User`s guide

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
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.: You've seen the report; how much is accurate?
Woz: The author of the report I received from you is wrong when he says no ROM
of large size was assembled by hand. I could never afford an assembler for the
6502 which I bought for $20.
First, I connected the 6502 to Static RAM and a video terminal of my own
design. I then wrote a short "monitor" program to watch the keyboard and display
characters, both under interrupt and polled. We didn't have 256 byte PROMS, just
256x4 PROMS at that time. I used two of the ones we burned for calculator
development at HP. The first hardware bringup had a few frustrating hours but I
got it working with polled keyboard that night.