Re: Cassette port / CD-Rs

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

In article <227225.XNUYSULU@news.telusplanet.net>, Simon Williams
<*email*@*luddite.ca*> writes:

>On 27 Feb 2003 02:19:31 GMT mjmahon@aol.com (Michael J. Mahon) wrote:
> 
>> Recorded cassette signals are good for nostalgia, but little else.
>> A null-modem cable is cheap, ten times the speed, and is supported
>> by protocols that preserve file names and types.
>
>True. Assuming your Apple II came with a working Super Serial Card and
>your 'modern' computer actually has a serial port (which is curiously
>absent on recent Apples).
>For someone who's just picked up a bare-bones Apple II at the flea
>market, it may just be the easiest/cheapest way to get going...

True, a single .wav (or, more practically, an .mp3) file which could be
"played" into the cassette input of an Apple II to provide a disk OS
and a telecom program might be handy.  But to do anything with it
one will need either a serial connection or a ProDOS disk path (say,
through a Mac) to get "real" software for it.

The joy of a "quick bootstrap" through the cassette port loses its
lustre (though perhaps not its "coolness") when you realize that an
entire 1 hour audio recording holds only 673KB of data, and there
would need to be special software written to actually sustain
unattended data transfer, with each file being saved to disk
(presumably).

-michael

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