Apple II History
The story of "the MOST personal computer"!
Episode 4 – Color, Sound, and Eight Slots
What if a personal computer could do more than just display text? This week, Apple II Time Slice explores how Steve Wozniak answered that question with the Apple II. His checklist included startup code and BASIC in ROM, an expanded motherboard, improved video display, sound, graphics, and greater expansion capabilities. The result helped redefine what a personal computer could be and set a new standard for early personal computing.
For further reading, to here and here.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:57 — 4.6MB)
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Episode 3 – The Apple-1 Does It All
Early microcomputers (the Altair and its competitors) had some significant limitations, as was discussed last time on Apple II Time Slice. This week, I will describe how Wozniak’s Apple-1 addressed those problems, and made his computer more accessible to customers who did not want to assemble it themselves. It addressed the shortcomings of the Altair 8800, and was the foundation for Apple’s later big hit product, the Apple II.
Further reading: The Apple-1
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:56 — 4.6MB)
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Episode 2 – Five Early Micro Facts
Last time on Apple II Time Slice I talked about the origin of the Apple Computer Company on April 1, 1976. This time, the discussion is about what the earliest home computers were like, in the year before the Apple-1 was created.
For further reading, check out Pre-Apple History.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:02 — 5.0MB)
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Episode 1 – It started with a circuit board
On April 1, 1976, the Apple Computer Company was formed by three men – engineer Steve Wozniak, visionary Steve Jobs, and business advisor Ron Wayne. On this first episode of Apple II Time Slice, I will review the story of Apple’s beginning and the role of each of the founders.
For further reading, check out Pre-Apple History and Apple-1.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:21 — 5.3MB)
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A Podcast is Born
It was first serialized in GEnieLamp A2 in 1992.
It appeared in user group newsletters in the next few years.
It became a web site in 1995.
It was released as a print book in 2012.
And now, in byte-sized pieces, the Apple II History is a podcast! Listen every 1-2 weeks for a new five-minute review of an aspect of the Apple II and its impact on the world personal computers. The first actual episode is planned for April 1st, the date of the 50th anniversary of the Apple Computer Company. Check back then, and get your podcast catcher tuned into this channel!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:10 — 1.1MB)
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Links page update
I have not looked at the Links page here for some time, and sadly some of them were far from fresh. I have inserted links from the Wayback Machine when possible, and if not possible, have removed them. Everything there should at least now be working!
More Graham Offerings
Gary Graham continues to create his modern recreations of classical Apple II items. This time, he has a number of disk sleeves from various Apple II software companies from the early days, as well as a poster created in honor of APDAlog. You can access these from the Files section of the web site, or from the two links below.
If you like items like these, drop him an email at khaibitgfx@gmail.com!
Poster in honor of APDAlog, the magazine of the Apple Programmers and Developers Association. Created by Gary Graham, khaibitgfx@gmail.com.
Gary Graham, under the Sphere Studios and khaibitgfx names, here offers reproductions of floppy disk sleeves, featuring A.P.P.L.E., Datasoft, Electronics Boutique, Origin Systems, Roger Wagner Publishing, Softdisk, and Videx. Also included are disk labels for Ultima IV and Zaxxon. Like his work on the Apple II Red Book, these are not scans, but are reproductions made to look as closely as possible to the originals. If you enjoy these, please drop him a message at khaibitgfx@gmail.com and thank him for his work.
Red Book Revisited
Years ago I was sent a PDF of the original Apple II Reference Manual, known as the Red Book. Back in 2008, Gerry Doire had not only provided for me a scanned version of the manual, but he cleaned it up so it was more readable and useful as a reference.
I recently received a message from Gary Graham, who has taken Doire’s original files and updated them to fix some typographical errors. He also fixed the font sizes, and did other work on it. He asked that I replace the old version with this better version.
It is still a work in progress (still says it is the 35th anniversary edition), but he has more work he plans to do with it, and will keep me up to date with the better edition when it is available.
Here is the link:
(By the way, in making this available to download, I discovered that my Files (Download) page had somehow lost all of its entries. I will fix that, but I wanted to get this out for people to see.)
Beige is beige, right?
Long ago I included a quote from Jerry Manock about what color was used on the Apple II series. Clearly, the correct answer is “Pantone 453” like he said, right?
Well, perhaps it’s not that simple. Ben Zotto did some deeper research, and posted this fascinating article on the history of that classic color. Read it here:
https://bzotto.medium.com/what-color-was-apple-beige-acd14bca0c1a
Minecraft Apple IIe, Part ][
Well, hundreds of readers have asked me, nay, begged me for this, so I decided to go along with their request. If you have Minecraft (Java edition, or “real” Minecraft as us old-timers call it) and know how to use MCEdit to cut and paste things into world files, here is your opportunity to get your own copy of the Apple IIe (and ImageWriter printer and modem and disk drive, etc., etc.). Just click on the link on my download page, and it can all be yours!