Re: New Apple II (was Apple's next move ...)

[Eric Dietrich <madscientist@treebranch.com >]

In article <4lhrui$5hu@newsbf02.news.aol.com> RUBYWAND, rubywand@aol.com
writes:
>>Who would spend $2500 for a machine whose only claim to fame is that it
can 
>>run old lo-res GS apps, when they can spend the same money and get 
>>a pretty hefty Mac or Pentium?
>>
>
>     First, $2500 is too high for good home market penetration. Figuring
>on a decent 200MHz MIPS, Alpha, etc. RISC system with 16MB RAM installed,
>3.5 diskette drive, x8 CD-ROM, and 2.1GB hard disk, the GS-X 'box' with
KB
>and mouse should come in at around $1500.
>
>     Run "old lo-res GS apps"? I like a lot of the old stuff (Bard's
Tale,
>Dungeon Master, Bounce-It, Santa Paravia, Enchanter, Eamon, ....).  It's
>one of the best reasons for having (and keeping) a IIgs.
>
>     GS-X may, via conversions or emulation, run old IIgs wares; but,
>that's it. Bank switching, weird memory & I/O re-mapping, shadowing, and
>speed switching are just the more obvious of many kludges which make
>direct IIgs compatibility impractical. Any such design would slash GS-X
>performance and mushroom costs.


Here's my question....

Is the GS-X going to be a new Apple ][ or a new platform altogether?  If
your looking
for a low cost high speed machine with a large hard disk and a cd-rom and
16 megs of 
RAM, then why the hell bother using ANYTHING that even slightly resembles
an Apple ][?
If you want a new internet surfing platform, the start from scratch.

If the thing is going to be something new with half-assed emulation for
the strangeness
inherent in the Apple II systems, then is it worth bothering?  If I
wanted a "sorta"
Apple ][ I would just run any one of the software emulators available.
(not to slam
the work of the authors of those programs).  

Personally, If I put my money behind or into ANY GS-X or ROM 4/5 or
whatever we are
calling it this week,  Its gonna be an Apple II.  Add features, emulate
the whole thing
in firmware (like the powermacs) but don't just whip up a ][-like
computer and toss in
a software shell that runs "some" programs.

Yes, I realise that it would probably make the machine cost too much.  An
completely new 
Apple ][ is, with all likelyhood, completely impractical.  So maybe its
time to be happy
with our ROM 03 ][gs.  

Perhaps there could be an upgrade that could be grafted on to your
existing motherboard.
A nice thin board that could be stuck to the roof of the ][gs case,
perhaps.  Something
that plugged in to strategic points on the motherboard, and upgraded or
circumvented 
whatever we want to upgrade.  Put a 14- or 20-mhz (whatever WDC has now)
65c816 on it, 
give it  a nice big cache.  DMA'd simm slots.  16-bit SCSI (or IDE).
Maybe a SWIM chip.
Or why not replace the whole top of the case?  This way, new ports could
be added.  Or 
why not just replace the case outright?  Swap your ][gs board into a new
case with the
daughterboard, space or your hard disk and a nice big juicy power supply?

The last thing the Apple ][ needs is an identity chrisis!