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Re: Apple II on ebay. Real or fake?

jsnospam@cimmeri.com wrote:

"Michael J. Mahon" <mjma...@aol.com> wrote: "Exactly--the Apple ][ was
sold simultaneously with the ][+ well into 1981."

spacealbum wrote: "...Apple II for sale aside the IIplus! He has
obviously been around for sale longer than I had expected."

So what can we conclude from this evidence?   Perhaps Apple stopped
manufacturing II's back in summer of 79', but had many left over which
they continued to sell into 1981?  I suppose that's possible as the II
+ would have been the machine of choice for most people (as it was for
me) after its introduction.   Or perhaps other evidence is wrong..
that they were manufactured into 1981... the difference ONLY being the
ROMs and case lid emblem.

Yet, still, questions remain:

1. Is the serial # for ALL II's "A2S1-xxxxxxx"?  Or just those prior
to AII+?    Also, does label color mean anything?

2.  Obviously, we can't rely on motherboard revision now, thus memory
jumps, edgecard connector types, ram types.

3.  Likely can't rely on game I/O socket color either.

4.  Obviously CAN rely on ROMs.

5.  What about keyboard?   If all II's were manufactured early, then
keyboards would have retained that early tall power light.. but if
made into 81, II's and II+'s both would have had the flat power light.

The logical conclusion to all this that the definition of a true II
is:
- case lid reads Apple II
- has Integer ROM set.
- question remains re serial #.


An even better question is, "What difference does it make?"

This is a distinction that is *only* important to a *collector*, since
any ][+ can be made into a completely functional ][ just by changing
the ROMs.

Since collectors want simple, tangible distinctions to apply, I suggest
that the "valuable" or "historically significant" Apple ]['s were those
manufactured prior to the existence of the ][+, or perhaps only those
manufactured in the first two years, or some serial number range,
or...you get the idea.

The Apple II line was not "punctuated" clearly, but was a product with
many evolutionary changes, some introduced without fanfare, like new
main board revisions, power supplies, and manuals.

This manufacturing history is further complicated by many early users'
avid desire to keep their machines up to date with ROM replacements,
or just *working*, by having main boards replaced.

Ironically, the more "loved" an Apple ][ was, the less "original"
it would be!

-michael

NadaNet networking for Apple II computers!
Home page:  http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/

"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it's seriously underused."