Re: IIGS 6.0.1 Source Code

[Michael J. Mahon <mjmahon@aol.com>]

dagz <DagenBrock@gmail.com> wrote:
> So back to BLuRry's question, because I find it really interesting (sorry OP):
> 
> Is the Mark Twain a real IIgs that deserves implementation?  I thought it
> was more of a prototype, and not all Mark Twains may even be identical
> (likely not).  It was more of a incremental improvement to the IIgs than
> any real new ground being covered, as was the case with all the IIgs
> revisions.  But the reason I find it interesting as a philosophical
> question is because it leads me to wonder, "Where does it end?"  Should
> we be trying to extend the platform even further to hardware that
> conforms, but does not exist (like adding a new display card, for
> example) or go even further to make our own "new" Apple II that is
> loosely based on the platform, but allows any number of potential
> derivations (like adding a new display modes to the emulated VGC, for example)?
> 
> Yes, this is a loaded question.  I think we are a lot of purists, but I
> really do think it's interesting as a question.  
> 
> Please Discuss.  :)

Over the years, possible extensions to the Apple II line have been proposed
often, and discussed to death. ;-)

Anyone can imagine a system, some can imagine one in great detail, but the
utility of a system in a community comes from relative ubiquity.  This
"primes the pump" for an ecosystem of compatible software and hardware,
enabling a virtuous cycle of implementation and use. 

We are now so far past the point of market critical mass for the Apple II
that any "evolution" of the system is destined to remain imaginary. 

Even the IIgs failed to achieve the market momentum of its predecessors,
not because it wasn't a useful evolution, but because it was introduced on
the backend of the Apple II sales curve. 

It is great fun to design and even implement new capabilities for older
machines, but unless they slip into the ecosystem by, in some sense,
"emulating" an already existing capability in a new way, they will be
largely unused except by their creator. 

For example, the CFFA is a great "emulation" of a hard disk (and now
floppies, too). On the other hand, the SecondSight is virtually useless
except as an overpriced VGA card for standard text and graphics modes. 

-michael - NadaNet 3.1 and AppleCrate II: http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon