Retro Roundup
Having trouble keeping up with the web's numerous classic video game and classic computing news sites? Retro Roundup is a new site that serves as a one-stop source for classic computing and retro video game news. Retro Roundup collects headlines from more than a dozen sites (including Vintage Apple News), newsgroups, and other news sources into a single page.
You can customize the site: click Set As Favorite to move any site to the top of the page, or Remove to hide a site's headlines from view.
Retro Roundup was created by Kevin Savetz, curator of the Classic Computer Magazine Archive (www.atarimagazines.com) and AtariArchives.org.

Retro Roundup

Can You Identify the Apple III Mystery Poster?
Ok...we're stumped. Shawn, a visitor to The Mothership website, sent in photos of this unusual Apple III poster that he found it in an empty garage. The Mothership staff couldn't identify it, so we asked several very well known experts in the area of Apple history. None of the experts that we asked had any knowledge of it either. So now were turning it over to the not so well known, but just as knowlegable experts out there - you, our readers. If anyone can help with information on this strangely disturbing Apple III poster, please email us at news@macmothership.com, or post a reply here!

Update-2/23/05: This Poster seems to be quite a mystery. The only information so far comes from viewer Sean, who writes, "We had one displayed at the store I worked at... it was meant to depict the serpent from the book of Genesis that tempted Adam and Eve with the Apple of Knowledge. We took it down after some complaints from a local pastor." Could this be a clue? We'll let you know when and if more information is uncovered.

"Group of Seven" Macintosh Logic Boards
A display of bare boards from 1981-1983 at the DigiBarn Computer Museum.
The introduction:
"The following is the 'Group of Seven' Macintosh logic boards from First PCB and First Build in 1982 through the transition from byte-wide to word-wide and thence to the final 512K logic board in 1983. The "Mister Macintosh" logo makes its appearance toward the end of the series. These "bare boards" reside in the private collection of Daniel Kottke who loaned them to the DigiBarn for our Mac at 20 anniversary online exhibit.

Group of Seven

The Apple Spirit
A 1988 essay by Andy Hertzfeld from Folklore.org.
The Introduction:
"Toward the end of 1988, I wrote an essay that was published in MacWeek entitled "The Apple Spirit". It was about the creative magic that I found in the Apple II, and how we were able to transplant it into the Macintosh. The essay articulates the values behind lots of the stories collected here, so I thought it was worth including."

The Apple Spirit

The Mac-ITX
Transplanting a modern (although not Apple) mini-computer into a vintage mini-computer.
From the site:
"I think the classic compact Macs still look pretty cool, but there was nothing useful to do with my old SE/30 sitting up in the loft. Still, I did want a media server for the living room, and I did want to do a mini-ITX project, and I did want to do some engineering that didn't involve Powerpoint. So, the Mac-ITX was conceived."
Will this inspire someone to try it with a Mac Mini? Lets hope so!

The Mac-ITX

Apple Legacy Manuals
We may have mentioned this before, but did you know that you can still download manuals for older Apple products directly from Apple? There are Newton, Apple II, Performa, Powerbook and other hardware, as well as software manuals for download from this page. For Vintage Apple fans it's worth another look.

Apple Legacy Manuals

AppleWorks; Apple's Own Integrated Software Package
Lets round out the week with another of the hidden treasures at atarimagazines.com. This time it is an article by Steve Arrants from 1984 evaluating the newly released AppleWorks software package for the Apple IIe. It originally appeared in Creative Computing, Vol. 10, No. 6 / June 1984 / Page 43.
From the article:
"It is not unusual for Apple to release exciting and revolutionary hardware. Remember all the noise when Macintosh was released this winter? It is unusual for Apple to release exciting and revolutionary software. Without so much as a single press conference, Apple has released a new integrated package that no Apple IIe owner should be without."

AppleWorks; Apple's Own Integrated Software Package

A Trio of Apple eMate 300 Reviews
Here are three reviews of the Newton OS based Apple eMate from 1998. The first is from Insanely Great Mac, the second from The Review Zone, by Tina Velgos, and finially a review by Matt Godden that appeared in MACinations, a monthly magazine produced by ClubMac, a Sydney Australia based Macintosh user group.

IGM eMate Review

The Review Zone, Featuring eMate 300

MACinations Apple eMate Review

Disk Evolution / The Apple IIc Plus
A page at Apple2History.org detailing advances in Apple II disk storage. From the page:
"After Steve Wozniak's Disk II floppy drive changed the Apple II from a hobbyist toy to a serious home and business computer in the late 1970's, progress was slow in improving disk storage for the Apple II series. In 1978, the year the Disk II was released, Mike Scott (Apple's president) and Randy Wigginton were asked at a user group meeting whether they were going to go to the larger capacity eight-inch floppy drives (which had been around before the 5.25 floppy drives were invented). They answered that no, the Apple II was not going in that direction, but felt it might get a hard disk by 1979 or 1980, and possibly earlier than that a double sided, double density 5.25 disk holding 500K per disk"

Disk Evolution / The Apple IIc Plus

The Legacy of the Apple Lisa Personal Computer
The Legacy of the Apple Lisa Personal Computer: An Outsider's View, by David T. Craig.
From the site:
"This paper is an attempt by a long time Lisa user to clarify the significance of the Apple Lisa personal computer for the computing industry. The audience of this paper is anyone who has an interest in innovative computing technology and wants to learn a little about Apple Computer's brief foray into this area via the Lisa computer."

The Legacy of the Apple Lisa