To: Drew Drew wrote:
Hi Guys, Was looking at the image archive at http://www.apple2.org/images/Systems/index.html and I noticed a GS that looks like its been very modified. It has a floppy drive inside with a slot in the lid and from the pictures it looks like the there are simm sockets etc on the mobo with battery also being in a different place... Anyone know what it is ...(well apart from being a GS obviously ;-)). Had been thinking would be kool to have an internal floppy if only the case could be cut to look like it was meant to be like that... Cheers Drew
That is the infamous "Mark Twain" IIgs. Also known as the ROM 04 IIgs. It was close to production and was due to be announced at an Apple expo just before Apple decided to pull the plug - hence it was never released. A few (4 or 5) prototype models have made it out into the wild. Our friend Tony Diaz (whose picture you're referring to) has one as do a couple of other Apple II buffs.
Although the mods to the ROM 04 IIgs were evolutionary, there was nothing revolutionary. In fact, a ROM 01 or ROM 03 with a large memory card (eg. 8Mb) and accelerator provided a better overall system, apart from the inbuilt 3.5" drive.
Still, it would have been nice to see the Apple IIgs have another model released. But as they say, "that's history". ;-)
Cheers, Mike