Links

CONTENTS     My Favorites     Apple II Resources     Apple II Products     Apple History Links     Retrocomputing Links     Apple II Emulation     Apple-1 Links     Apple Photo Collections     Miscellaneous Links

My Favorites

• AppleArchives – Large site archiving Apple II magazines (PDFs) and software from the 1980s.
• Apple II Bits – Ken Gagne’s blog about modern day use of an Apple II.
• A2Central.com – Latest news and feature articles for the Apple II Community
• A2Clones.com – (currently offline, link is from Archive.org) Compilation of photos and snippets of information about over 200 clones of the Apple II that appeared over the years.
• Call-A.P.P.L.E. – Home of Call-A.P.P.L.E. Magazine & A.P.P.L.E. Users Group
• KansasFest – News and information about the annual Apple II meeting in Kansas City
• Open Apple – Monthly podcast dedicated to the Apple II, hosted by Mike Maginnis and Quinn Dunki. You need to listen to this!
• Retrocomputing Roundtable – Monthly podcast about all things in retrocomputing. Great listen!
• Syndicomm Online Store – Great resource for Apple II hardware and software
• What Is The Apple IIGS? – Great site with lots of info about software and hardware for the Apple IIGS

Apple II Resources

• Welcome to the IIgs – The place to learn about programming on the Apple IIGS, by Dagon Brock. A collection of programming information dedicated to the most powerful Apple II, the IIGS.
• Apple2Online – “The Ultimate ][ Online Resource!”, operated by Dr. Kenneth Buchholz. It hosts a wide variety of software and references about the Apple II family of computers.
• Apple II Online Reference – Maintained by Tony Diaz, this is the most comprehensive and complete collection of reference information about the Apple II on the web.
• Apple II Scans – Mike Maginnis has taken time to scan many old Apple II (and III) manuals that are no longer available, and has them here to read. Also included here are scans of Computist magazine.
• A2-Web! – (currently offline, link is from Archive.org) “The Mother of All Apple II Websites!” Many resources to help new and old Apple II users, including a classified ad section for buying and selling of Apple II related software and hardware.
• Apple Assembly Lines Archive – Bob Sander-Cederlof’s own site, hosting the full contents of the run of the Apple Assembly Lines newsletter from 1980-1988.
• The Apple II Information Resource – Maintained by Tony Diaz, this site (also mentioned above) includes photos, as well as the entire story of the Apple II Ethernet card that Apple cancelled.
• Apple II FAQ – A compilation of USENET FAQ’s about the Apple II. (Enter “Apple II” into the search window).
• Applefritter – Apple Computers, Prototypes, Clones, and Hacks. The Obscure, Unusual, and Exceptional.
• Nibble Magazine – Mike Harvey, publisher of Nibble magazine, has made available then entire run of Nibble and Nibble Mac as scanned magazines on CD-ROM. Check it out!

Apple II Products (current support)

• ReactiveMicro.com – Great hardware site, with products like the MicroDrive IDE Controller, a compact flash-based “hard drive” for your Apple II.
• The Marinetti Open Source Project – An open source version of this TCP/IP stack for the Apple IIGS, in 65816 assembly language.
• Nibble Magazine & Books – Mike Harvey, former publisher of the Apple II magazine Nibble has all of the old magazine available again in PDF format, as well as the other books and products sold by Microsparc. Check it out!
• RetroFloppy – A definite need for us old-timers who used computers “back in the day”, but don’t have working equipment today. This service will take your old media (5 1/2 inch and 3 1/4 inch disks, SCSI drives or Zip cartridges) and translate it either into a 2MG or DSK image to use with an emulator, or he can even translate it to a modern format that works on your new computer. Also does translations of old Macintosh floppy disks and Commodore floppy disks.
• Syndicomm Online Store – Large repository for old and new Apple II products, books, and publications.
• ///SHH Systeme – Products include the Turbo IDE card (running IDE drives on an Apple II), the BlueDisk Card (allows connecting and running standard MS-DOS PC 5.25 or 3.5 floppy drives on an Apple II), LANceGS ethernet card for the IIGS, upgrades for Transwarp GS, and more.

Apple History Links

• apple-history.com – A comprehensive listing of almost every model of computer (and iPod) that Apple has built and sold since the company started.
• Apple Computer Reading List – Andrew Molloy’s comprehensive list of books, current and yet-to-be-published, that deal with Apple Computer, Inc. While these do not deal exclusively with the Apple II, they do give background of this company from multiple points-of-view. Included with this list are sources for getting copies of the books (even those that are not currently available), and links to authors’ web pages (if available). Good links to to other Apple history pages!
• Apple Computer The Early Days A Personal Perspective – Paul Laughton was one of the programmers who developed parts of Apple DOS 3.0 for Apple Computer. He relates some of that story here, along with pictures of part of the drawings for the original Apple II Disk Controller created by Steve Wozniak, and the early meetings with Apple to contract out this part of the Apple Disk II project.
• The Beagle Bros Online Museum – Steven Frank’s “tribute to the coolest software company of the 80’s”, with authorized reproductions of the best of Beagle humor. A must see!
• Early Copy Protection – Very technical description by Andy McFadden, discussing and illustrating how copy protection was done on software cassettes on the Apple II in the days before the famous Disk II drive was available. Prior to reading this, I had no idea that it was possible to do copy protection on a program cassette!
• Folklore – A blog written by people who worked at Apple during the years that the Apple II and Macintosh were being created. A great resource, as it contains stories directly from the players who were involved, and it not limited (as is much of the Apple II History site) to previously published information.
• Great Microprocessors of the Past and Present – Historical overview of microprocessors, with a bias towards Unix and RISC processors. Shows where the 6502 and 65816 family fit into the overall development of processors in the past 30 years.
• Timeline and Infographic of every Apple product from 1976 onward – a pictorial and list of all of Apple’s products, from the Apple-1 onward to the present. (Thanks to Lily Casal for the link)

Retrocomputing Links

• 6502 Enthusiast’s Pages – A listing of web sites that deal with historical aspects of the 6502 processor. Part of www.6502.org, the 6502 microprocessor resource web site.
• 8-Bit Nirvana – A comprehensive collection of pictures of 8-bit personal computers (German language).
• 8-Bit Museum – History and pictures of 8-bit personal computers (also German language).
• Apple-1 Registry – Maintained by Mike Willegal, this page documents all known existing Apple-1 computers that current exist, including which of several varieties they are. Very detailed and useful.
• Atari Archives – A site dealing primarily with the Atari family of computer, but also hosting sections that are of interest to users of other 6502 computers (see also the Digital Deli entry below).
• Classic Computing Archive – A fantastic site with the full text of Antic and STart magazines (Atari publications) and (of interest to computer and Apple history buffs) a start on the full text of Creative Computing magazine.
• Classic Computing Page – A delightful collection of esoteric computers and computing peripherals from the 1970’s. Don’t miss the the “Floppy ROM“, software on a 33 1/3 RPM record!
• DigiBarn Computer Museum – A real museum located in northern California, with a web site displaying much of their collection.
• Digital Archive of Vintage Technology Through the Decades – A fascinating collection of images and information about technology from 1900 to the present. Items are displayed in a virtual living room, and clicking on an item in the living room allows you to view images for that type of technology, be it audio, recorded material, computing machines, or books & magazines.
• Digital Deli – The full text of Steve Ditlea’s book, Digital Deli, published in 1984. It is a wonderful collection of essays about many aspects of computer, as seen through the eyes of those using them back in the early 1980’s.
• Ira Goldklang’s TRS-80 Revived Site – Nicely detailed site dealing with all models of Radio Shack’s famous computer.
• Mark-8 Mini Computer – Historical information on this pre-Altair computer kit.
• Memoir of a Homebrew Computer Club Member – A retrospective of the famous Homebrew Computer Club by one of its members, Bob Lash. It provides fascinating information about the club, and a little information about where some of the original members are today.
• Mike Willegal’s Hobby Page – Mike Willegal has a great concise set of pages dealing with his hardware projects, such as the Brain Board (an Apple-1 on a card for the Apple II, II Plus, or IIe), his rebuilt Rev. 0 Apple II, and even delving into the Scelbi 8-H.
• Mind Machine Museum – A virtual museum and gallery of vintage computers, from the 1955 GENIAC kit, to the Altair and IMSAI, and on through the 1990 NeXTStation computer. A fascinating trip through time and space.
• Old-Computers.com – The Museum – A large collection of various computers from the 1970’s-1990’s.
• Simple Microcomputers and Trainers – Information about the KIM-1 and SYM-1 6502 computer trainer boards.
• Timeline of Microcomputers – A comprehensive timeline dealing with computer history year by year, starting in 1949.
• Vintage Computer Collection – Erik Klein’s collection, with many platforms represented, as well as the Vintage Computing Forum.
• Zork History – Gamasutra’s detailed history of the famous computer game “Zork”.

Apple II Emulation

• Apple II, ///, IIGS Emulators – (currently offline, link is from Archive.org) Concise guide to currently available emulators for these computers.
• AppleIIGo – A fully functional Apple II emulator for your MIDP 2.0 compatible mobile phone, as well as a Mac OS X widget and a web page java applet.
• casaGS – (currently offline, link is from Archive.org) Host page for XGS-DOS and KEGS-OSX, Apple IIGS emulators for MS-DOS and Mac OS X.
• Deja IIx – Mark Munz is working on an update for Deja ][, the AppleWorks-specific emulator that ran under Mac OS 9. Deja IIx will be fixed so it runs properly under Mac OS X. Follow his progress at this web site.
• KEGS – Kent’s Emulated GS, an Apple IIGS emulator for Mac OS X, Win32, Linux, and Unix/X11.
• microM8 – From Paleotronic, a fascinating Apple II emulator that allows manipulation of the screen in a way no other emulator has previously offered. The user can tilt and rotate the screen, and (for example) play the original Brick Out by Woz to run vertically instead of the classic horizontal, and tilt to give it a 3D look. Based on the OpenGL system for graphics, it also includes enhanced interpreters for Applesoft, Integer BASIC, Monitor/Assembler, and Logo. Via Internet connection, can access many files on the MicroM8 server remotely.
• Sweet16 – Excellent Apple IIGS emulator for Intel-based Macs running Mac OS X.
• Virtual ][ – One of the best Apple II emulators available for Mac OS X, bar none! Includes emulation of the Apple ][, ][+, and //e, including sounds of the computer and virtual disk drives in action, and can read and write cassette images.

Apple-1 Links

• Apple I Owner’s Club – The online presence of the original and only Apple-1 user group, with many pictures, copies of letters, and more. The definitive historical archive of the Apple-1.
• The Apple 1 Computer – Joe Torzewski’s site documenting his Apple-1 computer in pictures and text.
• The Apple 1 Project – The home site for Pom1, an Apple-1 emulator written in Java. I can’t get it to work yet, either on my Mac or Windows PC, but I am hopeful that he will make it yet functional. Also at this site are three other items that I cannot locate elsewhere. On his Documentation page he has downloadable files for a commented listing of the 256 byte Apple-1 ROM, and PDF files of the Apple-1 Manual and Apple-1 BASIC Manual, both about 1.5 megs in size.
• Mike Willegal’s Brain Board – A build-it-yourself project for a card to put in an Apple II and allow hardware emulation of an Apple-1, complete with integrated Apple Cassette Interface and Apple BASIC. Can load and run programs for the Apple-1 using the cassette interface of the Apple II.

Apple Photo Collections

• The Apple II Information Resource – Maintained by Tony Diaz, this site includes pictures of lots of different Apple II hardware over the years, including some items that were never released.
• Apple II World – A Japanese web site containing a large collection of images of Apple II related hardwre, software, and other items.
• François Michaud’s Collection – François Michaud has a web site with a vast collection of photos of Apple II and Macintosh computers, as well as other hardware, software and other collectables. Give it a look!
• The Mothership! – Apple Lisa and early Macintosh Archive. It also has some good advertisements and brochures for the Apple-1 and Apple II series (see under “Apple Advertising and Brochure Gallery”).
• Yuji Takahashi’s Apple-II Tree – A fascinating collection of photos from this prolific collector of Apple II equipment, books, and other related items.
• Huge Pixels – Lucia Grossberger Morales co-authored “The Designer’s Toolkit” for Special Delivery Software in 1982. It was a software program to help with creation of graphics on the Apple II. Her web site offers pictures of artwork created by this program. You can see her current work at moving-paintings.com, and also find more info at her personal site, luciagrossbergermorales.com.

Miscellaneous Links

• Implementing VisiCalc – Bob Frankston, co-author of VisiCalc, has put up a page that deals with the origins of this foundation product for the Apple II, as well as some of the programming and design decisions that were made in creation of it.
• Radio Shack Catalogs – An amazing web site with full catalogs published by Radio Shack over the years, since it started in 1939. An excellent way to see electronics sales over the years. Includes the computer catalogs for the Radio Shack computers sold, starting with the introduction of the TRS-80.
• VisiCalc – VisiCalc page with history of the product from Dan Bricklin’s point of view.
• Don Worth’s Home Page – Home page for one of the authors of the classic Beneath Apple DOS and Beneath Apple ProDOS.
• The Evolution of Computers and Software – A brief overview of computers, from the differential engine to the iPad.
• Sodacrowns.com – Sorry, nothing about this has to do with retrocomputing or the Apple II. But, if you are in the market for some amazing soda or beer bottle caps, this is the site for you!
• Timeline of Storage and Memory – A generalized history of media and memory.
• Cloud Computing Software and Data Storage History – Another review, focused on storage formats and various types of storage media. (Thanks to Charlene Stagle and Megan of the Hampton Public Library in Hampton, Virginia, for this link.)
• All About the Father of the Computer: Charles Babbage – A brief overview of the story of Charles Babbage. (Thanks to Elliot Bass for this link!)