Re: A True Apple ][ Story

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

"Ernest" <ernestls@home.com> wrote in message
news:J1NI5.8895$E85.163890@news1.sttls1.wa.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.

I take that back, the disks aren't Orange Apple, their Orange Cherry
Software. Sorry. Still a strange name but it looks like they are a
children's software producing company. At least, that's what is on these
disks.

> 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
>
>