Apple II immortality? (was Re: Charles Turley - Please Read)

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

John Flanders <jef@pacificcoast.net> wrote:

> Apple can not die - it is an immortal product that has been discontinued,
> but will always be with us because of it's impact on the entire computer
> industry.
> 
> Because of it's simplicity, most electronic hackers will be able to 
> repair it even without schematics (which there are lots) with junk box
> parts for next to nothing.

Which Apple II are you talking about?  This is certainly possible with
the original Apple ][ or ][+, as the whole motherboard is made up of
individual LSTTL logic circuits (and others as appropriate).  I doubt
there are very many Apple II users still using the ][ or ][+ as their
primary machine - the vast majority will be using a IIe, IIc or IIgs.

In the IIe, Apple started using ASICs: the IOU and MMU chips together
contain most of the logic from the Apple II+ motherboard.  If you were
unable to get replacements for these chips, you would be hard pressed to
repair a faulty IIe.  Diagnosing hardware faults is also much harder,
since most of the internal logic is inaccessible.

The IIgs would be practically impossible to repair by hand: a four-layer
circuit board using surface mount chips for most parts, and the vast
majority of the components are custom chips made by Apple.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail Mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand