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I imagine an alternate timeline where instead of releasing the Mac, Apple released the IIGS a few years prior to when it did and managed to evolve the Apple II

I imagine an alternate timeline where instead of releasing the Mac, Apple released the IIGS a few years prior to when it did and managed to evolve the Apple II line into something that would still exist today. I've pondered the same thing a few times. I do wonder where that would have led.

PaulHoule 4y ago
Most of the 8-bit computers got GUI interfaces such as GEOS for the C-64 and Deskmate 3 for the Color Computer 3. Most of the 8-bit computers also got late life upgrades such as the C-128, Coco3, etc. The IIGS was a bigger upgrade than most of those because it went to a real 24-bit address space and a much faster CPU than the original, compared to most of the others which were mostly about upgrading the video system to support 80 column text mode. The story that hasn't really been told about the 1980s was the failure of the 68k series which led to the demise of a number of computers that tried to outperform the early 8-bit machines but struggled such the Atari ST, Amiga, etc. From home computer vendors to UNIX workstation vendors they all either jumped ship to another CPU or went out of business. Obviously Motorola decided to kill it and replace it with the Power PC, but I've never seen a clear explanation of why -- Intel grew it's way out of the 8-bit doldrums because it did the same trick IBM did with the 360... Keep upgrading it's CPU while keeping backwards compatibility. There was that strange period from 1978 to 1996 or so where home computers seemed frozen in midair, not making much progress, precisely because there was no forward path to upgrade your CPU. Jumping architectures is a risky move, and in the case of Motorola consigned it to a bit part in the CPU industry. Had the IIGS continued to evolve the obvious thing is that it would have had to make a transition to a real 32-bit architecture.

PaulHoule 4y ago

Most of the 8-bit computers got GUI interfaces such as GEOS for the C-64 and Deskmate 3 for the Color Computer 3. Most of the 8-bit computers also got late life upgrades such as the C-128, Coco3, etc. The IIGS was a bigger upgrade than most of those because it went to a real 24-bit address space and a much faster CPU than the original, compared to most of the others which were mostly about upgrading the video system to support 80 column text mode. The story that hasn't really been told about the 1980s was the failure of the 68k series which led to the demise of a number of computers that tried to outperform the early 8-bit machines but struggled such the Atari ST, Amiga, etc. From home computer vendors to UNIX workstation vendors they all either jumped ship to another CPU or went out of business. Obviously Motorola decided to kill it and replace it with the Power PC, but I've never seen a clear explanation of why -- Intel grew it's way out of the 8-bit doldrums because it did the same trick IBM did with the 360... Keep upgrading it's CPU while keeping backwards compatibility. There was that strange period from 1978 to 1996 or so where home computers seemed frozen in midair, not making much progress, precisely because there was no forward path to upgrade your CPU. Jumping architectures is a risky move, and in the case of Motorola consigned it to a bit part in the CPU industry. Had the IIGS continued to evolve the obvious thing is that it would have had to make a transition to a real 32-bit architecture.