Re: Computing Editorial (please read)

[Lee Hart <leeahart@earthlink.net>]

Paul Schlyter wrote:
> Now, is there anyone who does something else with their old Apple II?
> Any new software, or hardware, development going on for the Apple II?

I do volunteer work at my local elementary school. They have a lot of
Apple IIs that aren't being used much any more (replaced by modern PCs).
A few older kids have done some of their own programming on them. BASIC
and LOGO seem to be the languages of choice.
  
> True -- but if you learn how electronics worked 25+ years ago, then
> you'll still end up being behind those who learn how modern
> electronics works.

Except, the students I've met AREN'T learning how modern electronics
work! We've had college students interns at work. They've never touched
real parts in any of their college courses; it's all done with
simulations. They can't find pin 1 on an IC. They can't solder. They
don't even know that resistors get hot! (though they can derive it from
first principles).

>> Or, you might do it to develop some brilliant new idea that will
>> revolutionize the future world.

> And make it run on Apple II hardware?  C'mon on!

The Apple II was an open system, fully documented with complete
schematics. It required no tools to open the case and plug in accessory
cards. The speeds were slow enough that crude wiring techniques worked
just fine. The nature of the 6502 makes it easy to write programs with
precise timing. All this is lost on a modern PC.

I don't work much with the Apple II, but here are three examples of
projects that I have seen students do.

 - Built a "turtle" robot out of an old disk drive and model car. The
   head stepper steered the front wheels, and the rotation motor ran
   the car's wheels. The write protect switch became the car's bumper.
   Directly controlling the motors and sensing the switch is easy on
   an Apple II. It would be very difficult on a PC (besides which,
   the disk drives are far too delicate to be used this way).

 - Connected a phototransistor, and wrote a program to capture the
   stream of pulses from an infrared remote. Then playback these
   sequences of pulses to drive an IR LED. Used this capability to
   make a programmable remote for the TV/VCR/stereo in his bedroom.

 - Connected solenoid valves, and used them to control the water flow
   in a fountain to produce decorative displays.

> If your new idea really is so brilliant that it has the potential to
> revolutionize the future world, then it would be MUCH better to
> implement it on a modern microcontroller than on old clunky Apple II
> hardware. There are development systems for these microcontrollers
> which aren't impossibly expensive even for private budgets.

You are perhaps confusing the tool with the end result. Many great ideas
have nothing to do with computers. The computer is just a tool to solve
a problem; it is not the end in itself. Modern computers are vast
overkill for most problems. They don't help; they get in the way. If all
you need is a calculator, using a computer will only distract you and
slow you down.

The Parallax BASIC Stamp development kit is $150, and then you still
need a PC to use it. But you can pick up an Apple II for next to
nothing. Is there anything the BASIC stamp can do that the Apple II
can't?

> Now, I'm not trying to belittle retrocomputing, but merely trying to
> put things in perspective.  No matter what you think, retrocomputing
> is NOT cutting edge technological development!  Retrocomputing is a
> kind of museum activity -- its benefit is to preserve for future
> generations what computing once was.

I agree. There is a place for retrocomputing, just as there is for the
Ford model T. It's fun, it's entertaining, it's a hobby, it's
educational!
 
But, there is more to it than that. The model T is not in production,
and no one uses them as their daily driver (for safety's sake, if
nothing else). But the Z80 is still in production, and being used in new
products! It's a bit premature to pretend it's dead.

> When you built your first computer, the Internet was nowhere as
> widely accessible as it is today.  That's a big difference.

Yes. But does it help, or hinder? If you were a high school student and
wanted to build your own computer, where would you go? Where are the
plans? The parts? The kits? The software? The information on how to do
it?

> Also, your first electronic construction project should not be a
> computer: It's just too complex, even if it's a 25-year old 8-bit
> microcomputer.  It should be something simpler, for instance an AM
> radio, or a stereo amplifier, so you have a chance to understand how
> it works.

Perhaps. But different skills are required for a crystal set, an audio
amplifier, and a computer. You learn different things.

Some computers really *are* simpler than radios and audio amplifiers. In
1978 I built an 1802 "ELF" computer. You can't get much simpler, even
today!

> During my school days I once had a project called "The Transistor"...
> I let that device receive our local radio station. My son could not
> do that -- OK, he could probably build the device, but it wouldn't
> receive anything because almost all our AM radio stations have been
> closed down; we only have FM radio now.

Crystal sets still pick up AM radio stations. When you add
amplification, I can't imagine anywhere in the country where they
wouldn't bring in at least one station.

And of course, nowdays he can build an FM radio with a single
semiconductor (which happens to be an IC). The learning experience is
still there!

Ramsey Electronics has lots of inexpensive radio kits (see
www.ramseyelectronics.com). Crystal sets are under $10, or $15 with a
2-transistor audio amp. They even have inexpensive FM radio kits. Last
Christmas, I bought their shortwave receiver kit for an 11-year-old
relative; he had a ball with it!

> Perhaps you should try a ham radio club instead?  They're still
> here, even though they're declining too.  And ham rigs are getting
> more and more like computers....

Yes! Although most hams buy rather than build, home construction is
still common enough, and it's easy to find clubs with people who can
help. If you are interested in radio and not computers :-)

> Not even an experienced technician could get these things cheaper by
> constructing them himself.  That would be like building your own car
> from spare parts you buy -- such a car would end up being horribly
> expensive!

No. If it is, you aren't doing it right. :-)

The essence of "hacking" is to make do with what you can actually get
and afford. You don't build a car from new parts; you start with a
junked car you got for free, and fix it up with parts from the junkyard.

Likewise, you don't buy your computer parts new at full retail. You
strip them out of old systems, or get them at hamfests or from surplus
dealers.

> And in addition you'd have to pay a lot more money to have people
> test it for you, so you could get permission to use that vehicle
> on public roads!

As it happens, I *have* built cars from scratch. It is relatively easy
to get a custom one-off vehicle licensed. But we're getting off-topic.

> Of course life was simpler earlier.  Today it would be very hard for
> a beginner to build his own computer for scratch, a computer having
> the capabilities people expect from modern computers.  OTOH 20 years
> ago such a person wouldn't even dream of trying it, because such an
> ambition would have been considered impossible...

But, we have microcomputers today because people DID dream of building
their own computer -- and they did it!!!

> So why don't you put up a web site which shows these beginners
> how very easy this is nowadays?

That's a good idea, although the web is not where my skills lie. I have
instead been doing a lot of volunteer work in schools, showing kids how
to do it. But I am only one person. I'm writing here so perhaps others
will do their part, too.
--
Lee A. Hart                Ring the bells that still can ring
814 8th Ave. N.            Forget your perfect offering
Sartell, MN 56377 USA      There is a crack in everything
leeahart_at_earthlink.net  That's how the light gets in - Leonard Cohen