Apple owes everything to its 1977 Apple II computer | Hacker News Reader

Apple owes everything to its 1977 Apple II computer

appleinsider.com

3 pointsfortran779 comments

This statement, however, is pure bullshit and makes the Apple zealot-fanboys look like fools

> That machine in that case became what was truly American's first home computer as we know it.

Commodore was clearly before Apple with a turn-key home computer. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_PET

Yup. Wasn't there a PET with a 6809 in it? I want one of those.

From the Commodore PET wikipedia page: "A series of problems meant that production versions did not begin to arrive until December 1977, by which time the TRS-80 and Apple II had already begun deliveries."

As far as I could ever tell, nobody had these older Commodores, well maybe some schools. IIRC I only saw one years later when they were already retro. Although one could justifiably say there were retro the year of release, looking like they were from some 60's sci-fi movie.

I'm surprised to see how much cheaper they were than the Apple ][ according to wikipedia, although I shouldn't be. A school paper I did in 1994 was to compare and contrast the different computers my family considered before buying a //e that summer. It was only then that I realized how unaffordable the Apple computers were in comparison to everything else, especially the Commodore 64. I couldn't find anything justifiable for my paper to justify the choice. Even back then being an Apple fan was more about style and intangibles. And Ultima III.

Yep, Commodore beat Apple and outsold them. Heck, the Apple II was outsold by both Commodore and Atari. Woz did an amazing job on the II using off-the-shelf parts, but Jay Miner and crew built a better computer in the Atari 800 with a custom chipset.

I still have one. //e Platinum, the last one.

Got my start on these machines. I keep it for games, and perspective as well as the occassional electronics project. Writing on it is fun too. Different words come out. Like I get at a mind frame otherwise not available.

Maybe this is why some authors stick with old, or odd tools.

Thanks Woz. Nice, open, capable machine. Learned so much. Great memories.

And these people are making a game I am eager to play:

https://m.facebook.com/LawlessLegends/

These kinds of games are right in the Apple 2 wheelhouse. Should be fun.

Apple owes everything to the fertile, inventive mind of Steve Wozniak, and to the creative community that his machine appealed to. The rest was just business.

(If you ever get a chance, read the original manual included with that machine. It broke all the rules for manuals up to that time.)

I bought one in 1978 and read that manual thoroughly!

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