mode
--------------------------------------
212BYT
$C080
-16256
WRITE
--------------------------------------
7 NOT USED
6 NOT USED
5 ANALOG LOOPBACK
1 analog loopback
0 normal
4 DIGITAL LOOPBACK
1 digital loopback
0 normal
3 REMOTE DIGITAL LOOPBACK
1 remote digital loopback
0 normal
2-1 212 CHARACTER LENGTH*
10 10 bits
01 9 bits
0 RESET
1 normal
0 reset option
* Length includes one start and one
stop bit.
NOTE: 1) Write with bits as desired and
bit 0 low
2) Delay at least 500ms
3) Write with bit 0 high, all
other bits unchanged
---------------------------------------
CALL THE PITSTOP 10 MEG
AE/CAT-FUR LINE

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APPLE CAT FIRMWARE INSTALL/COMMANDS
INSTALLATION:
To install the chip, Unplug your Cat
from your Apple and the phone line.
There should be a large, empty 24 pin
socket near the upper-right corner of
the card, directly below the four
switches. This is where you'll plug in
the chip. One end of the chip should
have a small notch or identification
on top of it. Turn the chip so the
notched end is to the left. Very
carefully insert the chip into the
socket being sure that all the pins
are going in their corresponding holes.
THE FOUR SWITCHES (LEFT TO RIGHT)
1. Optional 212 board installed (up)
or not installed (down)
2. Rotary (up) or Touch Tone (down)
dialing.
3. Phone mode (up) or Modem mode (down)
Modem mode = half duplex, 300 baud
and on-hook.
4. Printer speed 300 baud (up) or
1200 baud (down).
KEYBOARD COMMANDS:
Ctrl-A Ctrl-Q - Begin dialing
Ctrl-A Ctrl-Z - Hang up
Ctrl-A Ctrl-F - Enter full duplex
terminal mode
Ctrl-A Ctrl-H - Enter half duplex
terminal mode
Ctrl-A Ctrl-X - Exit terminal mode
Ctrl-A Ctrl-1 - 110 baud
Ctrl-A Ctrl-2 - 1200 baud
Ctrl-A Ctrl-3 - 300 baud
Ctrl-A Ctrl-P - Enter phone mode
Ctrl-A Ctrl-O - Enter modem mode
PRINTED COMMANDS:
Ctrl-O Chr$(15) - Enter phone mode
Ctrl-P Chr$(16) - Enter modem mode
Ctrl-Z Chr$(26) - Hang up the phone
Ctrl-Q Chr$(17) - Dial the phone
Only from phone mode:
Ctrl-C Chr$( 3) - Cassette motor on
Ctrl-E Chr$( 5) - Cassette motor off
Ctrl-I Chr$( 9) - Ignore ctrl charrs
POWERING UP
The first time you use your Apple Cat
after turning the machine on, the
firmware goes through several initial-
ization routines, including reading the
status of the switches, placing the
card out of terminal mode, and setting
the speed of your modem to 300 baud.
This information is then stored in
memory, and is remembered even after
you press reset. From time to time you
may want to force the Apple Cat firm-
ware to go through the initializing
again (e.g. if you change a switch on
the card or press 'reset' while you
are in terminal mode). This can be done
by the BASIC command (either from
program or directly) of POKE 2040+ (the
Apple Cat slot #),0. For example, if
your card is plugged into slot two, you
must do a POKE 2042,0. If this is done
before a PR#2 or an IN#2, the card will
think that it's the first time you've
talked to it today.
THE APPLE CAT 212 CARD:
If you have a 212 card, it must be
configured for solitaire mode, which
means the chip labeled "Z9" must be
removed from its socket. Also, you
must set the option switches on the
212 board as follows:
#1 - off
#2 - on
#3 - on
#4 - on
#5 - on
This will tell the 212 card that you
are using the standard ten bits per
character format (one start bit, one
stop bit, and eight data bits). You
may configure the 212 card for nine
bits per character by turning switch
one on and switch two off.
Connect the eleven pin ribbon between
the 212 card and the Apple Cat and
insert the 212 card into any open slot
in your Apple.

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Patch list for CATMSFT and CATPCPI CP/M Apple-Cat II modem programs
I have decided not to include the source files, but many of the operating
parameters and features of the programs can be changed by changing bytes
with DDT or EDFILE (Edfile is definitely easier!).
This is an edited version of the .PRN file which resulted from the
assembly of the front end module of the program. The addresses are
the same for both the Softcard and PCPI versions.
Here is a quick example of how you would use DDT to change an
operating parameter. Lets say you decided you could really use
that extra two k of buffer, so you want to tell the program not
to save the CCP but to warm boot instead (which frees up the memory).
Looking at the table you would find that the byte SAVCCP is located
010F in memory. It is set to FF to indicate that saving the ccp is
desired. To make the change (IMPORTANT: do this on a COPY so that
you can go back if you mess it up!) you would bring the program in
with DDT thus:
DDT CATMSFT.COM
(some numbers will appear, which you don't need to worry about. If
you get a ? that means that DDT could not find the file.)
to change the byte, use the S command (for Set bytes) and type:
S10F
DDT responds with
010F FF (the cursor remains to the right of the byte waiting for
you to change the value or hit return).
Type in a zero and hit return. DDT will respond with the
next byte in memory to be changed. Simply type a period to
exit the S mode (and a 'return').
Type control-C to exit ddt. Now you want to save your
modified file back to disk. The standard command is
SAVE 85 CATPCPI.COM (for the applicard version)
SAVE 75 CATMSFT.COM (for the softcard version).
That's all there is to it. Good Luck!
(P.S.: If anyone really wants to play with the source code, I can supply it.
It is not possible to change the slot of the apple-cat from slot two without
re-assembling. Since 99.9% of the Apple world runs their modems in slot two,
the best solution is just to move it over. If there is some reason you cannot
do this, contact me and I will assemble you a version for the slot you need,
or provide you with the source if thats appropriate. At this point, this
program must be assembled and Linked with the Assembly Language Development
System for the Apple II from Microsoft. (I can provide the patches to make
the assembler work with the Applicard, provided you do own the software.))
0109' 00 BAKUPBYTE: ;FF=make .BAK file
010A' 00 CKSUMDFLT: ;FF=default to Checksum checking
010B' FF TOGLCRC: ;FF=allow toggling of Checksum to CRC
010C' 00 CONVBKSP: ;FF=convert backspace to rub
010D' FF TOGLBK: ;FF=allow toggling of bksp to rub
010E' 00 ADDLF: ;FF=add LF after CR
010F' FF TOGLLF: ;FF=allow toggling of LF after CR
0110' FF STRLF: ;FF=strip LF after CR in terminal file
output
0101' FF TOGSLF: ;FF=toggle strip LF after CR in file
output
0102' FF SAVCCP: ;FF=DO NOT OVERWRITE CCP
0113' 00 LOCONEXTCHR: ;FF=local command if EXTCHR precedes
0114' FF TOGLLOC: ;FF=allow toggling of LOCONEXTCHR
0115' FF LSTTST: ;FF=ALLOW TOGGLING OF PRINTER ON/OFF
;***** WARNING *****
;The three mode bytes XOFFTXT, XONWAIT, and ECHWAIT are mutually exclusive
; modes. Do NOT attempt to set more than one of them at a time, as very
; unpredictable results will ensue.
0116' FF XOFFTST: ;FF=ALLOW TESTING OF XOFF FROM REMOTE
;while transmitting a file in terminal
mode
0117' 00 XONWAIT: ;FF=wait for XON after sending CR while
;transmitting a file in terminal mode
0118' FF TOGXOFF: ;FF=allow toggling of XOFF/XON testing
0119' 00 ECHWAIT: ;FF=wait for echo before sending next
;character in terminal mode file output
011A' 00 EOFSEND: ;FF=send eof in terminal mode file
output
011B' FF NAKONLY: ;FF=resends a record only after a valid
;0=resends a record after any non-ACK
;FF is intended only for use with
mainframes
;that send, for example, xoff when
buffer is
;full
0112' 01 MSPEED: ;sets the display time to send a file
;0=110 1=300 2=450 3=600 4=710
;5=1200 6=2400 7=4800 8=9600
0123' 00 BYTDLY: ;default time to send character in
;terminal mode file transfer
;0=0 delay, 1=0.02 sec, -- ,9=0.18 sec
0124' 00 CRDLY: ;default time for extra wait after CR
;in terminal mode file transfer
;0=0 delay, 1=0.02 sec, -- ,9=0.18 sec
0125' 1E BELRPT: ;bell repeat time = value*0.03 sec
0126' 05 NOOFCOL: ;number of directory columns
0127' 00 DIALSW: ;DIALER DEFAULT MODE
;0=TOUCHTONE, 1=PULSE
0128' 10 IDGT: ;interdigit delay value for touch tone
dialer
;increase if your exchange needs slower
dialing
;should be 10H minimum
0129' FF BYESAV: ;FF saves mspeed in 03CH so that xmodem
;can be used after
012A' FF CTLTRP: ;FF terminal mode traps control
characters
;(except tab,cr,lf,bs,rub) before
sending to console
012B' 05 EXITCHR: 'E'-40H ; ^E = Exit without disconnect
012C' 0F LOGCHR: 'O'-40H ; ^O = Send logon
012D' 1A LSTCHR: 'Z'-40H ; CHANGED DUE TO MAINFRAMES
USING CTL P FOR A 'BREAK'
012E' 12 UNSAVECHR: 'R'-40H ; ^R = Close input text buffer
012F' 14 TRANCHR: 'T'-40H ; ^T = Transmit file to remote
0130' 19 SAVECHR: 'Y'-40H ; ^Y = Open input text buffer
0131' 1E EXTCHR: '^'-40H ; ^^ = Send next character
;
;
0135' 1B 59 00 These bytes define the clear to
0138' 00 00 end of screen sequence.
;
0145' 1B 2A 00 These bytes define the clear
0148' 00 00 screen/home cursor sequence.