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Re: Apple II Clones. How many sold?
Jeff Blakeney wrote:
To: datajerk
datajerk wrote:
So, was the C64 the best-selling computer "model" of all time? Can
the ~200 different Apple II clones significantly increase the the
overall volume of the A2 family. I speculate no. Simply because my
clone was still 3x the cost of the C64. But I'd still like to know.
Keep in mind that the 5 million number I've heard for Apple II sales is
the total of Apple II, II+, IIe, and IIc computers. The IIc+ may even
be included in that number. That is 4 or 5 different "models". You
would have to classify a clone as one of those models and come up with
totals for each of them separately. I don't think the total for any
other these models will come close to the Commodore 64's numbers.
I agree that it is unlikely that any platform exceeded the C=64 until
the IBM PC.
Although one way of counting is specific to manufacturer and model--and
a manufacturer would clearly do so.
A much more relevant way of counting is based on the computer's
architecture as presented to software. This is what determines the
size of the software market, and therefore the total size of the
software base for a platform.
This is particularly relevant to the astronomical numbers of PC clones
sold since 1981, creating the largest compatible hardware base in
history. Specific manufacturer or model is in this case irrelevant,
but architectural compatibility is critical.
Since sofware has long since ceased to include its own OS, but is
instead written to the APIs of a particular OS, the so-called "Wintel"
architecture has clearly become the largest single software platform,
for good or ill.
If smartphones ever converge on one (or at most two) architectures, then
they may supplant the Wintel platform as the most numerous, hosting the
greatest number of apps.
-michael
NadaNet and AppleCrate II: parallel computing for Apple II computers!
Home page: http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon
"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it's seriously underused."