Re: Most overhyped Apple II product???

[spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article Donald Lee <leed@sfsu.edu> writes...

>       Anyway, I thought of something to ask the members of CSA2 that I
>thought might be interesting and fun.  Over the lifetime of the Apple II
>computer, at various points, there were always announcements of "Product
>ABC" and "Product XYZ" will soon be released and change your life or
>something like that.  But one of two things would happen: They would never
>get released or they would get released and flop big time.
>
>       So, my question to the members of CSA2 is: Which Apple II products
>did you feel were way overhyped, but never got released or maybe did get
>released, but completely underwhelmed the A2 community and quickly
>disappeared?  If you really, really feel like explaining why you feel the
>way you do, go right ahead.  :)

    One that strongly comes to mind is Cirtech's Duet card. This prototype
board would have plugged into an Apple IIgs and transformed it (and its
peripherals) into a Macintosh based system. This would have been along the
same lines as the PC-Transporter, but instead of turning your system in an
IBM XT, it would turn it into a Macintosh SE. The co-processor board was
cancelled in the end, because Cirtech claimed the IIGS market had become
too small for it to be profitable. Of course other reasons were probably
the Macintosh Classic and LC, which would have been less expensive to buy
and wouldn't have had the limitations of this card (resolution for one).

    The next product I would put on the list is RezTek's TurboRez card,
also for the Apple IIgs. This project had been floating around as far
back as 1989, only to be finally cancelled (for good) back in 1995.
Had it been released, it would have given the GS increased color and
resolution, as well as animation capabilities much like those of the
SuperNintendo or high-end Pentium PC's. Bill St.Piere cancelled it
at the last minute because he felt the market would have been too
split due to the "other" video enhancement card coming out at the time.

>       For me, I actually do remember the Swyftcard a little bit and I
>think that flopped.  I was too young at the time, but the Super Sprite
>card seemed to be hyped a lot, but it never seemed to get off the ground
>either for some reason.

    I think the Second Sight is much like the Super Sprite, in the
sense of being an overhyped product that eventually flopped. It
suffered (and still is suffering) a complete lack of software, and
has a double negative in that the card's design is absolutely horrid
and flawed.

    The sad part is the Second Sight is the main reason the TurboRez
was cancelled. The TurboRez was an excellent piece of engineering
and creative thinking, as well as a powerful product (had it been
released). The Second Sight, in comparison, was just a pile of
recycled PC compontents tossed onto an Apple II PCB in a great
rush. There was very little care put into the thinking of that
product and now the company won't even support it. I very much
doubt things will change, so I would stick it in the list of
products that have come and gone, much like the Super Sprite.

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca