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The Apple IIGS - 25th anniversary!
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Mitchell Spector
Sep 15, 2011, 3:35:44 PM9/15/11
to
It's worth mentioning that 25 years ago, on this very day,
Apple unvieled the Apple IIGS computer to the world. That
day was September 15, 1986.
Hard to believe the machine is a quarter century old!
I wish I had some way to commemorate the day. Mind
you, here's a little something. I framed the promotional
phamplet(s) introducing the GS, here's a look....
http://www.dslreports.com/speak/slideshow/26321831?c=1686496&ret=L2ZvcnVtL3IyNjMyMTgzMS1UaGUtQXBwbGUtSUlHUy0yNXRoLWFubml2ZXJzYXJ5
(I'm actually scanning that booklet; I have other copies)
...hopefully I'm not the only one who remembered. this
day. :)
Mitchell Spector
Apple unvieled the Apple IIGS computer to the world. That
day was September 15, 1986.
Hard to believe the machine is a quarter century old!
I wish I had some way to commemorate the day. Mind
you, here's a little something. I framed the promotional
phamplet(s) introducing the GS, here's a look....
http://www.dslreports.com/speak/slideshow/26321831?c=1686496&ret=L2ZvcnVtL3IyNjMyMTgzMS1UaGUtQXBwbGUtSUlHUy0yNXRoLWFubml2ZXJzYXJ5
(I'm actually scanning that booklet; I have other copies)
...hopefully I'm not the only one who remembered. this
day. :)
Mitchell Spector
D Finnigan
Sep 15, 2011, 4:03:49 PM9/15/11
to
Mitchell Spector wrote:
> It's worth mentioning that 25 years ago, on this very day,
> Apple unvieled the Apple IIGS computer to the world. That
> day was September 15, 1986.
>
>
> It's worth mentioning that 25 years ago, on this very day,
> Apple unvieled the Apple IIGS computer to the world. That
> day was September 15, 1986.
>
>
> ...hopefully I'm not the only one who remembered. this
> day. :)
>
No way! I had no idea it's today. I'll see what I can dig up.
> day. :)
>
That means my IIgs monitor is also 25 years old. And I still haven't fixed
that problem that was the subject of my very first post here to csa2. :-(
D Finnigan
Sep 15, 2011, 4:12:42 PM9/15/11
to
Selected articles from net.micro.apple at the time of the IIgs release:
---
20 Oct 1986 3:21 pm
" I have seen the future of color graphics - it is the Apple IIGS.
I have seen the future of computerized sound - it is the Apple IIGS.
All I can say is Wow. Totally stunned and destroyed. Awesome. Great, even.
First, the pictures I have seen in A+ and other magazines do not show the
computer's size to scale. It is substantially smaller than the //e, almost
the size of the //c. Tiny in comparison to say, an inferior IBM (ok, that is
redundant and repetitive; sorry :-)) ).Yet, still as expandable as a //e
(the IIGS I saw had a 1-meg expansion installed; Mac + owners BEWARE{I
should
know, I am one})."
Read More: http://macgui.com/usenet/?group=6&thread=2116&id=3229
-----------
03 Oct 1986 5:41 pm
"One other thing that I forgot to mention... What happened to the CASSETTE
PORT.. Hey Apple whats up????
Kidding aside they could've had more *(*)s and given us some better
basic.... I plunked my name on a list anyway..... Everyone is talking about
the bus being only 16 bits... I read that the data bus is 24 bits... Is this
the internal bus??? Also they could've givven us some 16 bit expander slots
to play with.... "
Read More: http://macgui.com/usenet/?group=6&thread=2031&id=3068
-----------
29 Sep 1986 5:59 am
"The Apple //gs was officially unveiled Staurday, Sept 27th to the
public. The machine has most of the rumored features we have been
hearing about for the past few months. The speed is a little disappoi-
pointing (2.8 mhz) considering that 4 and 6 mhz versions of the 65816
areare available. I predict that some hardware manufacturer will have
an accelerator board for the //gs on the market within a year. The
graphics of the machine are probably what people are most interested
in. It has the older modes plus two new modes: 640 X 200 and 320 X 200.
The rumors about 768 X 512 were just rumors I guess. The 200 vertical
resolution is a little disappointing too. Engineers at Apple pushed for
400 vertical resolution but were overruled because of the expense of
RGB monitors that can display such graphics without flickering."
Read More: http://macgui.com/usenet/?group=6&thread=2019&id=3048
-----------
17 Sep 1986 2:35 pm
"Personallyni'm not really that impressed. I mean they took alot from the
MAC
with all the windows/icons and stuff. I would of thought that the graphics
would be alot bette and wit should've had a SCSi port built in. While
reading
the aricle I just felt that they just designed it with the what was already
done with the //e [by 3rd parties]just put it all in a neater package I''ll
wait till I see a REAL one before deciding to go IBM or not"
Read More: http://macgui.com/usenet/?group=6&thread=1999&id=3014
-----------
13 Sep 1986 12:23 am
"I thought net.micro.apple would be flooded by the end of this week with
news and specs about the apple IIgs. I read an article in a magazine
(computable) which was to detailed to be just a rumor."
Read More: http://macgui.com/usenet/?group=6&thread=1998&id=3010
--
]DF$
Mac GUI Vault - A source for retro Apple II and
Macintosh computing.
http://macgui.com/vault/
---
20 Oct 1986 3:21 pm
" I have seen the future of color graphics - it is the Apple IIGS.
I have seen the future of computerized sound - it is the Apple IIGS.
All I can say is Wow. Totally stunned and destroyed. Awesome. Great, even.
First, the pictures I have seen in A+ and other magazines do not show the
computer's size to scale. It is substantially smaller than the //e, almost
the size of the //c. Tiny in comparison to say, an inferior IBM (ok, that is
redundant and repetitive; sorry :-)) ).Yet, still as expandable as a //e
(the IIGS I saw had a 1-meg expansion installed; Mac + owners BEWARE{I
should
know, I am one})."
Read More: http://macgui.com/usenet/?group=6&thread=2116&id=3229
-----------
03 Oct 1986 5:41 pm
"One other thing that I forgot to mention... What happened to the CASSETTE
PORT.. Hey Apple whats up????
Kidding aside they could've had more *(*)s and given us some better
basic.... I plunked my name on a list anyway..... Everyone is talking about
the bus being only 16 bits... I read that the data bus is 24 bits... Is this
the internal bus??? Also they could've givven us some 16 bit expander slots
to play with.... "
Read More: http://macgui.com/usenet/?group=6&thread=2031&id=3068
-----------
29 Sep 1986 5:59 am
"The Apple //gs was officially unveiled Staurday, Sept 27th to the
public. The machine has most of the rumored features we have been
hearing about for the past few months. The speed is a little disappoi-
pointing (2.8 mhz) considering that 4 and 6 mhz versions of the 65816
areare available. I predict that some hardware manufacturer will have
an accelerator board for the //gs on the market within a year. The
graphics of the machine are probably what people are most interested
in. It has the older modes plus two new modes: 640 X 200 and 320 X 200.
The rumors about 768 X 512 were just rumors I guess. The 200 vertical
resolution is a little disappointing too. Engineers at Apple pushed for
400 vertical resolution but were overruled because of the expense of
RGB monitors that can display such graphics without flickering."
Read More: http://macgui.com/usenet/?group=6&thread=2019&id=3048
-----------
17 Sep 1986 2:35 pm
"Personallyni'm not really that impressed. I mean they took alot from the
MAC
with all the windows/icons and stuff. I would of thought that the graphics
would be alot bette and wit should've had a SCSi port built in. While
reading
the aricle I just felt that they just designed it with the what was already
done with the //e [by 3rd parties]just put it all in a neater package I''ll
wait till I see a REAL one before deciding to go IBM or not"
Read More: http://macgui.com/usenet/?group=6&thread=1999&id=3014
-----------
13 Sep 1986 12:23 am
"I thought net.micro.apple would be flooded by the end of this week with
news and specs about the apple IIgs. I read an article in a magazine
(computable) which was to detailed to be just a rumor."
Read More: http://macgui.com/usenet/?group=6&thread=1998&id=3010
--
]DF$
Mac GUI Vault - A source for retro Apple II and
Macintosh computing.
http://macgui.com/vault/
Marc S. Ressl
Sep 15, 2011, 10:28:04 PM9/15/11
to
Happy birthday!
Marc.-
magnusfalkirk
Sep 16, 2011, 10:10:24 AM9/16/11
to
On Sep 15, 2:35 pm, Mitchell Spector <mitch...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> It's worth mentioning that 25 years ago, on this very day,
> Apple unvieled the Apple IIGS computer to the world. That
> day was September 15, 1986.
>
> Hard to believe the machine is a quarter century old!
> I wish I had some way to commemorate the day. Mind
> you, here's a little something. I framed the promotional
> phamplet(s) introducing the GS, here's a look....
>
> http://www.dslreports.com/speak/slideshow/26321831?c=1686496&ret=L2Zv...
> It's worth mentioning that 25 years ago, on this very day,
> Apple unvieled the Apple IIGS computer to the world. That
> day was September 15, 1986.
>
> Hard to believe the machine is a quarter century old!
> I wish I had some way to commemorate the day. Mind
> you, here's a little something. I framed the promotional
> phamplet(s) introducing the GS, here's a look....
>
>
> (I'm actually scanning that booklet; I have other copies)
>
> ...hopefully I'm not the only one who remembered. this
> day. :)
>
> Mitchell Spector
I was stationed in W. Germany at the time, courtesy of the USAF, so I
> (I'm actually scanning that booklet; I have other copies)
>
> ...hopefully I'm not the only one who remembered. this
> day. :)
>
> Mitchell Spector
didn't see an Apple IIGS until I got back to the states in Oct.
Finally saw one at a computer store in St. Louis, since I was
stationed at Scott AFB in IL. I had an enhanced Apple IIe at the time
but loved the looks of the GS and read everything I could about it.
Finally got one after being transferred to Las Vegas in 1993, Nellis
AFB. Bought it from another member of the local Apple user group. Had
it until I managed to do something stupid in 2003 and killed the
computer. Was dumb enough to think I was done with Apple II's so
tossed it and all the software I had. Two years later discovered
emulators and all the Apple II software online. Now I'm the proud
owner of an Apple //e, //c and //GS. Also will be adding a CFFA 3000
to the GS shortly.
Dean
D Finnigan
Sep 16, 2011, 11:14:36 AM9/16/11
to
magnusfalkirk wrote:
Was dumb enough to think I was done with Apple II's so
> tossed it and all the software I had. Two years later discovered
> emulators and all the Apple II software online. Now I'm the proud
> owner of an Apple //e, //c and //GS. Also will be adding a CFFA 3000
> to the GS shortly.
>
Ah, the pack rat's curse: I can't throw anything out; what if I shall need
Was dumb enough to think I was done with Apple II's so
> tossed it and all the software I had. Two years later discovered
> emulators and all the Apple II software online. Now I'm the proud
> owner of an Apple //e, //c and //GS. Also will be adding a CFFA 3000
> to the GS shortly.
>
it later??!!
;-)
Steve Nickolas
Sep 16, 2011, 11:18:36 AM9/16/11
to
-uso.
Tempest
Sep 16, 2011, 2:42:51 PM9/16/11
to
I remember hearing about the IIgs. My parents wanted to buy me an
Apple for Christmas that year (1986) and were considering the IIgs.
But there were problems with the store getting IIgs's, and they didn't
want to wait so they got me a IIe instead. I still have and use that
IIe to this day. I wonder how much different things would have been
if they had been able to get their hands on a IIgs instead?
Tempest
Apple for Christmas that year (1986) and were considering the IIgs.
But there were problems with the store getting IIgs's, and they didn't
want to wait so they got me a IIe instead. I still have and use that
IIe to this day. I wonder how much different things would have been
if they had been able to get their hands on a IIgs instead?
Tempest
D Finnigan
Sep 16, 2011, 4:27:52 PM9/16/11
to
Tempest wrote:
> I wonder how much different things would have been
> if they had been able to get their hands on a IIgs instead?
>
You would have gotten tired of using a Mac-imitation machine, and would have
> I wonder how much different things would have been
> if they had been able to get their hands on a IIgs instead?
>
saved up for the real thing, never looking back again.
:-P
*ducks and runs*
Tony Kavadias
Sep 17, 2011, 4:07:38 AM9/17/11
to
At the time the Apple IIGS was released, I was actually a reseller.
It was exciting to see all of the marketing materials for the new
machine, including that pamphlet that Mitchell framed!
I kept the brochure for a while, but along with a lot of other Apple
II literature, had to be thrown out. The ROM 3 Apple IIGS I once
owned went to another younger fan who needed the machine more than me!
Being a reseller, I had access to a lot of things, and the Apple IIGS
I built myself had 2 MB of RAM, 2 Apple 3.5 drives (I never really got
myself into the 5.25 floppy disk territory just for the sheer
challenge of moving as much software as I could to 3.5" disks),
AppleColor RGB monitor and an ImageWriter II. By the time I finished
the system, it was worth well over AUD$6000, and I was just about to
buy a SCSI card and hard drive, but at the time, wasn't convinced that
the performance of the card justified the card's cost. That money
went to the cost of a Mac SE/30 when I decided to move on.
Along with the Apple IIGS, I had reams and reams of developer notes
from AAPDA before the Firmware and Hardware Reference texts came out
to Australia. Had to say that writing for the Apple IIGS was
difficult in the first few years of the machine's life since you had
to write much of the tools yourself before you could get to the
machine's goodies!
But unlike today's machines, at least you could GET to the machine's
goodies!!!
—tonza
It was exciting to see all of the marketing materials for the new
machine, including that pamphlet that Mitchell framed!
I kept the brochure for a while, but along with a lot of other Apple
II literature, had to be thrown out. The ROM 3 Apple IIGS I once
owned went to another younger fan who needed the machine more than me!
Being a reseller, I had access to a lot of things, and the Apple IIGS
I built myself had 2 MB of RAM, 2 Apple 3.5 drives (I never really got
myself into the 5.25 floppy disk territory just for the sheer
challenge of moving as much software as I could to 3.5" disks),
AppleColor RGB monitor and an ImageWriter II. By the time I finished
the system, it was worth well over AUD$6000, and I was just about to
buy a SCSI card and hard drive, but at the time, wasn't convinced that
the performance of the card justified the card's cost. That money
went to the cost of a Mac SE/30 when I decided to move on.
Along with the Apple IIGS, I had reams and reams of developer notes
from AAPDA before the Firmware and Hardware Reference texts came out
to Australia. Had to say that writing for the Apple IIGS was
difficult in the first few years of the machine's life since you had
to write much of the tools yourself before you could get to the
machine's goodies!
But unlike today's machines, at least you could GET to the machine's
goodies!!!
—tonza
Tony Kavadias
Sep 17, 2011, 4:17:46 AM9/17/11
to
Design Group's prototyping platform! <grin!> The Apple IIGS is the
only computer that implemented Apple's official Human Interface on
anything other than a Macintosh.
And some of the more interesting ideas never got transcribed over to
the Mac... one I can remember in particular is the Finder 6's Get Info
window with tabbed views. Another was the Finder alerts that related
to replacing files on a copy or move operation... I still detest the
way Mac OS X 10.7 deals with this, using buttons that appear in a long
horizontal line rather than a small, square cluster, making buttons a
little harder to reach. And that "Apply to all" checkbox is certainly
not one of my favourite user interface designs! It's faster for the
user to click on one of more buttons than it is to click on a
checkbox, then a button.
—tonza
Alex Lee
Sep 17, 2011, 8:03:12 AM9/17/11
to
- Alex
sporadic
Sep 18, 2011, 3:01:01 AM9/18/11
to
Amazing to think it's been that long! I upgraded from a IIe to the IIgs while I was in high school. I remembered I had to borrow some money from my sister since I didn't have the full $2K. Used the GS pretty much until the end of college when I finally moved to the AMD 486DX-40 running OS/2. I kept the IIe and IIgs but parted out a lot of the goodies, like the ZipGSX, collection of GS+ magazines, original games, mouse for the IIe, SSC, etc., so I could afford the 486.
I've been hoarding Apple II hardware in the past few years, in addition to the IIe & gs from my childhood, I have 7 more GSes and 2 IIc+, and got both the ZipGSX, TWgs, and a Zip 4000. Also added some modern hardware, like TurboIDE, TDX sound card, CFFA3000. Missed out on the Uthernet/Lanced ethernet though, not that I really need it :)
I think the best part of playing with real hardware is nostalgia, it's like being in a time machine and all the wonderful memories come flooding back. I love all the emulators available on OS X and Windows, but it doesn't "feel" the same as real hardware. It's funny, I have a Sandy Bridge 2600K and I get more fun tinkering with a 10MHz GS than a 3400MHz PC, even if just for a couple of hours.
I do wonder what will happen to these systems though. I think all of us who grew up in that era and still tinker with Apple IIs is a shrinking population. I can't honestly say there's someone I can leave my collection to, who will really appreciate it. It's not just hardware either, I have a crazy large collection of old Nibble, inCider and A+ magazines. It's amazing I didn't trash them during the numerous moves between high school and now. I shudder at the thought of all this just being junked and taking up space in the landfill somewhere.
Jimmy
I've been hoarding Apple II hardware in the past few years, in addition to the IIe & gs from my childhood, I have 7 more GSes and 2 IIc+, and got both the ZipGSX, TWgs, and a Zip 4000. Also added some modern hardware, like TurboIDE, TDX sound card, CFFA3000. Missed out on the Uthernet/Lanced ethernet though, not that I really need it :)
I think the best part of playing with real hardware is nostalgia, it's like being in a time machine and all the wonderful memories come flooding back. I love all the emulators available on OS X and Windows, but it doesn't "feel" the same as real hardware. It's funny, I have a Sandy Bridge 2600K and I get more fun tinkering with a 10MHz GS than a 3400MHz PC, even if just for a couple of hours.
I do wonder what will happen to these systems though. I think all of us who grew up in that era and still tinker with Apple IIs is a shrinking population. I can't honestly say there's someone I can leave my collection to, who will really appreciate it. It's not just hardware either, I have a crazy large collection of old Nibble, inCider and A+ magazines. It's amazing I didn't trash them during the numerous moves between high school and now. I shudder at the thought of all this just being junked and taking up space in the landfill somewhere.
Jimmy
dboomsma
Sep 19, 2011, 12:15:49 PM9/19/11
to
On 2011-09-15 19:35:44 +0000, Mitchell Spector said:
> ...hopefully I'm not the only one who remembered. this
> day. :)
Didn't realize the anniversary, but unpacked my thrusted old IIgs last
> ...hopefully I'm not the only one who remembered. this
> day. :)
week and it still works. It's been 14 years since, and it feels like
you walk into a graveyard: it's all there the way you left it back
then. But I plan to keep it working from now on; ordered the Uthernet &
CFFA card.
On the other hand, it's great to hang around in irc.a2central.com with
folks from the old times. And very nice to see some more folks in
c.s.a.2!
Kind regards,
Doede Boomsma
aka DarkDude @15 FutureNet / Dark Castle BBS
the Netherlands
Oggy
Sep 19, 2011, 1:35:24 PM9/19/11
to
sporadic said the following on 9/18/2011 3:01 AM:
> ...I have a crazy
collection for about $8 per Nibble issue, for example.
> ...I have a crazy
> large collection of old Nibble, inCider and A+ magazines. It's
> amazing I didn't trash them during the numerous moves between
> high school and now. I shudder at the thought of all this
> just being junked and taking up space in the landfill
> somewhere.
Try listing your things on ebay. Someone has listed their
> amazing I didn't trash them during the numerous moves between
> high school and now. I shudder at the thought of all this
> just being junked and taking up space in the landfill
> somewhere.
collection for about $8 per Nibble issue, for example.
Michael J. Mahon
Sep 20, 2011, 6:23:05 AM9/20/11
to
treasures, I think you may underestimate the work involved in listing and
shipping potentially many hundreds of items.
And if many dissimilar items are combined in a lot, then a buyer is likely
to be uninterested in much of the lot, resulting in "wasted" treasure.
-michael - NadaNet 3.1 and AppleCrate II: http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon
Oggy
Sep 20, 2011, 11:02:16 AM9/20/11
to
Michael J. Mahon said the following on 9/20/2011 6:23 AM:
>>> ...I have a crazy large collection of old Nibble, inCider
>>> and A+ magazines. It's amazing I didn't trash them during
>>> the numerous moves..
>> Try listing your things on ebay. Someone has listed their
>> collection for about $8 per Nibble issue, for example.
> While eBay is certainly one way of sensibly disposing of Apple
> II treasures, I think you may underestimate the work involved
> in listing and shipping potentially many hundreds of items.
But if the choice is to lament over throwing the collection in
the dump or trying to sell them, then why not put the effort into
selling them. eBay's Turbo Lister tool (FREE) is a good way to
at least catalog one's collection and produce a list if anyone is
interested. And when that's done, it's a few short steps to upload.
> And if many dissimilar items are combined in a lot, then a
> buyer is likely to be uninterested in much of the lot,
> resulting in "wasted" treasure.
Then off to the dump they go! ;) But ya never know.. someone
might just what a specific issue.
.
>>> ...I have a crazy large collection of old Nibble, inCider
>>> and A+ magazines. It's amazing I didn't trash them during
>> Try listing your things on ebay. Someone has listed their
>> collection for about $8 per Nibble issue, for example.
> While eBay is certainly one way of sensibly disposing of Apple
> II treasures, I think you may underestimate the work involved
> in listing and shipping potentially many hundreds of items.
the dump or trying to sell them, then why not put the effort into
selling them. eBay's Turbo Lister tool (FREE) is a good way to
at least catalog one's collection and produce a list if anyone is
interested. And when that's done, it's a few short steps to upload.
> And if many dissimilar items are combined in a lot, then a
> buyer is likely to be uninterested in much of the lot,
> resulting in "wasted" treasure.
might just what a specific issue.
.
D Finnigan
Sep 20, 2011, 11:47:53 AM9/20/11
to
a huge box of them, and it's always been from somewhere nearby, and it's
always been for free.
Now that sounds like the perfect scenario, but I'd imagine that one would
not mind having your entire magazine collection, and then just getting rid
of the duplicates oneself.
Michael Black
Sep 20, 2011, 2:31:28 PM9/20/11
to
electronic magazines at book sales or used book stores, but if you were an
"insider" you'd have the chance to grab those boxes of magazines someone
wanted to get rid of. Or you'd have to buy them, but they'd be at the
local hamfest or such. In other words, they stayed within a circle of
hobbyists, never seen by the world beyond.
Michael
Saint Isidore - Patron Saint of the Internet
Sep 27, 2011, 10:35:54 PM9/27/11
to
On Sep 15, 12:35 pm, Mitchell Spector <mitch...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> It's worth mentioning that 25 years ago, on this very day,
> Apple unvieled the Apple IIGS computer to the world. That
> day was September 15, 1986.
>
> Hard to believe the machine is a quarter century old!
> I wish I had some way to commemorate the day. Mind
> you, here's a little something. I framed the promotional
> phamplet(s) introducing the GS, here's a look....
>
> http://www.dslreports.com/speak/slideshow/26321831?c=1686496&ret=L2Zv...
> It's worth mentioning that 25 years ago, on this very day,
> Apple unvieled the Apple IIGS computer to the world. That
> day was September 15, 1986.
>
> Hard to believe the machine is a quarter century old!
> I wish I had some way to commemorate the day. Mind
> you, here's a little something. I framed the promotional
> phamplet(s) introducing the GS, here's a look....
>
>
> (I'm actually scanning that booklet; I have other copies)
>
> ...hopefully I'm not the only one who remembered. this
> day. :)
>
> Mitchell Spector
The Apple IIgs was and still is the best Apple II ever made! - A giant
> (I'm actually scanning that booklet; I have other copies)
>
> ...hopefully I'm not the only one who remembered. this
> day. :)
>
> Mitchell Spector
25th Anniversary. Options - somebody should silver plate the case.
Peace, Love & Unity FOREVER!
Doctor Tom
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