Re: Building An Apple ][ Software Archive

[smentzer@pacbell.net (Steve Mentzer)]

There are a couple of really good points to be made here.


#1: The apple II software market is effectively dead. There are vendors who 
sell titles (SSII, etc) but that isn't enough to sustain a market.

#2: While asimov, fairway, etc are good sources of disk images, they do very 
little to preserve the memory of the titles. 

#3: I think publishers, authors, companies, etc would be more apt to "donate" 
their old, unsupported software titles, if each title was more than just a disk 
image. A good indexing system, historical write ups, screenshots, company 
links, email addresses, etc etc would be a good way to preserve the memories of 
the Apple II, as well as promote the new titles the companies are producing.

#4: The development aspect of this effort is rather straightforward. With some 
assistance in the "web interface" area of things, I can develop a powerful 
backend that will allow "authorized" people to create index entries. As time 
goes on, participation in the archive will grow, and so will the memories.

#5: The index will not exist to simply be a place to collect disk images. 
Pirates are going to do that no matter what, but the emphasis should be on 
maintaining the historical significance of the Apple II.


Guys, if y'all are serious about this, let me know. I am a professional 
software developer with a bazillion years of experience. I do this kind of 
stuff for a living, and while it isn't a minor undertaking, it is doable.