Apple II paddles

Steven Weyhrich

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Mar 6, 2013, 10:57:39 AM3/6/13

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Hi,

Does anyone have a good photo of the original Apple II game paddles pictured on this web site:

http://www.neatinformation.com/technology/joystick.html

I'd contact the author, but he has no contact information on that site.

Also, weren't these lever-based paddles featured (as a drawing) on the cover of an early Apple II manual? I could have sworn that it was the Apple II BASIC manual, but that shows the knob paddles with the tiny button on the side.

Steven Weyhrich

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Mar 6, 2013, 11:20:12 AM3/6/13

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And while we're at it, anyone have a good photo of the connector block for paddles? Hard to find any good pictures of that on the net (except Shrine of Apple, but he declined permission for inclusion in a book).

David Schmidt

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Mar 6, 2013, 11:47:57 AM3/6/13

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On 3/6/2013 10:57 AM, Steven Weyhrich wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Does anyone have a good photo of the original Apple II game paddles pictured on this web site:
>
> http://www.neatinformation.com/technology/joystick.html
>
> I'd contact the author, but he has no contact information on that site.

Why, yes - yes he does:
http://www.neatinformation.com/contact.html

Sean Fahey

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Mar 6, 2013, 2:52:45 PM3/6/13

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On Wednesday, March 6, 2013 9:57:39 AM UTC-6, Steven Weyhrich wrote:

> I'd contact the author, but he has no contact information on that site.

There's also:

http://whois.domaintools.com/neatinformation.com

Andre Bryx

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Mar 7, 2013, 4:58:53 AM3/7/13

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Am 06.03.2013 16:57, schrieb Steven Weyhrich:
> Hi,
>
> Does anyone have a good photo of the original Apple II game paddles pictured on this web site:
>

http://www.ebay.de/itm/190806846061

For Sale ...:-) (not mine)

Bill Buckels

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Mar 7, 2013, 7:06:48 AM3/7/13

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"Andre Bryx" <an...@bryx.de> wrote:

> http://www.ebay.de/itm/190806846061
> For Sale ...:-) (not mine)

I wonder how easy it would be to contact an ebay seller for permission to
use photos. Steven needs publishing rights for his material and his
research. Chasing permissions for copyright can take more time than writing.

Bill

Steven Weyhrich

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Mar 7, 2013, 7:17:58 AM3/7/13

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Actually, they are a later revision. The ones on that web site I mentioned are not knobs (potentiometers) like all of the paddles that came after; they are a lever that slides back and forth, with a button. I can't even be sure that they are Apple paddles, except I could swear I saw them on the cover of one of Apple's manuals Way Back When.

Aaron Pulver

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Mar 7, 2013, 9:35:28 AM3/7/13

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On Thursday, March 7, 2013 6:17:58 AM UTC-6, Steven Weyhrich wrote:
...

> I can't even be sure that they are Apple paddles, except I could swear I saw them on the cover of one of Apple's manuals Way Back When.

They are shown in the Apple ad in this article:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3527/a_history_of_gaming_platforms_the_.php

Steven Weyhrich

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Mar 7, 2013, 5:29:37 PM3/7/13

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Yes! Those little slider paddles! (Thanks, I knew I saw it somewhere). I suppose if nothing else, I can use an image from that advertisement.

Anybody familiar with the square paddles, and when they came out? I know the nice beige ones came out with the Apple IIe/IIc, but had not seen the square ones until I looked at that one expensive eBay auction.

Bill Buckels

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Mar 7, 2013, 7:06:48 AM3/7/13

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"Andre Bryx" <an...@bryx.de> wrote:

> http://www.ebay.de/itm/190806846061
> For Sale ...:-) (not mine)

mwillegal

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Mar 7, 2013, 7:59:54 PM3/7/13

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If your are talking about the square black ones, I got mine in the spring of '78, with an Apple II in the 2600 serial number range. There are two versions, the ones in the eBay ad have a raised center knob on top of be control. Some others, like mine, do not.

Regard, mike w

Steven Weyhrich

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Mar 8, 2013, 10:07:49 AM3/8/13

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On Thursday, March 7, 2013 6:59:54 PM UTC-6, mwillegal wrote:
> If your are talking about the square black ones, I got mine in the spring of '78, with an Apple II in the 2600 serial number range. There are two versions, the ones in the eBay ad have a raised center knob on top of be control. Some others, like mine, do not.
>
>
>
> Regard, mike w

Then that makes me wonder which came first, the square ones, or the longer ones. I know the Apple II Plus that was first exposed to have the longer black ones, but you've got an earlier one that had the Apple logo on it (the longer ones did not have any logo on them).

I did find a picture of the slider controls, from Howie Shen. He had gotten his hands on an early Rev 0 Apple II that had no ventilation slots, and had a great photo of them. Oddly enough, they were leftovers from a Pong-clone called the National Semiconductor Adversary, and had "Adversary" on the paddles, with the button labeled "RESET". I assume Apple was able to buy a bunch of them to use to distribute with early Apple II computers they shipped. And these are the same paddles seen in the Feb 1978 two-page Apple II ad from BYTE magazine.

Steven Weyhrich

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Mar 26, 2013, 10:43:47 PM3/26/13

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One other question on the game paddles: Were they included with ALL early Apple II and II Plus computers, or was it an additional purchase from the start? Certainly in later years, the later versions of game paddles had to be purchased separately.

Michael J. Mahon

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Mar 27, 2013, 12:30:28 AM3/27/13

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In December, 1980, they were included.

-michael - NadaNet 3.1 and AppleCrate II: http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon

Sean Fahey

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Mar 27, 2013, 9:48:14 AM3/27/13

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On Tuesday, March 26, 2013 9:43:47 PM UTC-5, Steven Weyhrich wrote:
> One other question on the game paddles: Were they included with ALL early Apple II and II Plus computers, or was it an additional purchase from the start? Certainly in later years, the later versions of game paddles had to be purchased separately.

As I recall, they became a separate product when Apple acquired the Keyboard Company shortly after they began producing the beige paddles and joystick. Prior to that, the various black paddles were always included -- it was in fact a selling point for the Apple II, that it came with controllers.

Steven Weyhrich

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Apr 20, 2013, 4:26:32 PM4/20/13

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Haven't heard of "The Keyboard Company". Do you know anything about it, and why Apple aquired them? (Was it FOR the paddles Keyboard Company produced?)

Paul Hagstrom

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Apr 20, 2013, 5:55:55 PM4/20/13

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I knew the Keyboard Company as the original producers of the numeric
keypads and the beige/orange game paddles, before Apple took them over
and sold them under its own name. But this:

http://www.apple1notes.com/old_apple/History_files/The%20Keyboard%20Company.htm

indicates that it's actually an outgrowth of Datanetics, who were the
producers of the early Apple II keyboards and those commonly use for
the Apple 1.

Interesting, I didn't know about that connection before.

-Paul

bloomer_au

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Apr 20, 2013, 10:00:02 PM4/20/13

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If I'm lucky, I may still have a connector block, though it may be in the form of an adapter.

I.E. An adapter extension to let you plug an Anko joystick (which has the modern game connector) into an Apple II+. So physically the block connection is identical, but I am saying that I do not have a real paddle anymore with that connector.

I'll have a look and in the meantime you can tell me if you need a photo of a real deal block which is part of a paddle, or if any functioning block connector like mine will suffice. If you could use mine, you can have a freebie photo taken to your specifications :)

- Wade