Re: Apple IIx

["Roger Johnstone" <rpj@thinkapple.com>]

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In article <qPbd3.2613$c5.669716@news1.usit.net>, hgrabows@vt.edu (Hank)
wrote:


>Hey all,
>
>As a previous/current Apple //c user, I had my
>appetite whetted by the seeing of some cancelled
>follow on project called the Apple IIx.  This was
>supposed to be the sucessor to the Apple IIgs.
>
>Unfortunately the one link I've been able to find
>went to a web page that used to contain a FAQ.  
>That web page has since been replaced with a 
>rather scathing review of the Apple II community.
>
>Is there any information out there about this
>product.  I know there are a couple of books on
>Apple that talk about projects which never 
>went into production, but I'm looking for something
>on the web about it.
>
>Any other FAQ or web page that could give me
>some more info about it?
>
>Thanks,
>Hank
>

I have a copy of the British magazine Apple User, from February 1985. In it
is an article called "Monster memory capacity on [the] way for Apple II". It
has news of a new product announcement from Steve Wozniak, made during his
visit to the Wellington Apple Users Club in New Zealand.

Article: Apple is developing a plug-in card based on a new 16 bit processor
which would allow existing Apple II micros to compete head-on with the IBM
PC in the higher-end personal computer market...Wozniak said the card would
contain the new 65816 microprocessor which with its 24 bit address space can
address up to 16mbytes of RAM...Wozniak said the 65816 card would act as a
co-processor within an Apple II...and if a final decision is made to proceed
the product should be available in less than a year

[obviously the decision was no, although at least a couple of other
companies made upgrade cards for the Apple II which added a 65816 processor,
but there was very little software which ever took advantage of them]

Wozniak scotched rumours that Apple was developing an all-new computer based
on the 65816 chip and containg expansion slots, code-named the "IIx". "That
project is dead", he said.

[then revived again when the card was scrapped!]

But he did confirm that the 65816 update would not be available for the
Apple IIc which is not further expandable.

[again, someone else did produce a 65816 for the IIc, as an optional socket
on a memory card if I remember correctly]

He hinted that the IIc will probably switch to the 3.5in Sony disc drives
similar to the Macintosh drives.

[yes it did, when the IIc+ came out, in 1988]

He also predicted that the Macintosh would continue for at least 10 years
and would become a 4mbyte machine...Macintosh would take over as Apple's
high end machine as soon as its memory and software systems were
sufficiently developed.

[does this mean that Apple were still thinking along the same lines: this
machine will be around a few years then we will have to replace it with
something else? At least they were thinking 10 years. With the Apple II they
were looking for a replacement after just 2 years!]

Roger.