Re: WarGames for Apple II?

[Sean Fahey <a2fan@hotmail.com>]

On Tuesday, February 14, 2012 1:46:32 AM UTC-6, Michael J. Mahon wrote:
> BLuRry 
>  wrote:
> > He probably had to mash in the chips between film shoots to keep it
> > running though.  :-D  I digress, without the /// there would be no //e.
> 
> Really?
> 
> I'm curious about that conclusion. 
> 
> It seems to me that the Apple ][+ had such legs that any business would
> have invested in a successor.  Without the /// they would have invested
> sooner. 

I think its a valid conclusion. In hindsight the Apple II had legs, but *back then* several sources cite Apple's fears (Woz is on record) that the Apple II line was aging and would have to be replaced with *something* very soon, hence the rush to get the /// out the door. I think Apple thought at the time, Sara and the II+ would give them just enough time to deliver Lisa (and eventually Macintosh).

When the /// tanked, Apple *had* to re-design the II not only to address the failure of the ///, but also to level-up with features their competition was making standard on their offerings. The other driver was to lower the chip count to make manufacturing cheaper and easier plus improve reliability. Warranty repairs on ][ and ][+ boards was expensive and Apple Service was heading toward swap and drop repair model with the dealer channel.

So, yeah - I could see the /// being the reason we got the //e - or at least for influencing the //e's features and specifications that made it the King of the 8 bit Apples.