Re: Woz's comments on Apple's handling of the II line etc.

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

     Pretty interesting. All the talk about the Apple III is a bit weird.
Back in early 80's, Apple II users were only vaguely aware it existed. We
viewed it as Apple's somewhat inept stab at the business market. For sure, it
had zero appeal to home users.

     That the III was Apple's -Big Project- for 3-4 years is a real surprise.
How do you spend that much time and effort on a product and come up with such
a turkey?

     You'd figure they would have immediately contracted for a 16-bit 65xxx
uP and designed for stuff like good color graphics, sound, and hard disk. Of
course, then, they would have had the IIx. Bad news because a II couldn't be
a 'business machine'.

     Apple always messed up on Vision; the company didn't have one. Funny
that the committed Apple II, Atari, and C64 home users had it right about
what mattered-- i.e. user base. You win in the home market and everything
else falls in your lap.

     From 1979-1982, II users did not especially notice the absence of
company support. There was so much 3rd-party hardware and software plus
support via magazines that Apple's non-support wasn't a big concern. For
instance, Beagle, not Apple, solved the DOS 3.3 speed problem-- the speeded
DOS 3.3 worked so well that it took years for ProDOS to make much headway.

     The IIgs definitely lacked developer support; small wonder! Building in
8-bit compatibility resulted in complex hardware and complex software. Had it
been a pure new '816 design with hard disk and a Slot for adding an 8-bit II
board, everything could have been vastly simpler. A good IIgs BASIC would
have been easy. There would have been flocks of developers writing
applications; and, System would have been much easier to develop and
maintain.

     It's too bad Woz did not emerge as more of a II activist-- someone who
publicly criticized the company, lobbied stock holders, published IIx plans
in magazines, attended user rallies, ... . We could have gotten a Super II in
1985.


Rubywand