Re: About Mark Twain (was Re: August 1988 Issue of inCider magazine....)

[Donald Lee <leed@sfsu.edu>]

Hi,

	A couple of things regarding the MT:

1.  Just because the covers of Incider did not indicate there was anything
about the MT, there COULD'VE been information.  I won't say there was or
there wasn't.....if you have the magzines go read them and find out for
yourself.  

2.  Since apparently you did read the SSII issue in the MT, maybe you
should.  The article talked about how Incider was going to do a feature
story on the MT, bt couldn't because they were told the project had been
cancelled.

3.  IS there a point to this??  You can believe what you want to and Joe
and everyone else can believe what they want to as well.   I don't know
who's right or wrong here.  At this point does it really matter who's
right or wrong??  Until we get someone who actually worked on the MT
project, we probably will never know.

-Don
  


|~\ _  _  _ | _|  |  _  _              leed@sfsu.edu           
|_/(_)| |(_||(_|  |_(/_(/_     http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~leed
Apple II user since 1983     In Memory of Brian Hung: 1977-1997
"However insufficient you may be, love is the precise complement to make
you whole"
                                      




On Sat, 17 May 1997 rubywand@swbell.net wrote:

> Mitchell Spector writes ...
> 
> >>rubywand@swbell.net wrote:
> 
> >     Maybe. "Mark Twain" was, after all, a turkey at the time of its
> >construction. It is difficult to believe that the machine was a genuine
> >Apple effort.
> >
> >     Some day, the company may officially admit that MT was a serious Apple,
> >Inc. GS development attempt. For now, we have plenty of interesting rumors,
> >all sorts of claims, and a computer which looks more like a club project
> >which turned into a hoax.
> 
>     A hoax, right. Joe Kohn and Tony Diaz made the whole thing up,
> building a complex motherboard revision of the Apple IIgs in their
> spare time, just to stir things up in the Apple II world. In fact,
> they must have also come up with a time-travel device too, since
> _someone_ must have been planting prototypes of the Mark Twain to
> various developers in the year 1990 (that explains how I knew about
> most of the feature of the Mark Twain years before I even knew who
> Joe or Tony were).
> 
> [sarcasm mode off]
> <<
> 
>      Really, sarcasm or not, the above is a bit of a distortion. When did 
> anyone even remotely suggest that Joe or Tony had anything to do with 
> building the so-called "Mark Twain prototypes"? When did anyone suggest that 
> Joe or Tony or Dr. Tom or anyone else was being dishonest in their claims of 
> belief that the MT was a genuine Apple Computer attempt at a GS upgrade?
> 
> 
> >>    I don't understand you, you honestly believe the Mark Twain
> is some fabricated myth that is completely implausiable,
> <<
> 
>      Essentially, the original post reviewing the "Mark Twain" issue looks at 
> the machines known to exist and concludes that they-- i.e. the "Mark Twain 
> prototypes"-- can not, reasonably, be taken as products coming from any 
> serious project by Apple Computer to upgrade the GS.
> 
>      The analysis goes on to suggest that those who originated the "Mark 
> Twain Project" story may well have intended a hoax. Clearly, no hoax 'worth 
> its salt' is "completely implausiable".
> 
> 
> >> yet at
> the same time, seem to believe Apple is secretly building a new
> line of Apple II computers (to replace the Macintosh) to make
> the company profitable again. No offense, but you seem to be
> mixing up fantasy and reality here.
> <<
> 
>      As for Apple working on some machine they will introduce as "The New 
> Apple ][" (e.g. the "Apple ][ Millenium"), you have a point. It is a useful 
> illustration of how what one wishes to believe impacts what one believes.
> 
>      Did Apple Computer launch a serious GS upgrade project some time after 
> release of the ROM-03? What ][ user would not wish to believe they did? 
> Indeed, such an expression of interest in the ][ series would significantly 
> bolster an expectation that a 1997 New ][ is in the works.
> 
> 
> >>      Seriously, the Mark Twain is real. The case may just be an
> original Apple IIgs case that Apple engineerings hacked a few
> cut-out openings into it, but the internal parts that make up the
> computer were the beginnings of a new IIgs _Apple Computer_ was
> planning to finish and release. It does not take a expert to
> see the motherboard was not some homebrewed project someone in
> their basement hacked together!
> <<
> 
>      At Computist, Chuck Haight came up with a few interesting prototypes for 
> ][ upgrades. The boards were professionally masked and produced by one of 
> many small companies specializing in circuit board production. The cost of a 
> series of small add-on boards, board sections, and larger boards is well 
> within the capacity of a club.
> 
>      Could the modified machines have been produced at Apple? Certainly. 
> Apple has many project groups. It is entirely possible that, among whatever 
> remained of the Apple ][ groups, one group undertook to do some modifications 
> in the hope of coming up with something they could sell to Apple's 
> leadership.
> 
>      It is possible that, during GS ROM-03 prototyping, any number of 
> experimental circuit boards were run off at Apple. This is a very common 
> practice and, usually, a machine development team will end up with several 
> odd circuit boards stacked in some cabinet. Instead of just dumping the 
> boards, a project team member could have given them to a local club.
> 
>      My point is that there are any number of plausible scenarios leading to 
> the appearance of a few "Mark Twain" machines which have nothing to do with 
> any interest by Apple Computer in a post-ROM-03 GS upgrade.
> 
>      Finally, as you may recall, one Mark Twain owner, Joe Kohn, has recently 
> sought to support the notion that Mark Twain was an official Apple Computer 
> project to upgrade the GS. He mentions an account of a 1991 users' group 
> convention in an issue of his magazine. He says that, at this convention, 
> Apple officially announced the Mark Twain project.
> 
>      You may wish to reflect upon the meaning of the above. Remember, in 1991 
> (1992, ...) the Apple ][ world was starving for the least shred of positive 
> news regarding the ][ series.
> 
>      Now, check back through your issues of inCider/A+ for, say, the period 
> January, 1991- June, 1992. You will find cover spashes for "Home Finance", 
> CD-ROM, "Kid Pix", "Sim Ant", CAD, at least four for HyperCard developments, 
> "Logo Express", "Used Apples at Bargain Prices", ... . But, you will find not 
> _one_ mention, on any of the covers, of the "Mark Twain Project"; not a 
> single mention of Apple's new GS???
> 
> ( ... Are we, like, getting through? Is Earth's signal reaching the Winged 
> Warrior's Moon Fortress? ...)
> 
> 
>      Look, if you, Joe, Dr. Tom, and whoever are just bound and determined to 
> believe a screwed-up mess like "Mark Twain" came from a serious Apple 
> Computer Company GS upgrade project, then clap your hands, hop around, and 
> chant "I believe in Mark Twain". Maybe it will help; and, after all, none of 
> the evidence presented, however overwhelming, absolutely proves anything.
> 
> 
> Rubywand
> 
>