Re: Project Collection

["Chris Morse" <win32mfc@gmail.com>]

Bryan Parkoff wrote:
> Folks,
>
>     Can you please list your projects which you are interested to
> participle?

Err... ahh.. sure.. though if it's *my* project, I would hope that I am
participating in it!
Or do you want people to choose from *your* project list?

> 1) Replicated Apple //e and Apple IIgs and general controller card parts

Not sure what you mean.  You mean building/designing replica Apple II
hardware?
I would if I had the know-how, but right now I don't.  I'd like to
learn, though.

> 2) Develop to emulate controller card such as RAM Works III, Super Serial
> Card, Logo / Lego Card, Koala Pad, some general AE cards, third party cards,
> hard drive cards, SCSI cards, LAN cards, and more.  Select one card from a
> list to emulate inside Apple //e or Apple IIgs.

I haven't done much of this, but if I can figure out how to do it, I
would probably add emulation for (1) a mouse card, and (2) a clock
card.  AppleWin already emulates the serial card, disk controller and
hard drive.  A parallel (maybe Grappler+?) might be nice, so it would
use the parallel port on the PC and you could hook up a parallel dot
matrix printer.

> 3) Design smaller printed circuit board within built-in motherboard,
> built-in RAM, built-in slots (like Apple IIgs) into USB for PC.  Software is
> used to display PC VGA monitor while communicating to USB board.

Interesting idea.  Above *my* head though.

> 4) Cheaper Apple //e or Apple IIgs laptop than modern Pentium IV / AMD
> laptop

I've thought about that.  It would be nice to have a IIgs laptop.  When
I think of such a thing, I think of something like those older (small)
Windows CE laptops.  Small and light but with pretty much a full-sized
keyboard.  With low power consumption, I wonder if you could get
something like 10+ hours on a charge.  No (real) hard drive, use a CF
or SD card or something.  Need to find the right LCD display for the
job - small (but not too small), just enough resolution (no more than
640x480), and low power usage.

Unfortunately, it's hard to imagine such a thing ever being built.  It
would be a labor of love, with a lot of labor.  And a lot of love.  And
more labor.

> 5) Write more 6502 / 65816 software for Apple //e and Apple IIgs.

Now we're talking my level.. Well, I'm doing 6502 stuff now, but I will
get into 65816 programming when I get a copy of some IIgs programming
books.

>     Which do you prefer for best?  Apple II Emulator / Simulator for PC or
> USB Apple II board if artifact Apple II collections cease to exist few years
> from now.

For ease of use, and true portability, I'd have to say an Emulator.

> If you choose Apple II Emulator / Simulator, would you support
> emulated hardware including all general slot's controller cards.

Sure!  I'd support as much as I could get.  ??  If I could figure out
how, I'd add more peripheral card support into AppleWin.  The top 3 on
my list would be a network card, a mouse card and a clock/calendar
card.

> Many Apple
> II Emulator lacks most emulated hardware, but support few such as hard drive
> and 1-3MB RAM.  They lack video timing for switching $C050/$C051 like Bob
> Bishop's Money Munchers.

At least on the surface, it doesn't seem like adding that video timing
would be that difficult.

>     I am interested to hear more projects what you want to add.

For future Apple II development, there's a few fronts for progress:

SOFTWARE - Both new software for the //e and IIgs, and enhancing
emulator software.

HARDWARE - Like the CFFA project, I would love to see a few new
peripheral card options.

DOCUMENTATION - The most recent of which has been Nibble magazine,
which is awesome.  Though not directly Apple II related, I'd love to
see Byte magazine archives too.  Others too, like Compute's Apple
Applications magazine, would be nice.  Also some more books, like those
for the Atari that are hosted at Atari Archives.  When are we going to
have a www.AppleArchives.org?  Doesn't even look like the name is
registered.

> Bryan Parkoff