Re: Digital Research Z80 "Gold Card"

[Sean Fahey <a2fan@hotmail.com>]

Well, this is off and on topic... I'm curious about what the draw is with CP/M on the Apple II. The library (afaik) isn't very large and interoperability with other Z80 machines of the era is severely limited if not crippling because the Apple II's disk format. Yet, there is seemingly no lack of Z80 cards out there, and at least a dozen companies made their own card(s) back in the day. So... it was a popular accessory -- but was it over-hyped?

I realize the irony, coming from an Apple II enthusiast such as myself asking this, but why is CP/M on the Apple II so interesting?

I'm not immune btw, I have a small collection of different boards but I'm not using them. Whenever I crack open a new (to me) machine and find a Z80, I'm a little surprised. I assume the original owner used it for Wordstar or something similar. More often than not, the Z80 comes as part of a system but it's been removed and replaced with something else.

If anyone wants to discuss why CP/M intrigues them so much, I'd enjoy reading what you have to say on the matter.