I was wondering if anyone had any guestimates of how many old Apple II fans are out there in 2009? There seems to be an abundance of items for sale on Ebay so I would expect the hobby is fairly popular. I've recently gotten back into it after dragging my old Apple IIe out of the basement and am really enjoying the ability to connect my Apple IIe to my Mac using the Virtual II emulator and A2V2/ADT. I used the Super Serial Card method and it works great.
-just curious
CW Smith reporting for duty.
My IIe was purchased in the spring of 1983, when I was in 9th grade, by the aunt & uncle who raised me. My aunt gave it to me a few years ago when she was cleaning out her closets, and it still runs just as well as it did when it was new.
I've programmed a few simple games in BASIC for my daughter's use: she's 9 years old and fascinated with this computer with no mouse.
I took the lid to an educational tech conference in October 2007, where Steve Wozniak was the keynote speaker. Woz signed my IIe lid with a black Sharpie, and this old bird sits proudly on a desk in my "lab" in the basement, ready anytime for a round of Lode Runner.
My best friend brought home an Apple IIc in 1984-85 and I was hooked. I bought my own about seven months later. We both upgraded the RAM to 1Meg at the same time. I used my IIc not only for gaming, but also Wordprocessing and Databases onboard ship. Saftey Lectures and such until I retired in 1992. I had read about the IIe and the IIgs, but was not that interested because of the portability of the IIc.
About three years ago I hauled bothe IIc's out and brought them back to life. It rekindled my interest in Apple II's, so I went up on eBay and picked up a II Plus and repair / expansion parts and did a complete rebuild. The bug hit and has stayed. Not only stayed, but set up residence and expansion. lol
Now I have a collection of varios Apple II's and Mac's that are either complete or in process f repair / upgrade. In that time I have met many other folks (here and on other sites) that are just as in to II's as I am. Not only that... some are actually making new cards and upgrades for the II series. That in itself makes it fun for me.
Rich Dreher with his CFFA card, LittleJohn with his cards and adapters, The Uthernet cards, hard cards, and more recently, but not quite ready yet, a VGA card.
Oh Yes. "Apple II.........It's ALIVE!!!!"
I got to use Apple II computers in high school, and I really wished I could have one of my own - but alas, they were (much) too expensive for me. Only the rich kids got them. I had to get by with another brand, and that brand still served me very well.
So, some 20 years later... they got a lot cheaper, I finally got to accumulate a few, and really explore. All hail Woz!
count me in.
3x IIgs
2x IIc
2x IIe
the second IIc is on it's way (Hopefully). I don't even bother with the emulators, when I have the real thing.
-digital
Okay, I guess I thought we were counting people, but if we're counting computers, too ...
1x Apple IIe (with Woz signature on lid)
1x Apple IIc
1x Apple IIGS
And I run Virtual II and AppleIIGo (Dashboard widget) on my MacBook too. Yeah I've got the real thing, but this is much more portable.
3 x IIc
3 x IIc Plus
2 x IIgs
3 x II Plus
3 x IIe
3 x IIe (Platinum)
2 x IIe (Darth Vader)
Plus extra cases and pans, motherboards, etc.
1 x II
1 x II+
2 x IIc
2 X IIe
2 X IIe enhanced
2 x IIe platinum
1 x IIgs Woz
3 x IIgs
1 x IIe gs upgrade
1 x 575 with IIe card
]
? "1 " ; CHR$(ASC("X") + 32) ; " II+"1 x II+
]
CALL-936:POKE37,255If we are counting computers....
How many II+, IIe, and IIGS's can you fit in a 12' X 12' X 7' area?
I don't know either, but I have that many.
One can always visit the comp.sys.apple2 newsgroup to see how vibrant the community remains. I'm always amazed. Another is to visit Rich Dreher's CFFA website and look where he has been sending his cards. Run 6 (200 cards) has sold out. That's a lot of product for a 30 year old computer! People are still building new hardware and writing new software for this platform. I personally enjoy the challenge of getting the most from this computer - it still has a lot to offer.
Dave.. (owner of too many models to count)
Count me in. My apple II PLUS was a family Christmas present in 1980. My parents bought for $2700 according to my dad. He added a printer, modem and other useful accessories. I taught my parents how to use the computer with the productivity software. In 1986 I brought my parents an IBM PC based on the 80188 Intel processor for Christmas. They took to it like fish to water. And I took the old Apple with me.
Then I took it out of the closet last month. What memories! All those old programs I wrote. Those old games. What a time capsule.
And what do I do for a living? I develop microprocessors for Intel. Like the P6 all the way upto the recently Intel Multi-core i7.
And my username here?? Another story, another time
-RocketScientists
I was introduced to the Apple II+ when I was around , um , 12 , yea that sounds about right.. I attended a computer class in Southern Cal at Orange Coast College. It was great! Got to see other kids that shared the same interest in the Apple! But what I also learned , just as everyone in here from time to time , was the over whelming amount of software! Seemed every kid that I knew was copying software and giving to others all over the place! Not only from them , but from the incredible BBS's that were springing up daily , so it seemed! I really got into the Apple II when I was first introduced to a group of guys that really did us all of favor by doing the somewhat dirty work , they were awsome programmers and crack artists! One guy I knew very well was The Freeze , this guy was amazing! At the age of 11 or 12 hey was already and acomplished programmer in 6502! You can see his interview in The BBS Documentary series , if you havent seen this , I would suggest it greatly! His brother , The Bum , they both ran one of the best BBS's I have ever seen , called DUNE , this board was the first too have Voice Email! Yep! They used SAM [Speech Automated Mouth] to have the caller retrive their Voice Emails over the phone! Plus , they had some of the best G-file sections around , what ever you were into , Cracking , Phreaking , what ever , it was in there! This board was ranked up there with The Adventures Tavern!
I was very lucky to meet alot of famous people back then in the biz , The Freeze , The Bum , Dr. Micro , Dr. Death , The Jerk , etc.... These guys made it fun to use the II+ ! I also learned alot about hacking the Apple II! I had cards that were awsome! I had a DOS card , that when you boot up your apple , it would instantly have DOS already residing in memory! An awsome Non-Autostart Rom that was created by The Freeze , and a bunch of other cards! All my drives had Write Protect Switches installed so that you would be able to write data to a floppy with out notching the Disk! But enough of that stuff... All I know is that those were some of the best days of my youth and if I could some how go back in time and do it again , I would!
Long live Dune & The Pig-Sty!
Patrick.
Count me in! I've been an Apple II user since 2005 when I got a GS. I now own 2 IIgs's (with a 3rd coming soon, hopefully), plus a boat-load of disks and manuals, after inheriting the collections of 3 different people.
Currently on a quest for a II+.
Count me in, still love all my Apple II's, recently bought the " IIgs MicroDrive IDE Controller"
working apple II's :
2 x II
1 x ITT 2020
2 x II+
2 x II euro+
14 x IIe
1 x IIe enhanced
4 x IIe platinum
6 x IIc
2 x IIc+
1 x IIe gs upgrade
1 x IIgs Woz
5 x IIgs rom1
2 x IIgs rom3
several apple II & II+ clones
Wow, what great replies. Looks like the Apple bug bites hard. I know I've been having a lot of fun buying a few things here and there. A very addictive hobby, but so fun and fairly affordable.
I keep trying to remember when my parents bought our family this Apple IIe I'm using now. I think it must have been sometime around 1983. Our high-school had a computer club and most of my friends had Apple computers or Commodore 64's. Great after school fun. I think my parents bought it at a Younkers department store if you can believe it.
I've been using Apple II's, from the II+ to the GS, since I was first introduced to the II+ by a friend in 1980.
Currently I own:
Apple IIe
Apple IIc
Apple IIGS
I did briefly leave the Apple II world in 2003 after I fried the motherboard on the GS I had at the time. I re-entered the Apple II a few months later when I the Apple II software archives and emulators for my Mac. I got back into the real hardware in 2006 when I purchased a complete Apple IIe system for $5. Since then I've added the IIGS system and the IIc and thanks to people like David Schmidt and his ADTPro program I can put the programs from the archives back on disk to run on the real hardware.
Dean
Acidental double post
Beyond that, I have an original Apple ][e that's fairly souped up (ALF Music card, parallel card, 128kb RAM) and a //c with external 3.5" UniDisk.
(double post)
It's bigger than a breadbox and smaller than the National Debt. lol
There are at least 50 web sites for Apple II alone. That does not count Mac sites. Ebay has hundreds of folks selling computers and parts all the time and we are buying them. The one recycling center that is talked about in another post has pallets FILLED with II's. Thats a lot of computers and parts. I'd love to save them all if I could, but I'm just one guy. I imagine that there are a lot of us Tinkerers that (as the rain forests) would love to "Save the II's"
They are historic. We are thier historians in our own way.
lol (chanting) OWOZZZ! OWOZZZ!
Count me in on the Apple II fans. I've been one since the Apple IIc and IIgs. Of course, now I have way too much of it and need to sell most of it.
I have several Apple IIgs units for sale. Many are the "rare" WOZ signature ones. The collection includes ROM 00, ROM 02 and ROM 03 units. I don't remember which ROM the WOZ series was. I have more IIgs RGB monitors than I have systems. Plenty of floppy drives (both 5.25 and 3.5). Tons (as in pallets) of assorted software in both 5.25 and 3.5 formats. Some Apple IIc units. Some joy sticks. Some paddles. Plenty of add-on cards like super serial card and ThunderScan GS (incomplete I think).
Anyway, if anyone's interested in buying anything, email me - ct2193@gmail.com
Hello,
There are the Apple ][ fans in Bulgaria too, so count us too
We are the biggest computers producer at East Europe with several Apple ][ clones, called Pravetz 8x.
So I have:
1x Pravetz 82 - Apple ][+ clone;
1x Pravetz 8A - Apple ][e clone;
7x Pravetz 8C - Apple ][e clone with integrated peripherial (like Apple ][c, but not compact)
1x Pravetz 8S
2x Apple ][e
3x Apple ][e Platinum
2x Apple ][GS WOZ
2x Apple ][GS rom 01
2x Apple ][GS rom 03
Regards
I have a heck a cool apple IIe. With all original manuals, software and monitor and joystick. Oh by the way I LOVE apple. It has always been cool!!
1x Apple II non-plus (1978).... working of course. And made in the USA.
Visitors to our house from 5 to 50 think it is super cool. Even people who have no clue to the retro scene. It's a computer which brings a smile to the face of people near it.
I think there are two categories. Those who are full time hobbyists and those who will be on and off. By that i mean there are tons of people who have theirs in their basement/closet and fire it up every few years get nostalgic with some of the software and put it away for a few more years. Those in the second group probably don't register on forums or count themselves in on surveys so the number will be an order of magnitude higher than those who are active hobbyists.
I learned to program on a TRS-80 Model 1 in '79, got a Tandy CoCo in '81 and a friend got an Apple II+ in '82.
I spend a lot of time with him on the II+. He'd read the code from Nibble Magazine and I'd type. I could type really fast if I didn't have to look at the code.
I started to learn assembly on the Tandy Model III but didn't really understand it until I took a class in college. Part of the class was programming assembly on the Apple IIe.
I've liked the II series ever since.
I have an 8 bit computer collection and Apples make up a good portion of it. I have several Apple IIs:
1 Apple III (needs fixed... bad ebayer)
1 Apple II+ (was working but I messed with the insides with the power on... so many chips to check, so little time)
1 Apple IIe (got it free as a storage unit next to mine was getting cleaned out, needs a black number key)
1 Laser 128EX (missing function keycap... *&^% lying ebayer)
2 Apple IIc Pluses (1 missing drive... same lying ebayer on the drive)
1 Franklin Ace 1000 (what a tank!!!)
1 IIGS (CFF compact flash card and 4MB RAM)
I have a bunch of the GS developer stuff and the ORCA C compiler. I'm planning on doing some playing.
I was a bit too young to understand programming on the Apple II when we first bought it in the early 1980's (I was born in 1981). That was a II+, and my dad used it mostly for work-related tasks like organizing medical data etc, but of course me and my brother and sister used it a lot for playing games. My brother also learned programming the Apple II very early. He cracked at least one game (not sure which one though), which still shows his "signature" when it boots from the disk. At one point, the II+ broke so it was put away in the attic (wow, am I thankful for it not being thrown out!) and we got a IIe clone ("Redstone").
I remember how fascinated I was over the Apple II. It was so incredibly hard to imagine how it could do all the amazing things it did. Very often I removed the lid and, in pure awe, looked at the PCB with all of its IC's. I wanted to understand how it worked.
The Apple II never really got old and boring, even though we bought a 286 PC, then a 386, then Pentium 133, etc. Me, my sister and my brother continued to play all those Apple II games for many years. Sometime around mid 90's (!) the Apple was put away in the attic, but I had to continue to persuade my father not to throw it out.
In a funny twist, my brother who was very skilled in programming actually dropped that interest and became an architect, while I grew an ever increasing interest in programming, electronics, etc and studied for a M.Sc in applied physics & eletrical engineering. My brother once said he switched career because he didn't want to spend his life in front of a computer screen. I don't think he really got away from in completely though, considering how widespread the use of CAD is
Every now and then I would dust off the old Apple II, played a few games and dreamt back to the good old days. But in 2006 I decided to really pick up where I left in the 80's. I wanted to repair the old II+, which had been stowed away for 20 years. It was in very good condition, so I was very happy when I finally managed to pinpoint the faulty parts.
My plans right now are to write a new game for the Apple II. I have started it, and the graphics rendering code is finished, but for some reason when I see that the goal is actually reachable I loose interest a bit...
But I will finish it, as a proud tribute to the Apple II!
Apple ][ forever!
If it's any indication, the Apple II newsgroup is still quite active. Here are the stats: http://macgui.com/usenet/?stats=1
Since about 1982 or so, I've played with Apple II computers.
Still monkeying around with them, but nothing terribly serious any longer. Usually just a double-click on the AppleWin icon and enjoying a few hours of vintage software with bleeps and bloops.
I have a rather extensive collection of Apple hardware: multiple Apple II+'s, many Apple //e's, a few Apple IIgs', even a Mac CC mystic. My favorite part of my collection is the fully operational Apple Graphics Tablet. Complete with interface card, cables, pen and software. I've been meaning to write some useless program that requires it for input one of these days. Maybe next year.
Cheers,
Craig
My guess is about 4000 people are active with actual vintage Apple hardware - possibly much larger - I assume Kfest draws 1% of the community, and that's around 40 people.
I have:
Parts
Recently acquired some vintage sound chips, and think of putting a TMS9918 and C64 SID chip on a board to make an
interesting "Sprite LOGO" add-on board, using prototyping cards and wire-wrap construction.
My wishlist:
Yes! We are Apple II users.
"The WOZ is with us!"
Since it's officially the new decade, I need to get my Apple IIe out and do something productive with it. Once I do that, I will have used an Apple II series machine in four different decades (80s, 90s, 00s, 10s).
Most of my Apple II work these days occurs on my Color Classic, which is equipped with a IIe card. I prefer the CC since it doesn't take up much room, but still have a trusty old IIe in my closet ready to go. It's the enhanced beige model and has a pair of UniDisk 5.25" drives attached. I also have the Liron card for the 3.5" drive, but my UniDisk 3.5" is a bit flaky. I'm thinking of swapping the mechanism with one I pulled from an SE to get that drive completely operational again. I have a mouse card in this machine and actually have two mice for it. One is a IIc-style mouse and the other is a platinum model that looks identical to a Mac Plus mouse but says "Mouse IIe" on the underside where the serial sticker is located. I also have an external numeric keypad, super serial card, and Apple RGB monitor for the machine plus the full set of disks and manuals. I've owned this particular IIe for ten years but have had several others, including my first computer (which was unfortunately sold at a garage sale in the early 1990s).
Count me as one of the dwindling Apple II users out there, even if I don't use it much these days. I don't have as much time for hobby computing as I once did and have parted with many of my machines in recent years, but the IIe is one I'll probably never get rid of and will continue to fire up from time to time.
Welcome to the 'Fritter, Scott! Glad you could make it.
I'm new here but I have just got back into retro computing
I have the following..
1-][e
4-][c 1 power supply
1-][GS I just got this one still waiting for it to arrive..
I also have all the other systems I have used C64 and amiga's
Chris
Love Apple II's, since 1982 when I received my II+ at the vulnerable age of 15. Wish I still had it. Ebay prices for them are outrageous.
4xIIgs
3xPlatinum IIe's
1xIIc Plus (works some of the time)
1xIIc (ROM 255, upgrading to ROM 4)
1xLate 2010 13" MacBook Pro
1xCustom PC (we won't talk about that now)
I'm a //e junkie wanna-be
I've been scanning off and on for //e platinums on eBay, but I'm always skittish to spend that much before the iPhone 5/4s comes out. Because a fritter critter like myself will have to run out (or log on) and pre-order one.
@subliminal67,
I have the same Core 2 Duo MacBook pro! (2.4 GHz, correct?)
How large is the Apple II community?
It's bigger than a breadbox and smaller than the national debt.
I have tons of my original hardware and software from the BBS days, from around 1978 through 1989, focusing on the II+ and //e mostly. Lots of modem stuff, Novation, Hayes.. First Class Peripherals Sider drives. All sorts Mountain Computer stuff, AE stuff, expansion chassis 2 of them, clock cards, small hardware hacks, 3700+ Original disks in baggies. All sorts of goodness!
Been using Apple IIs since I was 3, in 1991.
First was a ROM 255 //c.
Family also had a Laser 128EX (what a miserable piece of garbage, quality-wise - and it ended up in the garbage) and a "Hacker //e" Taiwanese clone.
We then moved onto PCs, and I also had a PowerBook 180 (also a miserable piece of garbage, quality-wise.)
I fired up the //c occasionally, but it wasn't very stable, due to various issues it had.
Fast forward to 2008, and I decided to go ahead and get a sweet IIGS setup. It's been evolving due to motherboard failures, but this is how it is now (although it's had another motherboard failure):
IIGS ROM 3 (will be 01 with the next replacement mobo)
AppleColor RGB (I've got a spare, too)
Uther ethernet
ZipGSX 12.5/64
SoundMeister
Focus hard card
4 MiB RAM-GS
System Saver IIGS
AEK2, ADB Mouse
Mac LC as a LocalTalk bridge (that's not set up yet, but... true filesharing will be quite nice.)
Picked up a //c, ROM 0, with a 768k Z-RAM II, too.
And since KFest, I decided to start building up the Hacker //e. It had a clone Disk II interface, and still has a clone 80 column card, and a clone Z80 card. Decided to yank the Disk II, the parallel printer card, as well as the MicroModem IIe. So, how it is now:
Hacker //e, partially enhanced (has the 65C02, as of tomorrow should have the ROMs and chargen)
No slot clock
Brain Board (just the Wozanium pack, nothing else fun in there)
AppleMouse II
64k clone 80 column
Clone Softcard
CFFA3000
I intend to get a Mockingboard in there, and maybe an Uther - Ethernet's not as useful on a //e as it is on a GS, but it can still be useful, and I'd like to see some development towards that end.
And, trying to get myself some other interesting clones, I'm on a bit of a clone kick lately.