Re: Things to do with an extra 65C816 CPU

["Paul Grammens" <grammens@svn.net>]

Henry Broekhuyse <broekh@unixg.ubc.ca> wrote
>
> Keep in mind that the novelty of entering even a few bytes (let alone
> programming) with one of these front panels wears off very quickly. Even
> entering a program to do "simple" arithmetic (even adding two 8-bit binary
> numbers) can get tedious when done via a front panel, and the result
(other
> than the blinking lights) is less than impressive unless the user can
think
> well in binary.
>

That reminded me of this amazing bit of historical info from:

APPLE II HISTORY   Volume I

Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1991, Zonker Software


Csa2 FAQs-on-Ground resource file: R016V1HIST.DOC


     "Although the Apple I 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 Apple I."

We users of modern computers are wimps compared with Woz!
Any Apple II fan who hasn't read this document should take a look. I found
it a facinating read, and it includes a lot of technical info on the
hardware/software as it evolved.
-Paul