Apple's Troubled Times, Amazing II Products, Contest Winners, Color Mac Coming?
To accompany today's Advertising and Brochure Gallery addition of an applied Engineering Ad featuring Steve Wozniak, is this gem from the Atarimagazines.com archives. It's from the Apple Cart by Owen W. Linzmayer and features a look at the Z-Ram Card featured in that advertisement. From Creative Computing Vol. 11, No. 9 / Sept. 1985 / Page 100.

Apple's Troubled Times, Amazing II Products, Contest Winners, Color Mac Coming?

Apple IIe Road Trip
Carrington Vanston relates his Odyssey to pick-up an Apple IIe. Subtitled "Toronto to Philadelphia and back in 30 hours", it's an interesting read! It Begins:
"This is a recap of my trip down to Philadelphia to pick up a vintage Apple IIe computer. I left late, I arrived late, and I got home very, very late -- but along the way I ate in a barn, saw someone levitate, watched a telethon, got lost in corn, got lost in the mountains, ate frozen custard on ice, saw god's billboard, and crossed an item off my list of things to do before I die. All in all, a good way to spend 30 hours."

Apple IIe Road Trip

Andy Hertzfeld: Mac Truly a Better Way
A Tom Hormby interview at Low End Mac of Andy Hertzfeld. From the opening:
"Andy Hertzfeld was a key member of the Macintosh development team. He was the Software Wizard behind much of the Mac's built-in ROM code and the user interface. His goal is to make computers easier and more fun to use."

Andy Hertzfeld: Mac Truly a Better Way

I'll Be Your Best Friend
A bit of folklore from Folklore.org by Andy Hertzfeld. In this compelling article, Andy recounts his relationship with the quirky Burrell Smith. Andy writes:
"Toward the end of my first week as an Apple employee in August 1979, I noticed that someone had left a black binder on my desk, with a hand-written title that read, "Apple II: Principles of Operation". It contained a brilliant, concise description of how the Apple II hardware worked, reverently explaining details of Woz's epic, creative design hacks, in a clearer fashion than I'd ever read before. I didn't know who left it there, but the title page said it was written by 'Burrell C. Smith'."

I'll Be Your Best Friend

Pink
Another great article by Thomas Hormby at the Braeburn website. It begins:
"Apple had transformed from a small three man venture in the late seventies into a huge, multinational corporation in the late eighties. With the change, came troubles. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak had both left the company and so to had its entrepreneurial spirit. The Macintosh had saved the company in the mid eighties, but Apple had now become totally reliant on it, and was unwilling to pursue any projects that might compete with it. Engineers all over the company had become frustrated with the lack of creativity and innovation in the products they were working on. Apple was struggling."

Pink

A2 News and Notes
The August, 2005 issue of the A2 News and Notes Newsletter for Apple II fans has been posted by Howard Katz!
This issue:
* Old Items Are New
* A piece of Apple II History
* Apple II Imaging
* Software News
* SignOff

A2 News and Notes

Pippin Page
Here's a brief page at the Assembler website with details on the short-lived Apple/Bandai Pippin. Some good pictures of the original packaging for the collectors out there.

Apple Pippin

Ecrans Transparents
Ok - this isn't exactly Vintage Apple News, but it doesn't exlude vintage Macs either! Quite frankly, it was just too interesting not to pass along. Hopefully, everyone hasn't already seen this, (pardon us if you have) but when we stumbled on this gallery at macbidouille.com we had one of those, "That is so cool - we have to try it NOW!" moments that kept all of us up late last night trying to make it work. One thing we now know for sure - it is harder than it looks! Try it and you will see. It may not be the most fascinating thing you will ever see, but it will be the most fascinating thing you will see today! What is it? Check out the image and follow the link below to see for yourself.

Ecrans Transparents

VisiCalc
An article by Thomas Hormby recounting the history of VisiCalc. It begins:
"Apple Computer without VisiCalc would have been an entirely different company. VisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet, was a major cause of the success of the Apple II, and attracted the attention of IBM to the microcomputer market. "

VisiCalc by Thomas Hormby

The Missing Bite and Katrina
The Missing Bite - THE source for Apple Logo Merchandise, Think Different Posters, and Apple Apparel, including vintage items - has announced that during the month of September, they are contributing 10% of every sale to the American Red Cross to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
They've recently added 55 NEW Apple logo items to The Missing Bite. There are many new posters, keyrings, mugs, hats, shirts, and other rare Apple collectibles now for sale.

The Missing Bite

Contributions can also be made directly here:
American Red Cross