Mike's Super D'Lux, Apple ][ Forever, Home Brew, Focal Plane, Shutter Tester
Here is an interesting page for Apple II fans and photography enthusiasts alike! From the site:
"fter far too many hours of experimentation (just ask my family), I think I've come up with a quality shutter tester design. You should be able to build your own Super D'Lux Home Brew Shutter tester for under 100 dollars. Keep in mind that complete Apple ][ systems can easily be found for less than $50 on ebay and less, elsewhere. Presented here is the fundamental design information and the software required."

Mike's Super D'Lux, Apple ][ Forever, Home Brew, Focal Plane, Shutter Tester

Steve Jobs Quotes
Here are some pithy quotes from one of our favorite Steve's at Brainyquote.com. I knew he would say that!

Steve Jobs Quotes

MacPaint Evolution
A great bit of lore at Folklore.org by Andy Hertzfeld. It begins:
"While Bill Atkinson was developing LisaGraf, the crucial, lightning fast graphics package that was the foundation of both the Lisa and Macintosh user interface (it was renamed QuickDraw for the Mac), he also worked sporadically on a simple bitmap-based drawing program for the Lisa called SketchPad. SketchPad enabled mouse-based drawing with a selection of paintbrushes and patterns, and gave Bill a quick way to test out and show off new features or improvements as they were added to LisaGraf."

MacPaint Evolution

A2 News and Notes
The June, 2005 issue of the A2 News and Notes Newsletter for Apple II fans has been posted by Howard Katz!
This issue:
* Online Apple II
* Lights! Camera! Wozniak!
* Up to a Challenge?
* NIBBLE-ing at the Past
* Hardware News
* Software News
* SignOff

A2 News and Notes

PowerBook 5300 Review
We dug up this 1995 review by William Porter of the legendary (for all the wrong reasons) PowerBook 5300. The last line of the review is our favorite; "But in spite of these problems I am delighted with the PowerBook 5300 and very glad to have gotten it. It's going to be a while before Apple releases something better."

PowerBook 5300 Review

Apple's Improved MessagePad
The Byte.com archives contain some real gems from days gone by. Today we present another vintage article, this time from May 1995 in which Tom Thompson reviews the Newton MessagePad 120.
"Bug fixes, more memory, and third-party peripherals and software have improved MessagePad usability."

Apple's Improved MessagePad

Apple Redefines the Notebook
An article from the Byte.com archives by Tom Thompson from August 1994 reviewing the 500 series PowerBooks.
"The latest PowerBooks set a new standard: built-in Ethernet, a trackpad, optional PCMCIA, 16-bit color, stereo sound, and a fast 68040 CPU upgradable to PowerPC"

Apple Redefines the Notebook

Virtual ][ Emulator Updated to Version 4.0
Our favorite Tiger-compatible Apple II emulator has been updated to version 4.0.
New in this version:
• Added a much requested feature: the Mockingboard emulation. This is a free upgrade for all licensed users.
• Changed the configuration of the default machine to include the Mockingboard in slot 4.
• Solved a bug that could cause failure to read a saved state file.

Try it today!

Virtual ][

Lisa Office System 1.0 Tour
The computer collection onboard The Mothership includes an Apple Lisa 2/5 running Office System 3.0 and a Lisa 2/10 running 3.1. For those not familiar with the Lisa GUI, here is a great tour of version 1.0, with photos, by Thomas S. Stepleton at toastytech.com. A great reference! It begins:
"The Lisa Office System is almost without doubt the most popular piece of Lisa software. Version 1 bundled LisaCalc, LisaDraw, LisaGraph, LisaList, LisaProject, and LisaWrite (a spreadsheet, draw program business graphing package, database program, project planning program, and a word processor respectively) together in what would today be called a 'works package' - by version 3, LisaTerminal (a terminal emulator) was included as well. Similar software combinations (like the office bundle that shipped with the Osborne 1, a popular portable computer from 1980) also existed, but the Office System was set apart by its graphical interface and (to a lesser extent) multitasking capabilities. In a sense, the Office System is what makes a Lisa a Lisa - a powerful, easy-to-use personal computer geared toward business and home use - rather than a graphical workstation like some of its contemporaries (such as the ICL/Three Rivers PERQ and perhaps even the Xerox Star)."

Lisa Office System 1.0 Tour

Mel's MacPaint Gallery
Check out Mel's MacPaint Gallery, a celebration of the first graphic arts application program created for the Apple Macintosh computer!

Mel's MacPaint Gallery