Re: All this talk of a new GS...

[Jonas Bevren <jbevren@yahoo.com>]

On Thu, 3 Feb 2000, Phoenyx wrote:

> Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2000 20:38:12 -0600
> From: Phoenyx <quazar@dcnet2000.com>
> Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
> Subject: Re: All this talk of a new GS...
> 
> I think at this point, adhering to as many standards as possible is a
> must. Part of the problems the early Apple2 faced
> was because there were no standards which left developers in
> the position of making their own. In the floppy driven world of the A2,
> this wasn't too bad, but when the system became able to
> access hard drives, it became more of an issue.

That's something I hadn't thought about, even though I should be shot for
failing.

> There are still other issues to deal with. Perhaps the biggest
> one is the GS rom. Apple may ignore the emulators, but if a
> hardware project were developed, they may decide it's time to
> examine the copyright issues. Since Apple doesn't care about
> any growth on the II series, it might be possible for someone
> to aquire the right to use the ROM image. I doubt it would be
> feasible to try and write clean roms, but I am not extremely
> familiar with the GS rom anyway. Then again, it may be necessary to
> create a compatible rom just to make the hardware
> work.

I'm unaware of the size/complexity of the GS rom as well. :/  Someone clue
us in?

> Some decisions are fairly simple. For instance, I think the
> mini tower case is probably the best. The current ones are
> a reasonable size and offer a decent power supply. Of course,
> it may force the motherboard design to resemble the PC due to
> the slot locations. At least this design offers the end user
> the option of selecting which case they want and if this style
> were followed they could even use the desktop style case.

woah, woah! =) I'm not talking about some peecee looking piece of crap..er..
equipment..  What I"m thinking about is something you drop into slot 3 or 4
and wire to the '816 socket, just like the TWGS.  Of course, it would
provide a full complement of ram, per se 16 megs (8 megs to emulate IIGS
ram, and 8 more for whatever: ramdisks, workspace for the emulator), and do
all of its I/O via the IIgs.

> Also, it might be better to design this as a kit type of system
> where the basic electronics are pre-assembled, motherboard and
> such, but it would still require the end user to finish the
> product. Then as a service, whoever distributes it could offer
> to pre-assemble everything. This may also help in the rom issue
> as you aren't actually offering a new computer, but a project
> which the user must supply a rom image themselves. In this case
> though a method of loading the image will be needed.

Hm.  That's definately a consideration.  I dont swear by not building a
standard-form motherboard, but in the moment of considering the feasiblility
of writing clean-room GS roms, you failed to consider the feasibility of
re-structuring the IIgs's hardware.  I find the first to be far more likely
to occur than the second.  I'd love love love to see something like this
come out, but not only for the apple2 world.  We love our apple2's (I miss
my laser128 like the desert misses the rain), but other poor saps need some
help too (ie the Atari scene, commodore, etc).  But, since we're on an
apple2 group, let's focus on the most important stuff: the apple2 =)


> Well, just a little more to think about.

You've got me thinking, friend.  Dont doubt it for a minute.

-
Jonas