Re: Oddball Woz/Jobs Question

[spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article Ron Evry <revry@clark.net> writes...

>Hey folks,
>
>My mind was wandering around a bit, and here's an oddball question:
>
>Isn't it true that every 3.5" floppy drive in every Apple Computer uses
>the Woz chip? Maybe this isn't the case, but I have heard that
>somewhere.

    Not quite. The only 3.5 drive that had an IWM (Integrated Wozinak
Machine) controller chip inside was the UniDisk 3.5 for the Apple IIc.
It was an intelligent drive, so most of the logic for operations were
in the floppy drive case rather than the computer (i.e. IWM, 65C02,
RAM, ROM, etc). The 3.5 mechanism was identical otherwise.

    The actual IWM chip was used on the motherboard of the IIc, IIc+
and IIGS, as well as the first generation of Macintoshes up until
the time of the IIx and SE/30, which began using the SWIM (Super
Wozinak Integrated Machine). The Apple II 3.5 Disk Controller Card
also used a SWIM. Apple stopped using the SWIM during the time the
Sony 3.5 mechanism was replaced with a cheaper IBM 3.5 drive.

>If this is true, then maybe Jobs' attempt at pulling away from the
>floppy disk drive in the iMac and other future Macs might be a way of
>getting at Woz (assuming that Woz has been making royalties on the
>chip).

    As far as I know, there hasn't been an IWM or SWIM in a Mac
since about 1993-ish. The iMac lacking a floppy drive was just
part of Apple's current cost cutting measures, and apparently,
part of their "Don't Think" slogan campaign. :) (sorry for the
editorial bit there, but a computer without any convential way
of getting data off it is clearly a big mistake).

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca