3 ms·
It's a lot easier (not to mention cheaper) to get a working Apple II. Lots of folks out there want the chance to meet around with an Apple I for less than $100k
by csixty4 7y ago
It's a lot easier (not to mention cheaper) to get a working Apple II. Lots of folks out there want the chance to meet around with an Apple I for less than $100k.
- pvg 7y agoIt's supposed to be a kit for kids, not really a thing for collectors. It's historically important but I find it hard to come up with a more limited and boring computer of similar vintage. It's basically a prototype idea a few of which they managed to sell to hobbyists. What do kids or non-kids do with this thing after they've plugged it together?
- jhbadger 7y agoThat depends on what you mean by "similar vintage" of the Apple I. The Apple I was actually one of the more exciting computers when the Steves presented it at the Homebrew Computer Club in 1976. Remember it was competing with things like the Altair and IMSAI, not the graphical home computers of the 1980s like the Commodore 64.
- pvg 7y agoHeh, no, I think it depends on what I mean by 'boring' and it's 'not of great interest, as a working, interactive thing, to learners today'. A fully realized Altair or IMSAI is a system that runs BASIC and CP/M - not just a box with switches and blinkenlights. A fully realized Apple I is... an Apple ][. I'd put the minimum required level of retro-PC non-boringness somewhere around 'should be easy to make it infinitely yell BUTTFACE at you shortly after booting'. An Apple I that just drops you into monitor ROM seems well below that.