My New Toy

RWood · 07-13-2008, 12:07 PM

Amid this rush of new technology ...

Here's a shot of my new toy -- an Apple //e computer with a 65c02 CPU running at 1 MHz, 128 MB of RAM, dual single-sided 5.25" floppies, and a color monitor. The Apple ][ back in the late 70s was the first microcomputer that I had that I did not have to assemble from parts. The hardware runs great.

I have added to it a parallel printer card, a serial card, and a new card (yes, there are still people making hardware for this machine all these years later) that allows you to connect a Compact Flash memory card as a hard disk. Since the max size of a ProDOS volume is 32 Megs, this gives me four disks on a single 128 MB CF card.

A bunch of dedicated people have already scanned in the main documentation -- both hardware and software -- and make the image files available in PDF format. I now have more Apple ][ books than I ever had before.

Software? Most of the Apple 8-bit software is now abandonware. The companies are either out of business or have moved on. There are archives of disk images available on the Internet.

I have found most of what I used before -- assemblers, Pascal compilers, word processors, utilities, and spreadsheets. What I have been unable to find is dBase II for the Apple II. I consulted for many years to both private firms and Government Agencies on dBase and this is the platform and product that started it all. If anyone out there has a copy of dBase II for the Apple II (or knows of one available), I'm interested.

By the way, the first interactive book I ever read was Portal on the Apple ][. In fact Amazon still offers the book version.

desertgrandma · 07-13-2008, 12:50 PM

I kinda/sorta understand your reasoning behind this. I just don't know how to phrase it. I know it must be obvious to everyone else on this board but tell me what you are going to use it for.

vivaldirules · 07-13-2008, 01:01 PM

Yeah. What she said. What for, Good Master Wood?

6charlong · 07-13-2008, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWood

Amid this rush of new technology ...

By the way, the first interactive book I ever read was Portal on the Apple ][. In fact Amazon still offers the book version.

Do you still have the collected works of Infocom? Those stories were really great. I don't have them all, but I did manage to get most of them in MS-DOS: almost all are on mini-floppy disks. Interestingly, Vista reads the files after a bit of tweaking. But to have direct access to the originals is awesome! Great find.

RickyMaveety · 07-13-2008, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6charlong

Do you still have the collected works of Infocom? Those stories were really great. I don't have them all, but I did manage to get most of them in MS-DOS: almost all are on mini-floppy disks. Interestingly, Vista reads the files after a bit of tweaking. But to have direct access to the originals is awesome! Great find.

My first Infocom title was "Hitchhiker's Guide." I found I played my best with that title when I was dead drunk.

I'm not kidding ... I remember trying to open one door, being told it was locked and that I needed the key. Looked all over for the damn key. Then, had a little too much wine, and just sat there typing "open the door" over and over again .... finally the door opened and the text read "The door opens. We lied about it being locked."

Got to love an interactive book that lies to you.

6charlong · 07-13-2008, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

My first Infocom title was "Hitchhiker's Guide." I found I played my best with that title when I was dead drunk.

I'm not kidding ... I remember trying to open one door, being told it was locked and that I needed the key. Looked all over for the damn key. Then, had a little too much wine, and just sat there typing "open the door" over and over again .... finally the door opened and the text read "The door opens. We lied about it being locked."

Got to love an interactive book that lies to you.

I loved the way Leather Goddesses of Phobos starts with a warning that you have to be over 18 to play, then it prompts for your age. If you give it <18 it scolds you and repeats the prompt. If you then type in >=18 it scolds you for lying: "You just said you were 17!" And still won't start. You have to restart the book and give it any number larger than 18 to play.

I've got to find a USB minifloppy drive to play them all again.

zelda_pinwheel · 07-13-2008, 03:24 PM

oh boy. this reminds me of the day my dad called to tell me about the "new" apple he found at some second hand store. i can't remember the model, but it had something like 8 mo of ram and a 64mo hard drive (the system probably took up about 10 of those). he was so excited. he installed photoshop 2 (or something... i think it was still in black and white) on it, "and listen, that thing will boot up in under 10 seconds !!" heheh... this was about 2 years ago by the way.

Aurora W · 07-13-2008, 04:31 PM

An actual functioning IIe? Too cool...

First Apple machine I ever worked on was my parents IIc. Had a built-in disc drive and an external, an oh-so-lovely green screen monitor and a four color (!) printer. That IIc probably weighed as much as my current iMac and laptop put together, too. But it sure beat the other computers that were out there at the time.

Wish I could help with the dBase II. I remember seeing back in the day...but haven't seen an actual copy of it in years.

RWood · 07-13-2008, 05:11 PM

Available in disk images over the web are thousands of game disks including the complete Infocom series. In addition to the age checker, I rather liked LGOP's sex determination method, it depended upon which bathroom you went into. For the younger members of MR -- these were text based adventures that did not use a mouse. to go somewhere you typed NE to move northeast or UP to move up. BTW: They generally did not have a lower case so all typing was upper case.

What do I plan on doing with it? Play with it. The PCs of today are great Information Machines - they do specific tasks and do them very well. The old Apples were just plain simple fun.

RWood · 07-13-2008, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aurora W

An actual functioning IIe? Too cool...

First Apple machine I ever worked on was my parents IIc. Had a built-in disc drive and an external, an oh-so-lovely green screen monitor and a four color (!) printer. That IIc probably weighed as much as my current iMac and laptop put together, too. But it sure beat the other computers that were out there at the time.

Wish I could help with the dBase II. I remember seeing back in the day...but haven't seen an actual copy of it in years.

Likewise, I have not seen a copy of it in years. I remember in the day when I could type in their programming language at he same speed as I could type in English (and with fewer spelling errors.) I would love to find a copy of these disks again.

I just found some old Sherlock Holmes disks, there was about one short story per disk. Again, all in upper case.

UncleDuke · 07-13-2008, 10:56 PM

i wrote a lot on apple's once they got lower case letters

good machines

jerryleejr · 07-14-2008, 06:38 AM

I have actually been looking for Wishbringer, I found it at one point but never could get it to run

JJ

grimo1re · 07-14-2008, 07:02 AM

You said the d-word (dBase). Now I'm going to be off-kilter all day. Thanks! Grmbl, grmbl.

And how geeky is this thread anyway!

zelda_pinwheel · 07-14-2008, 07:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grimo1re

And how geeky is this thread anyway!

it's pretty geeky... i'd say a lot to the power of infinity.

pshrynk · 07-14-2008, 09:15 AM

I recently padi to have my HP41CV's card reader refurbished. Almost paid a LOT of money to get a new rechargeable battery. Retro geek stuff is, apparently, the new chic.

07-13-2008, 12:07 PM	#1
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	My New Toy Amid this rush of new technology ... Here's a shot of my new toy -- an Apple //e computer with a 65c02 CPU running at 1 MHz, 128 MB of RAM, dual single-sided 5.25" floppies, and a color monitor. The Apple ][ back in the late 70s was the first microcomputer that I had that I did not have to assemble from parts. The hardware runs great. I have added to it a parallel printer card, a serial card, and a new card (yes, there are still people making hardware for this machine all these years later) that allows you to connect a Compact Flash memory card as a hard disk. Since the max size of a ProDOS volume is 32 Megs, this gives me four disks on a single 128 MB CF card. A bunch of dedicated people have already scanned in the main documentation -- both hardware and software -- and make the image files available in PDF format. I now have more Apple ][ books than I ever had before. Software? Most of the Apple 8-bit software is now abandonware. The companies are either out of business or have moved on. There are archives of disk images available on the Internet. I have found most of what I used before -- assemblers, Pascal compilers, word processors, utilities, and spreadsheets. What I have been unable to find is dBase II for the Apple II. I consulted for many years to both private firms and Government Agencies on dBase and this is the platform and product that started it all. If anyone out there has a copy of dBase II for the Apple II (or knows of one available), I'm interested. By the way, the first interactive book I ever read was Portal on the Apple ][. In fact Amazon still offers the book version. Attached Thumbnails

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07-13-2008, 12:50 PM	#2
desertgrandma Enjoying the show.... Posts: 14,270 Karma: 10462843 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Arizona Device: A K1, Kindle Paperwhite, an Ipod, IPad2, Iphone, an Ipad Mini & macAir	I kinda/sorta understand your reasoning behind this. I just don't know how to phrase it. I know it must be obvious to everyone else on this board but tell me what you are going to use it for.

07-13-2008, 01:01 PM	#3
vivaldirules When's Doughnut Day? Posts: 10,059 Karma: 13675475 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Houston, TX, US Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad	Yeah. What she said. What for, Good Master Wood?

07-13-2008, 03:24 PM	#7
zelda_pinwheel zeldinha zippy zeldissima Posts: 27,827 Karma: 921169 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Paris, France Device: eb1150 & is that a nook in her pocket, or she just happy to see you?	oh boy. this reminds me of the day my dad called to tell me about the "new" apple he found at some second hand store. i can't remember the model, but it had something like 8 mo of ram and a 64mo hard drive (the system probably took up about 10 of those). he was so excited. he installed photoshop 2 (or something... i think it was still in black and white) on it, "and listen, that thing will boot up in under 10 seconds !!" heheh... this was about 2 years ago by the way.

07-13-2008, 04:31 PM	#8
Aurora W Addict Posts: 208 Karma: 2435146 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: back in the Midwest, USA Device: PRS-950, iPad, Nexus 7	An actual functioning IIe? Too cool... First Apple machine I ever worked on was my parents IIc. Had a built-in disc drive and an external, an oh-so-lovely green screen monitor and a four color (!) printer. That IIc probably weighed as much as my current iMac and laptop put together, too. But it sure beat the other computers that were out there at the time. Wish I could help with the dBase II. I remember seeing back in the day...but haven't seen an actual copy of it in years.

07-13-2008, 05:11 PM	#9
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	Available in disk images over the web are thousands of game disks including the complete Infocom series. In addition to the age checker, I rather liked LGOP's sex determination method, it depended upon which bathroom you went into. For the younger members of MR -- these were text based adventures that did not use a mouse. to go somewhere you typed NE to move northeast or UP to move up. BTW: They generally did not have a lower case so all typing was upper case. What do I plan on doing with it? Play with it. The PCs of today are great Information Machines - they do specific tasks and do them very well. The old Apples were just plain simple fun.

07-13-2008, 10:56 PM	#11
UncleDuke books & doughnuts Posts: 882 Karma: 37857 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: usa Device: sony reader, kindle2	i wrote a lot on apple's once they got lower case letters good machines

07-14-2008, 06:38 AM	#12
jerryleejr Koby-rific! Posts: 944 Karma: 191112 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: 2' From My MacBook Pro Device: Kobo Sage,Kobo Aura One, Glo HD,PRS-T1,PRS-950, PRS 300, PRS 350	I have actually been looking for Wishbringer, I found it at one point but never could get it to run JJ

07-14-2008, 07:02 AM	#13
grimo1re Geekette Posts: 435 Karma: 3335 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: NSW, Australia Device: Sony Reader PRS500, PocketBook 360	You said the d-word (dBase). Now I'm going to be off-kilter all day. Thanks! Grmbl, grmbl. And how geeky is this thread anyway!

07-14-2008, 09:15 AM	#15
pshrynk Beepbeep n beebeep, yeah! Posts: 11,726 Karma: 8255450 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin, aka America's IceBox Device: iThingie, KmkII, I miss Zelda!	I recently padi to have my HP41CV's card reader refurbished. Almost paid a LOT of money to get a new rechargeable battery. Retro geek stuff is, apparently, the new chic.