Re: About Mark Twain (was Re: August 1988 Issue of inCider m

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Beavis0005 writes ...
> 
> How do you know that a //gs prototype wasn't made with the 10mhz speed,
> 80mg Hd, etc.? I've heard that 1. No Mark Twain prototype is identical,
> and 2. Many prototypes were destroyed. Ok, now put those 2 facts together.
> Good. Now, isn't it possible that a 90's //gs was made, and destroyed?
> That's my 2 cents worth.
> 
> Terry Mathews


     It would be difficult to prove that a hot, high-performance GS, a 20TB 
Gel Drive, an anti-gravity machine, or anything else was _not_ produced by 
teams at Apple in the early 90's. About the best we can do is to look at the 
available facts, including the Mark Twain machines which survive. Each of 
these fits the profile of an 80's ROM-03 project prototype. Not one of the 
machines Apple employees chose to rescue is even close to being a viable 
90's product.

     Most likely, "Mark Twain" was a name attached to the ROM-01 upgrade 
project or, later on, to a much-curtailed extension of the project in the 
early 90's. What remained of ][ Projects management may have continued 
development efforts with the Mark Twains, possibly with an emphasis on 
firmware; or, the machines may have been stacked in a corner until final, 
official MT project termination in 1991.

     Thus, what inCider discovered upon checking out the 1991 project 
"announcement" and subsequent cancellation was, basically, 'old news' which 
merely supported what everyone already believed-- i.e. the ROM-03 had 
signalled the end of serious ][ series development efforts. Perhaps inCider 
should have supplied some coverage (maybe they did); but, it is not the kind 
of item a magazine would highlight on its cover.

     Was any work done on Mark Twain hardware development after release of 
the ROM-03? Maybe; but; so far, no one has shown an advanced, 
90's-competitive GS, an advanced GS circuit board, or, a project manual 
(with specs, IC descriptions, and schematics) for any such machine.

     However much one may wish, speculate, claim, or insist that Apple was 
engaged in serious GS hardware development in the early 90's; the evidence 
at the disposal of ][ users, _especially_ the Mark Twain machines, indicates 
otherwise. Barring some new effort from Apple to recapture a significant 
share of the home market in the late 90's, ROM-03 was, evidently, the end of 
serious Apple interest in ][ series upgrades.     

 
Rubywand