Preserving Apple (was Re: Preserve the Apple II in Rhapsody)

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Bernard Tan writes ...

> 
> With Apple having now announced its plans for the Rhapsody OS, with its
> Blue box which will emulate the Mac OS, I wonder whether the Apple II
> community  would support the idea of petitioning Apple to include an
> emulation of the Apple II as an integral part of Rhapsody?  This could be
> another "coloured" box within Rhapsody.  (Perhaps a Green box, though Yellow
> would really be more appropriate as the colour of the Apple II.)
> 
> It would be for the Apple II community to debate which version of the Apple
> should be preserved in this emulation, though I think the 128K platinium
> Apple - the last //e - is most appropriate.  Of course, GS enthusiasts would
> argue otherwise.

     It is considerate to inquire; however, most Apple II users probably do not 
much care which Apple II is preserved in Rhapsody. This would, chiefly, seem to 
be a concern for someone who plans to use a machine which employs Rhapsody. On 
the other hand, the coloring of the A2 'box' is, clearly, critical.  


> 
> Apart from such an emulation which is completely executed in software
> within the Rhapsody OS, the Apple II could also be preserved as firmware
> wihin the ROM Bios, or even as hardware, perhaps as a single-chip //e on
> the Mac motherboard.
>

     Alas, being "preserved" on a Mac motherboard may fall short of offering 
optimal security. Still, with luck, the Mac motherboard may be preserved as a 
PC Multi-media Card plug-in option. 

 
> Whatever the manner of emulation, the official preservation of the Apple II
> within all future Mac operating systems or ROMs would be a fitting tribute
> to the machine without which Apple would not exist as a corporation today.

     Apple, Inc.'s current corporate status, such as it is, cannot properly be 
blamed on the II series. As for a tribute, just make sure to get the box color 
right.


> It would also be an appropriate penance for Apple's shoddy treatment of
> the Apple II and for not giving it the attention it deserved and which
> might have kept it still alive today.

     Probably, II users do tend to over-dramatize. It comes from having such a 
long history. When you've been 'at the top', anything else looks kind of 
"dead". Yet, we continue to enhance and enjoy our Apple II's in 1997; and, 
nothing in computing is more certain than Change. Meanwhile, a major concern 
remains having a replacement for the GS clock IC ready by the mid-2000's.

     Regarding Apple penance, it would serve no useful purpose. Perhaps _we_ 
should be doing penance for not seizing the company years ago and forcing it 
onto a sounder, more prosperous course. In our defense, it did not seem 
possible that Apple, Inc. would persist in choosing no-vision, 
market-illiterate leaders.

     As things stand, Apple's great concern must be to make computers people 
will actually buy. Assuming a total collapse is avoided, once the company 
figures out which computer to develop and market, there will be ample time and 
resources for emmulating whichever Mac Apple decides to preserve.    


Rubywand