Re: What if we designed and built a "32bit" Apple II?

[mjmahon@aol.com (Michael J. Mahon)]

Michael Spangler wrote:

>mjmahon@aol.com (Michael J. Mahon) wrote in message 
>
>> I expect that nostalgia has a lot to do with it in many cases.
>> 
>> In other cases reported here, the person always wanted an Apple II,
>> but they were too expensive, etc.
>> 
>> The wealth of useful software has always been important to me, as
>> the glut of games is important to others.
>> 
>> Then there's the tug of curiosity about getting an old $5 machine
>> perking again...  ;-)
>
>And don't forget more practical uses. My IIe has been dutifully
>logging the temperature and sunlight level every minute since last
>January, except when the power went out. Now that it's on UPS, that
>won't happen again.
>
>Easy IO to work with, mass storage, and you don't need a PC running to
>log the data.

Hear, hear!

One of my first uses for my Apple ][+ was logging the temperatures
of three hot water radiant heating loops in my home.  All it took
were three thermistors and a short BASIC program, and I could
track how my heating system was wasting half its energy using
insight-producing graphical displays.

Two weeks later, and I had adapted the control system to save
half the natural gas and keep the house more comfortable in the
bargain.

I figure that my Apple II paid for itself in the winter of 1981,
then went on to re-pay for itself for 18 more years!.  ;-)

-michael

Check out parallel computing for 8-bit Apples on my
Home page:  http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/