Re: Apple IIgs enthusiast wannabe

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

wbdesnoy@acs2.acs.ucalgary.ca (Byron Desnoyers Winmill) wrote:

>jrteague@my-deja.com wrote:
>
>: I've owned my IIgs for a period of six months.
>: Prior to that six months, I was fascintated in
>: the idea of collecting old computers.  My
>: fascination was reinforced with the kaboodles of
>: information on the nostalgia in collecting these
>: classics.  Six months ago I finally found a IIgs,
>: threw on a kensington system saver, rpg monitor,
>: imagewriter ii, etc.  I did all of this for under
>: ten dollars at a resale shop.  This is the beauty
>: and part of the fascination with collecting
>: these.  I do it for my own benefit, not for a
>: chance of it ever being worth anything to the
>: future.  Six months ago I brought home my new toy
>: with various system software and a copy of print
>: shop that I found laying around the shop.  About
>: ten years ago, I learned the BASIC language on an
>: Apple ][+ and was anxious to try it again on the
>: IIgs.  I was happy for the time being, always
>: knowing in the back of my mind of the tons of
>: software titles that I would be able to download
>: off the net for it.  Here I am now, a little
>: disappointed.  You see, the only other computer I
>: own I a pentium clone.  I am devastated to know
>: that right now my IIgs is nothing other than a
>: paperweight without any software.  You see, my
>: ultimate goal is to use a classic computer for
>: everyday purposes, fulfilling its intended
>: purpose, if you will.  A web browser would be
>: nice, or some really fun games, it would great to
>: use it for email, or perhaps use it musically,
>: for I am a musician.  You see, as far as I can
>: tell, the only way to accomplish these things is
>: to spend a lot of money that I don't have on
>: practially obsolete software that most of the
>: modern computer world doesn't even care about.
>: Hopefully, this conception is utterly untrue, and
>: believe me, I'm the first one to know if it
>: isn't.  Would someone please let me know if I've
>: hit the mark or if I'm living in a
>: misconception?  Either way it would be greatly
>: appreciated. If you would, reply directly to
>: jrteague@pdq.net and help a guy open his eyes to
>: this select world of collecting these gems of
>: computing history.  Thank you.
>
>Hello,
>
>I know what it is like to want to play with computers on a budget, but
>(in a way) Supertimer is correct: if you want the world of your
>machine, it does cost money.
>
>That said, if you just want your machine to be useful for everyday
>purposes, there you *can* do this on a tight budget.  But it does
>involve taking several shortcuts.
>
>For example: unless you have a 3.5" floppy, and a hard drive (or
>simply an AppleTalk connection to a Macintosh with a hard drive), you
>will not be able to run TCP/IP.  But you can run a variety of
>communications packages (a.k.a. terminal emulators) to access a UNIX
>shell account.  An ISP which provides a shell account will usually
>provide lynx (for browsing the web), an e-mail and news client, an ftp
>client (for downloading software), and many other goodies.  Kermit is
>a good terminal emulator, and it is free (so you do not have to worry
>about pirating software).
>
>Word processing is just as easily accomplished.  The best package that
>I have seen for the Apple II is AppleWorks.  But this program does
>cost money, but second hand copies are also being sold through the
>Internet.  But, if you are as cheap as I am, something like FrEd
>Writer will be okay for word processing tasks.  It is another free
>program (though I think that it may have been restricted to
>educational uses).
>
>The key thing here is: if you have a 5.25 drive, you are stuck with
>generic 8-bit software, some of which will take advantage of the
>IIgs's features while others will not.  If you have a 3.5" drive, you
>can run as many IIgs programs as will fit into your memory.  For
>example: for music, there is a program called NoiseTracker (thanks
>Supertimer) which will run on a 1Mb IIgs.
>
>So not all is lost!  Though you may find yourself going out and
>spending a bundle on a IIgs one day, just to get everything.  I did,
>and it was fun.  From what I understand, it was also quite a deal.
>But I am still broke, and I still paid a lot for a ten year old
>computer.
>
>Oh well, if you can live and learn and have fun in the process, who am
>I to complain.
>
>Good luck with your IIgs,
>byron.

You are quite right, I totally forgot about the option of using it
as a fast IIe.  From the 16-bit IIGS side, 1MB is little memory,
but for 8-bit IIe software run on the IIGS under IIe emulation
mode, 1MB is a HUGE amount of memory.  Thanks for
metioning that, Byron.  I guess I saw "web browser, games,
music software for musicians" and automatically thought of
running IIGS side software which requires more MBs of
memory and mass storage.

Hmm...rereading the user's post, I think he wants to know
how to transfer software downloaded from ftp sites from his
PC to his IIGS without the IIGS first having a terminal
program.  I'm pretty sure there is a way to do this, but I'm
not familiar with it.

If not, freeware disks can be obtained for a few dollars to
cover shipping and handling from http://www.crl.com/
Shareware Solutions II.  I'm sure there's a free terminal
program in the library of disks (such as Kermit, which you
mentioned) and free word processors.