Re: About Mark Twain (was Re: August 1988 Issue of inCider m

[rubywand@swbell.net]

Henrik 'Ratte' Gudat wrote:
> 
> ....
> Just because there was no Mark Twain coverage in II Dead doesn't proove it's a
> hoax. It's vice versa.
>

     Aside from the fact that we did cover MT (Summer, 1996) and left its 
hoax/no-hoax status for readers to decide, the above is accurate.

 
> I'm not sure if you're interested in facts, but MT was a real project at Apple
> that was supposed to provide us with the long awaited next generation Apple II.

     You have all the evidence anyone needs. The "Mark Twain" machines appear to 
employ circuit boards run off for the ROM-03 development cycle.

     A new, 1990's post-ROM-03 GS would have had to offer improved graphics, 
significantly more base RAM capacity, and improved base speed to have the 
slighest chance of success. The "Mark Twain" machines do not offer these 
features.


> Due to timing contraints, they have cut down the number of features. Soon after
> that the Apple II was completely cancelled. ....
>

     The concept "timing constraints" makes no sense after 1989. The ][ series 
and ][ user base took a very serious hit in the summer of 1985. Failure to 
deliver a significant GS upgrade in 1989 was the final blow.

     In 1989, the last significant PC deficit, lack of low-cost, quality sound, 
was addressed via AdLib and new PC entertainment wares were hitting the market. 
To prevent a collapse of its ][ user presence in the home market, Apple had to 
announce a much improved GS by the summer of 1989 and deliver it by the 1989 
Christmas season.

     The ROM-03 seems clearly to be the project which was "curtailed" due to 
"timing constraints".  When Apple realized they could not complete work on the 
features found on several "MT"/ROM-03 prototypes or, perhaps, that the features 
would not be enough, the company 'cut its losses'. Apple delivered ROM-03, a GS 
upgrade with even fewer significant improvements than the IIe offered vs. the 
][+.

     So long as Apple continued to deliver decent ][ upgrades, it could hold its 
][ user base even against rather impressive PC competition. ][ users did not want 
to buy PC's. ROM-03 was a crystal clear signal that the company planned no 
further ][ series upgrades. Once the ][ user base collapsed, so did Apple's 
guarantee of a relatively easy-to-maintain presence in the home market.

     After 1989, it is difficult to identify any critical time factor which would 
either discourage or encourage production of a new ][. It was too late to prevent 
massive ][ user defections, too late to stave off recognition of PC as the one 
standard platform, and too late to retain support of major software developers. 

     Was there a GS upgrade project in the early 90's? If there was such an 
effort, you can be sure it began with a comprehensive analysis of just what kind 
of machine a 90's GS would have to be. 

     What Apple would have discovered is that even a rather nice GS upgrade-- 
e.g. 10MHz base system speed, built-in 80MB SCSI hard disk, RAM expandable to 
12MB, 320 x 200 x 256 color and 640 x 400 x 16 color display, expanded Sound RAM, 
...-- was no longer sufficient because there were not enough ][ users left to 
support the new machine. A new GS would have had to battle PC feature for feature 
at PC clone prices in a market flooded with PC software.

     Again, the machines called "Mark Twain" are not even 'in the ballpark'. To 
believe that they were products of a 90's GS upgrade is to believe a machine is 
developed by slicing-up cases, working out bugs in peripheral interfaces and 
software on the machine and, then, swapping in a totally redesigned motherboard 
at the last minute in order to obtain necessary graphics, speed, and memory 
improvements. Unfortunately, none of the "MT"'s in captivity appear to have made 
it to the new motherboard swap-in stage.

     Actually, it would be very nice to find a new, high-performance (fast uP, 
expanded graphics, 12MB RAM, etc.) motherboard from a 90's GS upgrade project. 
_That_ would be solid evidence that the project was for-real and actually 
produced something.

     As things stand, the evidence strongly suggests that the "MT"'s are 
prototype 'ROM-03' machines developed in the late 80's when Apple was working on 
an upgrade for the ROM-01 GS. Any 90's upgrade effort seems never to have reached 
beyond a preliminary feasibility analysis stage. By 1991 it finally dawned upon 
Apple that they had blown it Big Time. It was too late.


Rubywand