Received: from toad.com [140.174.2.1] by alcor.process.com with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Thu, 13 Jun 1996 14:15 -0400 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by toad.com (8.7.5/8.7.3) id JAA03979 for cypherpunks-outgoing; Thu, 13 Jun 1996 09:36:36 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mail.pacifier.com (root@mail.pacifier.com [199.2.117.164]) by toad.com (8.7.5/8.7.3) with ESMTP id JAA03971 for <cypherpunks@toad.com>; Thu, 13 Jun 1996 09:36:30 -0700 (PDT) Received: from ip9.van1.pacifier.com (ip9.van1.pacifier.com [206.163.4.9]) by mail.pacifier.com (8.7.5/8.7.3) with SMTP id JAA22527; Thu, 13 Jun 1996 09:36:13 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <199606131636.JAA22527@mail.pacifier.com> X-Sender: jimbell@mail.pacifier.com X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 1.5.2 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Thu, 13 Jun 1996 09:35:16 -0800 To: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May), cypherpunks@toad.com From: jim bell <jimbell@pacifier.com> Subject: Re: PBS show Sender: owner-cypherpunks@toad.com Precedence: bulk Jim Bell wrote:
But the Apple II WAS a toy! Non-detached keyboard, poor placement of reset key, upper-case only, 40-character wide display, odd microprocessor, VERY SMALL capacity floppies (which were very slow as well), as well as a hostile legal situation regarding the building of clones. Hell, they even objected to other companies building boards which plugged into the bus!
The reason for the 40 column screen was quite simple - many customers did not want to shell out a few hundred dollars for a monitor, and instead installed a cheap RF modulator and used an old TV for a screen. The resolution of a TV is inadequate for 80 coumn text (think about the smallest easily readable text you've seen on braodcast or cable). The Apple ][ did not include the RF modulator because it wasn't FCC certified with one - but every dealer also sold $20 modulators tailored for the machine. With the unshielded plastic case, I could wipe out any other TV within 30 feet - a significant distance for a NYC apartment dweller, which I was at the time. While it was not the first machine I programmed (the PDP-8e has that dubious honor, circa 1971), I learned a lot from my Apple ][. Among other feats, I added lower case support to Apple Kermit, and implemented Life in 6502 assembler using HIRES graphics. Peter Trei trei@process.com Peter Trei Senior Software Engineer Purveyor Development Team Process Software Corporation http://www.process.com trei@process.com