Re: [Humour] The Land Before Macs: A field guide

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

Sean Fahey <a2fan@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On Wednesday, October 31, 2012 1:30:36 AM UTC-5, Michael J. Mahon wrote:
>  
>> Shame the author didn't try as hard to be accurate...
> 
> I wrote the author about the inaccurate Apple IIe production period, and
> he said he was only counting the models prior to the release of the Mac
> and that he knew about the enhanced, and platinum models that came after.
> So, he was only interested in the beige IIe produced from 1983-85.
> 
> It's a weird distinction to me, and illogical. During the production
> period cited in the article, the Apple IIe went from the rev A board to
> rev B - which was a significant change, not just in that it added DHGR,
> but that it also 'broke' some peripheral products that previously worked.
> As everyone else knows, latter changes to the mainboard incorporated
> Mousetext and other firmware updates, and fewer chips. However, the
> architecture of the Apple IIe remained fundamentally unchanged. I don't
> see how he can accept the changes of the 83-85 period, but toss out the latter ones.
> 
> The Apple IIe was produced from early 1983 to late 1993, almost 11 years.

The misleading //e data was one serious error (after all, the biggest
difference between the ][ and the ][+, which he also differentiates, is
just the ROM set). 

He also omits the IIc and IIc+ and the IIgs--on the grounds that they came
after the first Mac-- hardly a suitable landmark, since the //e and its
friends continued to support the company for years after the Mac
introduction. 

Of course, he didn't purport to be writing a history of all non-Mac Apple
products...  ;-)

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