Re: A True Apple ][ Story

["Ernest" <ernestls@home.com>]

I have a bunch of Orange Apple Club software disks. I wondered about them,
considering the name but I had no idea that I would learn about the club in
such sordid detail.

Let the Mac users form their own club. They aren't Apple users anyway, as
they love to point out. They could be the Orange Mac Club, and you could
keep your club name.

I wish there was an Apple II club in Seattle. Does anyone know of one?

Ernest





"Obsbedia2" <obsbedia2@aol.com> wrote in message
20001019224405.05263.00000447@ng-cb1.aol.com">news:20001019224405.05263.00000447@ng-cb1.aol.com...
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
>
> Long ago, in the far off, mythical land of Orange County, California, a
group
> of visionaries and world changers established a brotherhood of the Apple
II.
>
> AND IT WAS GOOD.
>
> Then came the Mac-heads.  They adorned their toaster computers with the
sacred
> fruit, so we took them into our brotherhood.
>
> "Incompatible!" they cried, and so they sequestered themselves off into
other
> chambers.
>
> AND THERE WAS PEACE.
>
> The Mac-heads grew in number and took more chambers, while the brotherhood
of
> the Apple II was forced to take a smaller and smaller cell.
>
> AND THERE WAS TOLERANCE.
>
> Woe, the winds of fortune turned against the Mac-heads and, like a plague,
> their numbers dropped.  Month after month, year after year, with no end in
> sight.
>
> How will we survive?  The sovereign has raised the rent, but there are
fewer of
> us than before.  What shall we do?
>
> Why, raise the membership tax, of course.
>
> And so, the Brotherhood of the Apple II, which hadn't received so much as
a
> crumb of bread in years, paid the higher tax of silver.
>
> The Mac-heads continued to fall in number alike raindrops from the sky.
"The
> Big Blue Flame!  How shall we survive?" they whimpered.
>
> The Brotherhood of the Apple II tried to ease their fears, for they, low
and
> behold, had been through much the same for many years, and yet they had
> survived with spirits high.
>
> The Mac-heads ignored them.  They held secret meetings and decided, in
their
> best bit-brain contrivance, that they should kill off the Apple II
Brotherhood.
>  "They are too few in number to do their share and their time is long
past.  If
> we slay them in their sleep, we may yet live another season on the
$67/month,
> which works out to $804/year, that their cell costs."  This higher tax
shall be
> paid with their blood.
>
> The land was dark and blood was to be spilled, but ...
>
>
>
> ... along came a quiet Apple II brother.  He ventured into the Mac-heads
> message area and asked, "Do you intend to kill us, brothers?"
>
> No response.
>
> He asked again.  "Do you intend to kill us tonight, brothers?"
>
> A voice answered back, "Well, it's nothing personal.  We just can't afford
you.
>  Heck, we thought that you were dead already.  If we eat you, we can live
at
> least another season."
>
> The Apple II brother thought long and hard.  "What if you could eat the
cost
> of your newsletter?  It is more than TWICE as expensive a taste as we ...
and
> don't you have internet access, hi-res graphics, fast modems and
processors
> that can race the light from the sun?  Why spend thousands of dollars for
some
> old scroll that takes four weeks to prepare, print, fold, and mail, only
to
> arrive three days before your next meeting only if the wind is at its
back?
> Lousy efficiency for a Mac-head, wouldn't you say?  What do you need it
for?
>
> Pope Jobs would be shameful of such foolishness.  He'd accuse you of
heracy
> and suspect you of using his precious gift just to play solitaire.
>
> Other voices responded, "You really have to go--nothing personal--it'll be
> quick--we promise, trust us.  Our hands are tied.  You think that we're
going
> to enjoy this?  We'd keep you around if we could."
>
> Not all of the Mac-heads had stones for hearts and dung for brains.  Some
had
> been Apple II Brothers, but had given up the sacred 5.25 and 3.5 inch
squares
> for silver circles, so they told their former brother to look to the
financial
> records.
>
> AND HE DID.
>
> Low and behold, there was already feasting going on.  In the MISCELLANEOUS
> COLUMN, he found that the Mac-heads' board of directors had the gall to
spend
> the collected taxes to fill their own bellies.  LUNCHES and DINNERS paid
by the
> many for the enjoyment of the very few, at the cost of the lives of the
very
> founding brotherhood itself!
>
> "Brothers,  does our board not love your brothers?  Brothers, we could
live
> highly and richly for years on what is being wasted here.  Surf the club's
> webpage for news, and board, bring a sandwich!" he cried.
>
> "Oh, but we love our board.  They deserve a banquet, because they work so
hard
> to make things the best they can be for everyone."
>
> "Does 'Everyone' include the Apple II Brotherhood?"
>
> THERE WAS SILENCE.
>
> "What have they done for those who took them in?  Have they adorned us
with
> hardware?  No.  Have they made us gifts of software?  I think not.  How
many
> guest speakers have they invited to visit us in our little cell?  One in
four
> years, but he came twice, so I suppose that he counts double."
>
> But the board doesn't just run things, they make presentations, too.
Surely,
> you wouldn't deny them food?
>
> "Yes, we would if we are to be the meal!  We have made our own sermons and
> presentations for years and what have you given us?  HIGHER TAXES!!!
Now, you
> wish to feed us to your precious board as a sacrifice for another season.
>
> YOU IDIOTS!  After us, YOU'RE NEXT!
>
> It is written...
> The board exists to serve its members,
> not the other way around.
>
> FOR THIS, THE BOARD DID SMITE THE BROTHER.  THEY TOOK AWAY HIS FREE
SPEECH, A
> SACRED RIGHT IN THE LAND, AND ONE THAT MANY OF THE MAC-HEADS HAD GONE TO
WAR TO
> FIGHT FOR, BUT ALAS, THEY WERE NOW FOOLS.
>
>
>
> The brother smiled.
>
>
> He had faced fools before and his brotherhood had always survived.  The
church
> had turned its back on the Apple II Brotherhood and it had survived.
Villages,
> once friendly to the Apple II Brotherhood, had disappeared or no longer
> recognized the Apple II, and yet, it had survived.
>
> Long ago, he had proclaimed that "only when we no long support each other,
> will the Apple II die."
>
> and the brother smiled.
>
> His true brothers hadn't lost their faith, dignity, values or humanity.
They
> were still there and they always would be.  The Blue Flame would continue
to
> burn away at Mac-heads season after season.  It was not the Apple II
> Brotherhood, but the Mac-heads that were the true dinosaurs.  The signs
were
> there for all to see.  Yes, they were stronger, faster, AND fewer and
fewer
> each month.  In a handful of seasons, they would be gone forever.
>
> The Apple II Brotherhood would continue to adapt and be eternal.
>
> ][ Infinitum!
>
>
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> A true story.
>
> Currently, the Orange Apple Computer Club has more than enough money to
> support both the Macintosh and the Flagship Apple II Users.  To COMPLETELY
> offset the cost of the small classroom that the Apple II Group has been
> assigned requires $804 a year at the current location.
>
> BUT INSTEAD OF moving when the rent shoots up enormously, OACC stays at
the
> same site and wonders why it will be charged more each year.
>
> Duh!  BECAUSE OACC keeps paying!
>
> BUT INSTEAD OF scrapping the worthless club newsletter and saving over
$2000 a
> year, they're going to keep this piece of fertilizer and use it to print
the
> Apple II Group's obituary.
>
> BUT INSTEAD OF providing a service to all of the members of OACC, the
board of
> directors has chosen year after year to ignore the Apple II GROUP, feeding
> themselves --and I'm not talking McDonald's, folks --with everyone's
membership
> fees---AND THEN reporting that there isn't enough money to justify the
Apple II
> Group having a meeting place!
>
> Maybe they should take a walk and go work on the board of those internet
> companies that are big time in the RED.  They should get hired quickly
with
> their OACC experience of putting image and their own pleasures above those
of
> the members that they were elected to serve.
>
> Jay Edwards