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

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

Roy replied:

>Michael J. Mahon wrote:
>
>> Ranando King wrote:
>> 
>> [I notice that have the same misgivings about replying to this
>> post that I would have replying to a troll...]
>> 
>> <snip long wet dream about the future being
>> equal to the past on steroids...>
>> 
>>>So is this just a pipe dream?
>> 
>> 
>> Yes.
>> 
>> Mahon's Law: "Any sufficiently advanced Apple II design
>> is indistinguishable from emulation."
>> 
>> If you don't like the speed and size constraints of the
>> Apple II line, then _you don't like the Apple II line!_
>> 
>> Dreaming is fun, until you begin to confuse it with
>> reality--then it's not so much fun.
>> 
>> This seems to be a perennial theme on CSA2, like
>> the Perseid shower, so I know I should just watch
>> the funny posts and be quiet...  But I've seen it come
>> around enough now that it is no longer amusing to me.
>> 
>> There are so many _realizable_ dreams that can be
>> executed within the constraints of the _real_ Apple II
>> that it seems a waste of time to dream about things
>> that are _certainly_ never going to happen.
>> 
>> And if you think I'm wrong, check it out ten years
>> from now.
>> 
>> "Now where did I park my supersonic, fusion-powered,
>> thought-directed Model T..."
>
>Of course, Michael, there was a time that teenagers took Model Ts and 
>"hopped" them up. Replacing the four bangers with 6s or even 8s.

Agreed--but these were no longer "Model Ts".  They were
instead "hot rods" using a Model T body frame for inspiration.

>I think the II line could be pushed faster than it has been, even adding 
>some other current tech (isn't there already a USB based drive system?)

Frankly, Roy, I consider that yet another misunderstanding.

Every different model of every different device that is to be
plugged into a USB card will require its own unique, complex,
Apple II driver--and _that_ means that _very_ few devices will
ever be supported.

Being able to "plug it in" does not mean that it will do anything!

>But a 65832? That is a wet dream. 128mhz? Only in emulation. Unless 
>someone makes a PowerPC based turbo card. I stopped holding my breath on 
>that one years ago. Now a 20mhz 65816 turbo card, there's a possibility!

Of course, a PowerPC-based turbo card _is_ emulation.

<flame>

All this "Apple II love" sounds like "I wish my wife looked like
____"--not a very "loving" attitude.

If someone wants their Apple II to "be all it can be", then I
suggest learning how to program it, not how to mutilate it.

</flame>

-michael

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