This Week in Apple History
Today we again take a look back at the informative "This Week in Apple History" series at The Mac Observer. The March 14-20 entry in the series by Owen Linzmayer & Bryan Chaffin is entitled, "Lots Of Mac History, 1 Million Macs, "Wicked Fast," Tell-All Book, Darwin".

March 14 - 20: Lots Of Mac History, 1 Million Macs, "Wicked Fast," Tell-All Book, Darwin

Virtual ][ Emulator Updated to Version 5.1
The fantastic 8-bit Apple II emulator for Mac OS X, Virtual ][ has been updated to version 5.1.

New in this release:
• The program now comes as a universal binary, fully compatible with both the Intel and the PowerPC Macintoshes.
• Added emulation of the ImageWriter II printer.
• Fixed an issue in the mouse card; as a result the emulation now supports the Apple II program "Blazing Paddles".
• Improved disk drive timing: as a result the Apple II program
• "Wasteland" now runs from copy-protected (.nib) disk images.
• Changed the Mockingboard card in such a way that the Apple II program "SkyFox" now detects and uses the card.
• Added a configurable option to skip the "save state" dialog when closing a virtual machine.
• Fixed an issue that resulted in wrong game paddle values when the machine ran at high speed.
• Fixed a potential crash in the Inspector when analyzing some types of copy protected disks.
• The "soft caps lock" feature doesn't affect pasted text anymore; it only affects typed characters, as it should.
• Solved an issue in sound handling that could lead to a deadlock when resetting the virtual machine.
• The "relative mouse mode" setting is now stored when saving a configuration file.

Virtual ][

The Newton and the Hare
A brief December 1994 cover story from the Byte.com archives.

It Begins:
"Negative reviews are bad enough, but when your company's new product is ridiculed for a whole week in Doonesbury, you know you've got a public-relations disaster.
Most products wouldn't survive such a withering blast. But Apple keeps plugging away with the Newton MessagePad, keeping a low profile while building for a hopefully brighter future.
`People ask me what it's like to work on the Newton,'' says Steve Capps, an Apple Fellow (senior scientist). `I tell them I'm thick-skinned, but not thick-headed. We've got to stick with the Newton but be wise about it.'"

The Newton and the Hare

The Apple Story, Part 1
From Apple2history.org:
"BYTE Magazine ran a 'Guide to the Apple' in December 1984. Part of that guide included the first of a two-part interview with Steve Wozniak. Here follows a reproduction of that article, reprinted with permission of Byte.com"

The Apple Story, Part 1

The Story Behind Apple's 1984 Ad
Today we go back a couple of months to this article by Tom Hormby at Low End Mac which offers revealing details about the famous Apple 1984 commercial. It Begins:

"Apple became a household name in the third quarter of SuperBowl XVIII when it aired the enormously popular 1984 ad promoting the upcoming release of the Macintosh."

The Story Behind Apple's 1984 Ad

Evolutionary To The Core: The Apple IIc Heads For Home
This article from the Atarimagazines.com archive by Selby Bateman, originally appeared in COMPUTE! Issue 50 / July 1984 / Page 24, and begins:

"Apple Computer has made 1984 its year of surprises, first with the "revolutionary" Macintosh and now with the "evolutionary" Apple IIc. The new 7¿-pound portable has already achieved critical acclaim and impressive early sales. Is it the computer for you?

"The IIc is not a home computer," says Apple President John Sculley. "It's for the serious user in the home."

Sculley isn't just playing word games with that comment. It is as succinct a statement of Apple's plans for the IIc as you'll find. And it addresses the biggest challenge and the greatest opportunity for the Cupertino, California, company: To convince a huge untapped home market that the IIc is not a low-end computer. And at the same time, Apple is targeting owners of low-end microcomputers who want more power, more software, and more portability."

Evolutionary To The Core: The Apple IIc Heads For Home

A2 News and Notes
The February, 2006 issue of the A2 News and Notes Newsletter for Apple II fans has been posted by Howard Katz!
This issue:
* Old Hardware Made New
* Easy to be Bugged
* Compact Storage
* Early AppleSoft
* Apple On A Card
* Wonderful Wiki
* Software News
* Emulation News
* SignOff

A2 News and Notes

Spoiled?
Some more folklore at Folklore.org. This time a story by Andy Hertzfeld recalling the Mac team's reputation for being spoiled, It begins:
"The Macintosh team had a reputation for being spoiled, which was certainly true by the middle of 1984, but it wasn't always the case. Even though Steve Jobs was fond of bragging that the Mac designers were Apple's best engineers, that wasn't necessarily reflected in their compensation."

Spoiled?

This Week in Apple History
Today we again take a look back at the informative "This Week in Apple History" series at The Mac Observer. The March 1-6 entry in the series by Owen Linzmayer & Bryan Chaffin is entitled, "Gassée Born, Homebrew Starts, Raskin Out".

March 1-6: Gassée Born, Homebrew Starts, Raskin Out

Apple I/Replica I and FORTH
A November 19, 2004 entry in the wkrWEB blog by Will Rodiger on the Apple 1 and Replica 1. It begins:
"The Apple I was a hobbyist's project in 1976 that turned into one of the early catalysts of the personal computer revolution. The simple elegance of the WOZ monitor (only 256 bytes!) and readily available parts made this computer accessible to everyone. Unfortunately, today only a few survive."

Apple I/Replica I and FORTH