Re: WANTED: Apple III info

[grq@icf.hrb.com (Gregory R. Quinn)]

In article <ciwane-0402951447250001@s157.union_roberts.haverford.edu>, ciwane@haverford.edu (Christopher Iwane) writes:
> I got my first computer, an Apple IIGS, in fifth grade (1985?).  It was
> way neat-o.  Had one of them 3.5" drives, 256Kb, and a Woz signature on
> the front.  For years and years I used that computer and waited for Apple
> to release the Apple III.
> 
> Anyway, Apple opted to go for the Mac and the wonderful Apple III never
> was released...or so I thought.  A few months back, while rooting through
> some boxes in the computer room of my elementary school I found brittle,
> yellowed, slightly shredded poster with some computer I had never seen
> before.  It looked as if it was a one-piece affair with built in
> floppies.  I looked closely at it and it said "Apple III."
> 
> I've been trying to find out whatever I can about this machine.  The only
> think I know is that the thing obviously was dead on arrival as it's no
> longer around.  
> 
> What are the specs on the Apple III?  Was it a minor mistake or a huge
> debacle?  Any books, or articles on the Apple III or on Apple Computer
> which discuss the Apple III?  Anyone have any old promotional material?
> 
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Chris Iwane
> 
> -- 
> ciwane@haverford.edu
> "Fly Jefferson Airplane."

The Apple III was a beast of a machine that was released approx. the time IBM
was releasing their 128K machine. The neat thing about the III was that it was
a Pascal based computer with a forerunner of ProDOS. The dual processors gave
it some nice performance. The cost was a bit high and deep down I am not sure
that Apple was committed behind the machine vs. the IIe. The basic concept of
the III had longevity built into it but the was not support in depth. I recall
that the problems were hardware; its II compatibility was okay but you had to
go into a II emulation mode so operating II software was not transparent.

Man, do I feel old.