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I mean the core premise behind it not being launched is that it might have posed a significant risk to the business. It’s all about cost benefit analysis and tr

by Shank 5y ago

I mean the core premise behind it not being launched is that it might have posed a significant risk to the business. It’s all about cost benefit analysis and trade offs. Every business will have products that seem cool or features that seem cool that get shelved for one reason or another and Apple is no exception. Sure, this concept might’ve been awesome and ignited a revolution. Or it might have sent Apple to the grave.

rbanffy 5y ago
> Sure, this concept might’ve been awesome and ignited a revolution. Or it might have sent Apple to the grave. The IBM PC almost did that - as soon as clones begun to appear, IBM was relegated as just another PC maker. They tried to make a software-compatible PC that would not be easy to clone in the PS/2, and they failed badly. Now IBM doesn't even make PCs or PC-based servers.
TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
It's a cool, revolutionary concept [1] but it would have overshadowed the Mac, which would have gone from being the star attraction to an optional add-on. There would also have been potential problems with manufs copying the bus spec and making their own hardware. Working through whether it would have been a good thing or a bad one is a very interesting case study. I suspect it could have been pushed towards being a good thing, but not without a lot of friction and changes in a company that was basically set up for commodity single-box products. [1] Actually it nearly isn't. It looks like a modular bus broken out into boxes - so basically S-100 or ISA, but with separate cases instead of cards. Which makes me wonder about potential speed issues. But it looks like a revolutionary concept, because it's much cleaner and more designer-y than anything else that was around.
- joezydeco 5y ago
  And the beautiful design hid the fact that this would have been a nightmare to make it work in software. Plug-and-play just was not a thing in that era, and it's barely there now. I can't see how you would make the idea of "unplug the Apple ][ box and plug in an 80286 box" work without with a mountain of software to assist.

by Shank 5y ago

rbanffy 5y ago

> Sure, this concept might’ve been awesome and ignited a revolution. Or it might have sent Apple to the grave. The IBM PC almost did that - as soon as clones begun to appear, IBM was relegated as just another PC maker. They tried to make a software-compatible PC that would not be easy to clone in the PS/2, and they failed badly. Now IBM doesn't even make PCs or PC-based servers.

TheOtherHobbes 5y ago

It's a cool, revolutionary concept [1] but it would have overshadowed the Mac, which would have gone from being the star attraction to an optional add-on. There would also have been potential problems with manufs copying the bus spec and making their own hardware. Working through whether it would have been a good thing or a bad one is a very interesting case study. I suspect it could have been pushed towards being a good thing, but not without a lot of friction and changes in a company that was basically set up for commodity single-box products. [1] Actually it nearly isn't. It looks like a modular bus broken out into boxes - so basically S-100 or ISA, but with separate cases instead of cards. Which makes me wonder about potential speed issues. But it looks like a revolutionary concept, because it's much cleaner and more designer-y than anything else that was around.

joezydeco 5y ago
And the beautiful design hid the fact that this would have been a nightmare to make it work in software. Plug-and-play just was not a thing in that era, and it's barely there now. I can't see how you would make the idea of "unplug the Apple ][ box and plug in an 80286 box" work without with a mountain of software to assist.