Apple II Csa2 FAQs: History, Part 14/25 (2/2)

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[continued from previous message]

    Price is very important. Not only must the individual IIgs owner be
convinced that the upgrade represents a good buy; he/she must also 
believe that
other IIgs owners will feel the same. So far, my polling indicates a 
number
somewhere around $300. 
Naturally, when we bring in our machines to buy the new board, we shall 
wish to
keep our old boards. They're no good to you anyway, and will supply 
many
experimenters with endless hours of fun (to say nothing of generating 
countless
interesting articles 
for Ap
ple user publications).

     A tad costly? No doubt. Stll, a few hundred mil to reinvigorate 
your IIgs
base and attract new buyers is a bargain. (Like, it sure beats losing 
the whole
ball of wax!)  In return, we'll buy your products, enlist recruits, 
kick stock
prices up ten or 
twenty points, and save dear old Apple-- one more time.


Your pal, Jeff



ISSUE 79/ Home Again

Change-over

     Last fall the lone remaining advertiser-supported Apple II-only 
monthly
announced the intention to "include Mac coverage". At the time, there 
seemed
little reason for comment. Unlike, say, a TI-99 bulletin board I've 
called, a
computer magazine can 
not be content with discussions of summer vacations and fishing trips. 
If a
publication can't find enough II products 'action' to pay the bills, it 
has to
find something else to talk about.


Re-discovery

     My reason for mentioning the II-to-Mac shift now is that inCider's 
move is
symptomatic of maneuvering we must expect and be wary of in the 
post-Computer
Wars I world. Regular viewers of the weekly PBS computer-stuff show 
"Computer
Chronicles" have 
already heard the new 'party line'. Basically, it goes like this: "For 
years
the home computing market has been in the doldrums. Recently, however, 
Apple
and IBM have re-discovered the individual user! They are coming to the 
rescue
with powerful, low-
priced
products like the Mac LC and PS/1."

     Okay, so what is the pay-off in being "re-discovered"? First, the 
PS/1: It
is a compact, attractive, AT-compatible '286 machine which requires an 
optional
box to accommodate standard PC/AT peripheral cards. At $2000 for the 
basic
color version, PS/1 
is priced near the limit of what most home buyers seem to be willing to 
'go
for' in an initial purchase. It is also priced above faster '386 
no-name
(a.k.a. "grud") AT's with more RAM and larger hard disks and far above
equivalent grud '286 systems.

     Mac LC is an attractive, compact, Mac-compatible 68020 machine 
which, with
the addition of a low-cost IIe card, can run IIe software. At, roughly, 
$3000
for the basic color version it is priced far beyond the typical home 
buyer's
initial investment 
limit. However, as inCider noted in it's "Meet the Mac LC" face-off 
with an
equivalent hard disk II system, the IIgs can end up costing as much as 
the base
'LC plus IIe card (assuming the IIgs purchaser makes a series of 
remarkably
poor buying decisions).
Same-price grud competition includes a new crop of much faster '486 
AT's with
more RAM and much larger hard disks.

     It was, I believe, Abraham Lincoln who once observed: "You can 
re-discover
some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the 
time... "
At least "'Chronicles" avoided references to the "little people" and 
"unwashed
masses"; but the 
meaning is clear enough. Technological trickle-down has proved out, we 
have
been noticed by the big name manufacturers! The "doldrums", of course, 
refers
to THEIR home markets-- understandable, when you consider that no major
manufacturer has paid any 
real
 attention to home users for the last five years. THE home market has 
been
flourishing since 1989, when home buyers began to snap up no-name 
VGA+AdLib
PC/AT's like they were going out of style.

     They were (going out of style). First came the '286 wave; and now, 
as of
spring '91, higher speed '386 systems are selling for well below $2000. 
A good
barometer of what's hot (and what's not) is the computer advertising in 
your
newspaper's Sunday "
Business" section. This, typically, is where all computer stuff 
advertisements
(with prices!) appear. I checked ours; and, believe it or not, in five 
or six
pages plastered with computer ads, neither the PS/1 nor the Mac LC were 
listed.
The word "Apple" 
did
 not appear even once! (Yes; I have, in the past, found an 'LC ad. 
Prices were
NOT listed.)

     Today's home programmer/ game-player/ composer/ author/ 
educator... is
learning to shop for speed, power, and upgradability (i.e. slots!) 
regardless
of brand name. Any suggestion that he or she is willing to settle for 
PS/2-1's,
"Low Cost" Macs, or 
other sub-business-class machines is not merely off-target, it is the 
reverse
of the actual situation. Typical office applications have little need 
for
quality sound, large color palettes, or exceptional speed-- all areas 
under
continual pressure from 
desig
ners of entertainment products. The home computer MUST be a relatively 
'hot',
versatile performer; and, there are all sorts of reasons why the home
purchaser, in particular, aims for the 'most machine' he or she can 
reasonably
afford.

     First, of course, he or she is buyer AND user. Shopping for five 
or ten
word processor/office machines someone else will use is one thing; 
buying the
one YOU and family members will be using is quite another matter. Other 
home
user motivators 
include an interest in a wide range of steadily more demanding 
software, peer
pressure, and concern that younger family members truly have 'the power 
to be
their best'.

     In the same broadcast, "'Chronicles" notes that home markets are 
becoming
more attractive because "business markets are becoming saturated". 
Again, we
are dealing with THEIR business markets. One can expect to sell just so 
many
$4000-$6000 name 
brand units when more powerful machines are available at half the 
price.
Eventually, buyers for oil corporations, universities, etc. were bound 
to
wise-up. (Does anyone still blow $49.95 on a box of ten 
For-Sure-Certified
diskettes?)

     I do not doubt that IBM, Commodore, Apple, Compaq, etc. WANT to 
sell piles
of machinery to home users. I do doubt that any of them knows what this 
market
looks like. If the big guys and their media placidly presume home 
computists to
be both less 
demanding AND less informed, it does not augur well for their home 
market
showdown with the gruds.


Where Are You?

     You are here! Should "here" mean "primarily a II+ (IIe, IIc, II 
clone)
user", then you are acutely aware of being out of the mainstream of 
personal
computing. (Either that, or you've been 'out' for so long that you're 
starting
to think you're 'in'!) 
 Not only is very little new software coming from the major vendors; 
but
nothing looks as good as the super-res and VGA stuff you've seen on 
other
machines. You CAN upgrade the II, even to the point of adding a VGA 
display;
but the biggest problem isn't 
YO
UR hardware. It's the thousands of other 'old II' users who must be 
persuaded
to make the same changes-- that is, if you wish to create a 
recognizable 'super
II' user base, develop and trade programs, attract vendors, etc., etc..

Recommendations: Keep your II, use it, enjoy it; and, when 
opportunities arise,
improve it if the costs are not too steep. Hardware experimentation is 
a
valuable, time-honored II owner activity. Given the rapid pace of
microprocessor and component 
advances, there really is no telling what you might be able to achieve. 
Should
you decide to sample the era of modern store-bought personal computing, 
go for
the best, most II-like machine you can afford. As of Spring '91, this 
probably
means either  1. 
take a ri
sk on the IIgs  OR  2. grab a PC-owner friend and shop the local grud
establishments for a '386 PC/AT.


    "Here" may be the joyful realm of PC-ville. Your 'big problems' are
deciding whether to

     1. add another 2MB of RAM (to handle "Windows 3.0" stuff), and/or
     2. fill that little vertical panel slot with a 1.44MB 3.5" drive, 
and/or
     3. swap out your old 40MB drive for a 120MB unit, and/or
     4. dump your old VGA card plus the non-multi-sync monitor and 
replace
        with extended VGA equipment.

Recommendations: Yes, Yes, Maybe, Not yet. It may also be a good idea 
to keep
your weekends open and your car gassed-up, just in case someone calls 
about
doing some shopping.


     If "here" is IIgs-ville then you already know the 'old place' 
isn't what
it used to be. I've lost track of the number of IIgs projects 
"cancelled for
lack of market interest", deceased hardware suppliers, and major vendor 
PR
persons who (politely) 
barely refrain from laughing when I ask about "availability in IIgs 
format". As
to national/international publications which actually devote hundreds 
of column
inches to II coverage on a monthly basis...; suffice it to say you 
won't need
base ten 
numerals to
 count them.

     A sampling of local bulletin board listings pretty well sums up 
what has
happened. In a printout from 1986, of 70 boards, 17 (24.3%) are listed 
as
"Apple" BB systems, which ties with PC for the lead. By December 1990, 
of 298
boards, 8 (2.7%) are "
Apple" BB's. Amiga and Atari shares are even smaller; C-64/128 (4.4%) 
and Mac
(3%) come in a bit higher. PC's share is 81.5%.

     You (we) were entirely justified in expecting Apple to make a 
major II
series effort long before now-- if only to prevent nearly complete 
dominance of
unit sales, peripherals development, and software releases by a 
platform with
which no Apple 
product is compatible. Think back to the late '80's and you can see 
that the
threat of a strong, improving IIgs was the last barrier to a no-name 
PC/AT
sweep. When, by mid-'89, the "threat" evaporated, Amiga, Atari, Mac, 
and even
IBM each had good reason 
to be v
ery very concerned. If they weren't then, you can bet they are now. 
Mac's big
watchword used to be "Friendliness"; today it's "Connectivity". IBM, 
who used
to believe IT decided PC standards, dares not market the PS/1 without 
offering
an optional 
expansion box to hold AT-compatible cards!

     So much for spilt milk. As they say in the beer commercials: 
"Well, Pard,
(slurp) it don't get no worsen this!" 'It' could; but, evidently, it 
won't.
Several bright spots on the horizon point to, if anything, the 
beginnings of a
IIgs upturn. First, 
there's the Mac LC. Last Fall, according to "industry watchers", 'LC 
was
destined to displace IIgs and, thus, signal the inevitable demise of 
the II
series. Instead, as we now know, 'LC positions color Macs, more or less
permanently, OUT of IIgs 
territory.
Big Green's Mac cards are on the table. When Apple makes a serious 
low-end
market play, it will be the 'IIgs card'.

     Every IIgs user is aware that most major software vendors are not
releasing 'all of that great PC stuff' in IIgs format. Too little 
attention is
given to the continuing strong support from sources like Beagle Bros, 
Roger
Wagner, Byte Works, and MECC.
 Nibble and SoftDisk-GS regularly release quality software and 
individual
programmers continue to produce useful, innovative shareware.

     Two recent product releases are especially encouraging. Apple's 
GS/OS 5.04
may come on as "just another revision of old, familiar GS/OS" to IIgs 
owners
preoccupied with hardware needs. No problem; the 'Rule Book' says that 
if you
use a machine, you'
re supposed to carp about the operating system. Meanwhile, PC/AT users 
are
falling all over themselves in glee at the thought that they may soon 
have
something like GS/OS.

     The other release is "Platinum Paint" from Beagle Bros. It's the 
kind of
product that could have "mainstream users" wondering where the 
mainstream is.
If the IIgs is dead, at least it's attracting some very classy flies. 
If it's
not, what might we 
look forward to when the upturn REALLY gathers steam?!

     Though inCider's "Meet the Mac LC'" piece made no recommendations 
and was
hardly enthusiastic-- well, actually, it reads like something one might 
come up
with in a Mac prisoner of war camp-- even so, Roger Wagner responded 
with a
full-page rebuttal. 
One comment was especially thought provoking: "The IIgs is the best 
platform
with which to enter the '90's."

     My first reaction was something along the lines of "Poor RW. He's 
finally
blown a 'higher functions' LSI chip. How can IIgs be the 'best 
platform' if
it's not supported?" But that, of course is RW's point. Viewed 'in 
itself',
instead of "Will it be 
around next year?", "Is it smart buy?", etc. the IIgs has remarkable 
potential.
For starters, it is the ONLY platform to offer both an abundance of 
expansion
slots AND sophisticated firmware. It is also a compact machine widely 
regarded
as the best 
looking
computer ever produced by anyone. (Well, it never hurts to be good 
looking.)

     Granting that IIgs is in the "Best Platform" running; what's the 
problem?
Why isn't the Best Platform doing BP-type stuff? This one's easy. Just 
imagine
that you've switched-in a bigger power supply and crammed a 1MB model 
IIgs with
the best 
available performance enhancers. What is missing? Exactly! Until we can 
either
swap-out motherboards or plug in a card to obtain 'state of the world' 
graphics
capabilities, non of the other add-ons will be enough to spark a 
full-scale
IIgs swarming. 
Conversely, on
ce super graphics ARE in place, all of the other add-ons and the IIgs 
itself
will immediately become vastly more attractive.

Recommendations: Keep, use, enjoy, and learn about your IIgs. It could 
wind up
as one of the big winners in Computer Wars II. Speed-up, math 
co-processor, and
similar enhancements are worth a serious look, so long as you are 
willing to
accept the risks (
i.e. future compatibility) that come with 'leading the pack'.

     As to user hardware experimentation, why not? Your Apple club's 
IIgs VGA
card project could be THE way to crack the graphics logjam. ("What 
about the
CRT monitor and 'old IIgs' super-res?" Easy. We buy multi-syncs, plug 
them into
your new super IIgs 
VGA card and 'standardize' IIgs as a dual color monitor machine! Now, 
what sort
of programming, flight-sim, CAD, and adventure game software do you 
suppose
THAT would attract!!)



ISSUE 82/ II to Two

     By now it should be clear that, for the active computer user, 
access to a
PC/AT machine is a 'given'. Along with your radio, TV, and telephone, 
it has
become 'standard equipment'. Interestingly, it has not attracted much
experimenter interest nor 
anything like a fanatic user group following. Today's generic PC/AT IS 
a good,
solid machine and, by far, the best price/performance personal 
computing
value-- besides which, it continues to absorb an overwhelming portion 
of major
software vendor 
attention. I
t has not, however, replaced the Apple II.

     Why? Many reasons; but, to keep it short: you can't and/or won't 
do "Apple
II" stuff on your PC. This especially applies to experimentation and 
one's
willingness to try out enhancement products from a growing list of new 
'garage
shop' suppliers. 
Ironically, when a II user moves from II-only to "two"-- i.e. adds a 
PC-- there
is more enthusiasm for enhancements and, after a brief dip, time spent 
using
the older machine actually increases! For whatever reason, the "endless 
Apple
II" does seem to be 
on th
e rebound. Two computers really are better than one.

____________________________




From: Charles T. "Dr. Tom" Turley

Related FAQs Resources: R010APPLE1.GIF (GIF pic of Apple I)


003- How did Woz invent the Apple computer?

Following is a Steve Wozniak interview which appeared in the Summer 
1997 issue
of II Alive.



Looking Back: Woz Tells: "How I Did It!"

Charles T. Turley, interviewer


     The recent flurry of speculations surrounding Apple Inc.'s future 
seems to
have stirred up questions concerning birth of the Apple II. Some 
writers have
reported that coding of the first II ROMs was a fairly simple affair 
since, "of
course", Steve 
Wozniak had access to an assembler and terminal. Similar "obvious" and 
"easy"
comments have surfaced about the decisions to use dynamic RAM and 
include a
BASIC interpreter. I decided to ask Woz for all the facts.


C.T.: Yo--- Fruity Dog 6.2