A.P.P.L.E and others

[gt2011a@prism.gatech.EDU (gt2011a Sheldon Simms)]

I was just looking over some old Call A.P.P.L.E. and Incider magazines
today and I came across an interesting announcement in an Incider from
early 1987 about the formation of APDA - a new source of developer
information being started by A.P.P.L.E. (Back then in 1987, that is)

So I grabbed my APDA Tools Catalog and looked at the frontmost and 
backmost (is that a word?) pages. It's obvious that APDA is now part of
Apple. While looking around in the tools catalog, I noticed that Washington
Apple Pi is listed as a Mac developer SIG. So now I have a lot of questions
that maybe someone can answer.

1. What happened to A.P.P.L.E.? Is it still around? If so, what does it do?
2. When did Apple Coputer, Inc. take over APDA from A.P.P.L.E.?
3. Is Washington Apple Pi really just a Mac programmers group now?
4. What about International Apple Core, Applesauce, and countless others?

And one final question that really is not related to my magazine-reading
adventures, but which nags at me every time I look at these old mags...

5. Why is it that back in 1979-1980, there were probably fewer Apple II
   users than there are right now, but the Apple II scene was vibrant -
   lots of peripherals and programs available, lots of little companies
   advertising, all with a smaller base of customers than exists now.
   What's the deal? Why does it now require practically a million users
   of a computer to make the market worth a companies time?

-Sheldon Simms


-- 
W. Sheldon Simms         | Clarence / Newt / Rush   <- good guys
gt2011a@prism.gatech.edu |    Clinton / Lewis       <- bad guys
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AB A8 CD 87 89 B4 BC. BE A1 81 E5, C4 B1 97.