How will the Apple II survive?

[Jeff Thomas <a2forever@usa.net>]

I pondered upon this question lately, how long will the Apple II
survive?

Three years ago, my Apple IIe computer died. The fault lay with the
motherboard, I
had known of one tradesperson, who could fix it, but he closed shop the
year before, due to trouble sourcing parts and rising costs for the
older computers, he specialised in servicing like mines. Nobody else
knew what, it was nor how to fix it. I was able to get a replacement
computer second-hand, but I can foresee that in possibly 10-years time
that might be impossible. My only insurance against this is to purchase
several machines. How would the ordinary person fair?

As time marches on, hardware and software becomes scarcer, pushing
prices for certain items up considerably. An excellent example, are
original Atari 2600 cartridge games.

Another barrier is the hectic pace of changing technology on our modern
computers.
Currently, it might be possible to adapt a PC high-density 3.5" floppy
disk drive to our Apple II's, but in 10-years that might no longer be an
option, as they are phased out together with the disks. Can we expect
that Apple II is compatible with whatever removable media format is
available in the future? or do we wait until all our disks die? Bootable
Apple II CD-ROMs?

What does the future hold for the Apple II community at large? How many
youngsters are keeping the tradition alive?

Whatever form, emulated or not, I am forever loyal, it's part of my
life, generation and part of me. :-)