Macintosh SE
The Macintosh SE is a personal computer designed and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from March 1987 to October 1990. It marked a significant improvement on the Macintosh Plus design and was introduced by Apple at the same time as the Macintosh II; the SE retains the same Compact Macintosh form factor as the original Macintosh computer introduced three years earlier and uses the same design language used by the Macintosh II. An enhanced model, the SE/30 was introduced in January 1989; the Macintosh SE was updated in August 1989 to include a SuperDrive, with this updated version being called the "Macintosh SE FDHD" and the "Macintosh SE SuperDrive". The Macintosh SE was replaced with the Macintosh Classic, a similar model which retained the same central processing unit and form factor, but at a lower price point; the Macintosh SE was introduced at the AppleWorld conference in Los Angeles on March 2, 1987. The "SE" is an acronym for "System Expansion", its notable new features, compared to its similar predecessor, the Macintosh Plus, were: First compact Macintosh with an internal drive bay for a hard disk or a second floppy drive.
First compact Macintosh. First Macintosh to support the Apple Desktop Bus only available on the Apple IIGS, for keyboard and mouse connections. Improved SCSI support with a standard 50-pin internal SCSI connector. Better reliability and longer life expectancy due to the addition of a cooling fan. Upgraded video circuitry that results in a lower percentage of CPU time being spent drawing the screen. In practice this results in a 10-20 percent performance improvement. Additional fonts and kerning routines in the Toolbox ROM Disk First Aid is included on the system diskThe SE and Macintosh II were the first Apple computers since the Apple I to be sold without a keyboard. Instead the customer was offered the choice of the new ADB Apple Keyboard or the Apple Extended Keyboard. Apple produced ten SEs with transparent cases as prototypes for promotional employees, they are rare and command a premium price for collectors. The Macintosh SE shipped with System 4.0 and Finder 5.4. The README file included with the installation disks for the SE and II is the first place Apple used the term "Macintosh System Software", after 1998 these two versions were retroactively given the name "Macintosh System Software 2.0.1".
Processor: Motorola 68000, 8 MHz, with an 8 MHz system bus and a 16-bit data path RAM: The SE came with 1 MB of RAM as standard, is expandable to 4 MB. The logic board has four 30-pin SIMM slots. Video: There is 256 KB of onboard video memory, enabling 512x384 monochrome resolution; the built-in screen has a lower resolution. Storage: The SE can accommodate either one or two floppy drives, or a floppy drive and a hard drive. After-market brackets were designed to allow the SE to accommodate two floppy drives as well as a hard drive, however it was not a configuration supported by Apple. In addition an external floppy disk drive may be connected, making the SE the only Macintosh besides the Macintosh Portable and Macintosh II which could support three floppy drives, though its increased storage, RAM capacity and optional internal hard drive rendered the external drives less of a necessity than for its predecessors. Single-floppy SE models featured a drive-access light in the spot where the second floppy drive would be.
Hard-drive equipped models came with a 20 MB SCSI hard disk. Battery: Located on the logic board is a 3.6 V lithium battery, which must be present in order for basic settings to persist between power cycles. Macintosh SE machines which have sat for a long time have experienced battery corrosion and leakage, resulting in a damaged case and logic board. Expansion: A Processor Direct Slot on the logic board allows for expansion cards, such as accelerators, to be installed; the SE can be upgraded to more than 5 MB with the MicroMac accelerators. In the past other accelerators were available such as the Sonnet Allegro. Since installing a card required opening the computer's case and exposing the user to high voltages from the internal CRT, Apple recommended that only authorized Apple dealers install the cards. Upgrades: After Apple introduced the Macintosh SE/30 in January, 1989, a logic board upgrade was sold by Apple dealers as a high-cost upgrade for the SE, consisting of a new SE/30 motherboard, case front and internal chassis to accommodate the upgrade components.
Easter egg: The Macintosh SE ROM size increased from 64 KB in the original Mac to 256 KB, which allowed the development team to include an Easter Egg hidden in the ROMs. By jumping to address 0x41D89A or reading from the ROM chips it is possible to display the four images of the engineering team. Introduced March 2, 1987: Macintosh SEIntroduced August 1, 1989: Macintosh SE FDHD: Includes the new SuperDrive, a floppy disk drive that can handle 1.4 MB High Density floppy disks. FDHD is an acronym for "Floppy Disk High Density". High-density floppies would become the de facto standard on both the Macintosh and PC computers from on. An upgrade kit was sold for the original Macintosh SE which included new ROM chips and a new disk controller chip, to replace the originals. Macintosh SE 1/20: The name of the Macintosh SE FD
Apple Desktop Bus
Apple Desktop Bus is a proprietary bit-serial peripheral bus connecting low-speed devices to computers. It was introduced on the Apple IIGS in 1986 as a way to support low-cost devices like keyboards and mice, allowing them to be connected together in a daisy chain without the need for hubs or other devices. Apple Device Bus was introduced on Macintosh models, on models of NeXT computers, saw some other third-party use as well. Like the similar PS/2 connector used in many PC-compatibles at the time, Apple Desktop Bus was replaced by USB as that system became popular in the late 1990s. Early during the creation of the Macintosh computer, the engineering team had selected the sophisticated Zilog 8530 to supply serial communications; this was done to allow multiple devices to be plugged into a single port, using simple networking protocols implemented inside the 8530 to allow them to send and receive data with the host computer. During development of this AppleBus system, computer networking became a vitally important feature of any computer system.
With no card slots, the Macintosh was unable to add support for Ethernet or similar local area networking standards. Work on AppleBus was re-directed to networking purposes, was released in 1985 as the AppleTalk system; this left the Mac with the original single-purpose mouse and keyboard ports, no general-purpose system for low-speed devices to use. Apple Desktop Bus was created by Steve Wozniak, looking for a project to work on in the mid-1980s. Someone suggested that he should create a new connection system for devices like mice and keyboards, one that would require only a single daisy-chained cable, be inexpensive to implement; the first system to use Apple Desktop Bus is the Apple IIGS of 1986. It is used on all Apple Macintosh machines starting with the Macintosh II and Macintosh SE. Apple Desktop Bus is used on models of NeXT computers; the vast majority of Apple Desktop Bus devices are for input, including trackballs, graphics tablets and similar devices. Special-purpose uses include software protection dongles and the TelePort modem.
The first Macintosh to move on from Apple Desktop Bus was the iMac in 1998, which uses USB in its place. The last Apple computer to have an Apple Desktop Bus port is the Power Macintosh G3 in 1999. PowerPC-based PowerBooks and iBooks still use the Apple Desktop Bus protocol in the internal interface with the built-in keyboard and touchpad. Subsequent models use a USB-based trackpad. In keeping with Apple's general philosophy of industrial design, Apple Desktop Bus was intended to be as simple to use as possible, while still being inexpensive to implement. A suitable connector was found in the form of the 4-pin mini-DIN connector, used for S-Video; the connectors are small available, can only be inserted the "correct way". They do not lock into position, but with a friction fit they are firm enough for light duties like those intended for Apple Desktop Bus. Apple Desktop Bus protocol requires only a single pin for data, labeled Apple Desktop Bus. Two of the other pins are used for ground; the +5 V pin guarantees at least 500 mA, requires devices to use only 100 mA each.
ADB includes the PSW pin, attached directly to the power supply of the host computer. This is included to allow a key on the keyboard to start up the machine without needing the Apple Desktop Bus software to interpret the signal. In more modern designs, an auxiliary microcontroller is always kept running, so it is economical to use a power-up command over the standard USB channel. Most serial digital interfaces use a separate clock pin to signal the arrival of individual bits of data. However, Wozniak decided. Like modems, the system locks onto fall times to recreate a clock signal; the decoding transceiver ASIC as well as associated patents were controlled by Apple. In the Macintosh SE, the Apple Desktop Bus is implemented in an Apple-branded Microchip PIC16CR54 Microcontroller; the Apple Desktop Bus system is based around the devices having the ability to decode a single number and being able to hold several small bits of data. All traffic on the bus is driven by the host computer, which sends out commands to read or write data: devices are not allowed to use the bus unless the computer first requests it.
These requests take the form of single-byte strings. The upper four bits contain the ID of one of the devices on the chain; the four bits allow for up to 16 devices on a single bus. The next two bits specify one of four commands, the final two bits indicate one of four registers; the commands are: talk - send the contents of a register to the computer listen - set the register to the following number flush - clear the contents of the register reset - tell everyone on the bus to resetFor instance, if the mouse is known to be at address $D, the computer will periodically send out a message on the bus that looks something like: 1101 11 00 This says that device $D should talk and return the contents of register zero. To a mouse this means "tell me the latest position changes". Registers can contain between eight bytes. Register zero is the primary communications channel. Registers one and two are undefined, are intended to allow 3rd party developers to store configuration information
Sweden
Sweden the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north and Finland to the east, is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund, a strait at the Swedish-Danish border. At 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the largest country in Northern Europe, the third-largest country in the European Union and the fifth largest country in Europe by area. Sweden has a total population of 10.2 million. It has a low population density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre; the highest concentration is in the southern half of the country. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats and Swedes and constituting the sea peoples known as the Norsemen. Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is forested. Sweden is part of the geographical area of Fennoscandia; the climate is in general mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence, that in spite of this still retains warm continental summers.
Today, the sovereign state of Sweden is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state, like its neighbour Norway. The capital city is Stockholm, the most populous city in the country. Legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister. Sweden is a unitary state divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. An independent Swedish state emerged during the early 12th century. After the Black Death in the middle of the 14th century killed about a third of the Scandinavian population, the Hanseatic League threatened Scandinavia's culture and languages; this led to the forming of the Scandinavian Kalmar Union in 1397, which Sweden left in 1523. When Sweden became involved in the Thirty Years War on the Reformist side, an expansion of its territories began and the Swedish Empire was formed; this became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, ending with the annexation of present-day Finland by Russia in 1809.
The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since Sweden has been at peace, maintaining an official policy of neutrality in foreign affairs; the union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905. Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars and the Cold War, albeit Sweden has since 2009 moved towards cooperation with NATO. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995, but declined NATO membership, as well as Eurozone membership following a referendum, it is a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides universal health care and tertiary education for its citizens, it has the world's eleventh-highest per capita income and ranks in numerous metrics of national performance, including quality of life, education, protection of civil liberties, economic competitiveness, equality and human development.
The name Sweden was loaned from Dutch in the 17th century to refer to Sweden as an emerging great power. Before Sweden's imperial expansion, Early Modern English used Swedeland. Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod, which meant "people of the Swedes"; this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige means "realm of the Swedes", excluding the Geats in Götaland. Variations of the name Sweden are used in most languages, with the exception of Danish and Norwegian using Sverige, Faroese Svøríki, Icelandic Svíþjóð, the more notable exception of some Finnic languages where Ruotsi and Rootsi are used, names considered as referring to the people from the coastal areas of Roslagen, who were known as the Rus', through them etymologically related to the English name for Russia; the etymology of Swedes, thus Sweden, is not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning "one's own", referring to one's own Germanic tribe. Sweden's prehistory begins in the Allerød oscillation, a warm period around 12,000 BC, with Late Palaeolithic reindeer-hunting camps of the Bromme culture at the edge of the ice in what is now the country's southernmost province, Scania.
This period was characterised by small bands of hunter-gatherer-fishers using flint technology. Sweden is first described in a written source in Germania by Tacitus in 98 AD. In Germania 44 and 45 he mentions the Swedes as a powerful tribe with ships that had a prow at each end. Which kings ruled these Suiones is unknown, but Norse mythology presents a long line of legendary and semi-legendary kings going back to the last centuries BC; as for literacy in Sweden itself, the runic script was in use among the south Scandinavian elite by at least the 2nd century AD, but all that has come down to the present from the Roman Period is curt inscriptions on artefacts of male names, demonstrating th
SIMM
A SIMM, or single in-line memory module, is a type of memory module containing random-access memory used in computers from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. It differs from a dual in-line memory module, the most predominant form of memory module today, in that the contacts on a SIMM are redundant on both sides of the module. SIMMs were standardised under the JEDEC JESD-21C standard. Most early PC motherboards used socketed DIP chips for DRAM; as computer memory capacities grew, memory modules were used to save motherboard space and ease memory expansion. Instead of plugging in eight or nine single DIP chips, only one additional memory module was needed to increase the memory of the computer. SIMMs were invented in 1982 by James J. Parker at Zenith Microcircuits and the first Zenith Microcircuits customer was Wang Laboratories. Wang Laboratories tried to patent it and were granted a patent in April 1987; that patent was voided when Wang Laboratories sued multiple companies for infringement and it was publicized that they were the prior invention of Parker at Zenith Microcircuits.
The lawsuit was dropped and the patent was vacated. The original memory modules were built upon ceramic substrates with 64K Hitachi "flip chip" parts and had pins, i.e. single in-line package packaging. There was an 8-bit part and a 9-bit part both at 64K; the pins were the costliest part of the assembly process and Zenith Microcircuits, in conjunction with Wang and Amp, soon developed an easy insertion, pinless connector. The modules were built on ceramic substrates with Fujitsu plastic J-lead chips and still they were made on standard PCB material. SIMMs using pins are called SIP or SIPP memory modules to distinguish them from the more common modules using edge connectors; the first variant of SIMMs provides 8 bits of data. They were used in AT-compatible, 386-based, 486-based, Macintosh Plus, Macintosh II, Quadra and Atari STE microcomputers, Wang VS minicomputers; the second variant of SIMMs provides 32 bits of data. These appeared first in the early 1990s in models of the IBM PS/2, in systems based on the 486, Pentium Pro, early Pentium II, contemporary/competing chips of other brands.
By the mid-90s, 72-pin SIMMs had replaced 30-pin SIMMs in new-build computers, were starting to themselves be replaced by DIMMs. Non-IBM PC computers such as UNIX workstations may use proprietary non-standard SIMMs; the Macintosh IIfx uses proprietary non-standard SIMMs with 64 pins. DRAM technologies used in SIMMs include FPM, the higher-performance EDO DRAM. Due to the differing data bus widths of the memory modules and some processors, sometimes several modules must be installed in identical pairs or in identical groups of four to fill a memory bank; the rule of thumb is a 286, 386SX, 68000 or low-end 68020 / 68030 system would require two 30-pin SIMMs for a memory bank. On 386DX, 486, full-spec 68020 through 68060 systems, either four 30-pin SIMMs or one 72-pin SIMM are required for one memory bank. On Pentium systems, two 72-pin SIMMs are required. However, some Pentium systems have support for a "half bank mode", in which the data bus would be shortened to only 32 bits to allow operation of a single SIMM.
Conversely, some 386 and 486 systems use what is known as "memory interleaving", which requires twice as many SIMMs and doubles the bandwidth. The earliest SIMM sockets were conventional push-type sockets; these were soon replaced by ZIF sockets in which the SIMM was inserted at an angle tilted into an upright position. To remove one, the two metal or plastic clips at each end must be pulled to the side the SIMM must be tilted back and pulled out; the earlier sockets used plastic retainer clips which were found to break, so steel clips replaced them. Some SIMMs support presence detect. Connections are made to some of the pins that encode the capacity and speed of the SIMM, so that compatible equipment can detect the properties of the SIMM. PD SIMMs can be used in equipment which does not support PD. Standard SIMMs can be converted to support PD by fitting jumpers, if the SIMMs have solder pads to do so, or by soldering wires on. Standard sizes: 256 KB, 1 MB, 4 MB, 16 MB 30-pin SIMMS have 12 address lines, which can provide a total of 24 address bits.
With an 8 bit data width, this leads to an absolute maximum capacity of 16 MB for both parity and non-parity modules. * Pins 26, 28 and 29 are not connected on non-parity SIMMs. Standard sizes: 1 MB, 2 MB, 4 MB, 8 MB, 16 MB, 32 MB, 64 MB, 128 MB With 12 address lines, which can provide a total of 24 address bits, two ranks of chips, 32 bit data output, the absolute maximum capacity is 227 = 128 MB. * Pins 35, 36, 37 and 38 are not connected on non-parity SIMMs. †/RAS1 and /RAS3 are only used on two-rank SIMMS: 2, 8, 32, 128 MB. # These lines are only defined on 3.3V modules. X Presence Detect signals are detailed in JEDEC Standard. Several CPU cards from Great Valley Pro
Bruce Webster
Bruce F. Webster is an American academic and software engineer, he is a principal at Bruce F. Webster & Associates and an adjunct professor in computer science at Brigham Young University. Webster studied computer science at Brigham Young University in 1978, graduating in 1978, he had received a full National Merit Scholarship for his studies. He went on to do graduate work in computer science at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Webster, since 1980, has written over 150 articles on the computer industry and software development, he has written four books on information technology issues, including The NeXT book, Pitfalls of Object-Oriented Development, Object-Oriented Programming for Dummies, while contributing to two others. He authored Patterns in IT Litigation: System Failure, he wrote for two years as an IT management columnist for Baseline. Webster has been invited to speak at conferences internationally, has appeared on TV news broadcasts, been cited in publications including Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, Barron's.
He has testified before Congress on three occasions, has been consulted in several legal cases in the United States and abroad. He has been an arbitrator and a neutral expert in litigation relating to IT and has testified as an IT expert in federal and state court. Webster is an internationally-recognized expert on information technology, having been an invited speaker at conferences in the US, Russia, Central America, the Middle East, he has appeared on TV news broadcasts and been cited in publications such as Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s. He has testified three separate times before Congress. Webster resides in Provo, with his wife Sandra, he has played an active role in the church. Webster is a 1978 graduate of Brigham Young University with a bachelor's degree in computer science, he did graduate work in computer science at the University of Houston–Clear Lake in southeast Houston, Texas. Webster performed the co-design and programming of the original Apple II version of the computer game SunDog: Frozen Legacy for FTL Games.
The game was somewhat of a success and is still recognized today as one of the landmark games for early home computers. Webster went on to write for BYTE and Macworld and taught computer science at his alma mater of Brigham Young University, he went on to help found another software startup, where he served as Chief Technical Officer and chief software architect for five years. Webster is teaching at BYU once again. Webster is the author of several books regarding the programming process, he runs Bruce F. Webster & Associates LLC, a company which "provides expert analysis in matters involving information technology, with a focus on system development, project failure, intellectual property and internet technologies, software engineering." One of Webster's current projects is the SunDog Resurrection project, an open-source rewrite of his early game. His original plan was to implement it in Java, but it has since been started in Python without his involvement. Bruce Webster's web site Bruce Webster's "And Still I Persist" blog Bruce Webster's "Adventures in Mormonism" blog Webster & Associates web site Webster's SunDog page The SunDog Resurrection project at SourceForge
Personal computer
A personal computer is a multi-purpose computer whose size and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or technician. Unlike large costly minicomputer and mainframes, time-sharing by many people at the same time is not used with personal computers. Institutional or corporate computer owners in the 1960s had to write their own programs to do any useful work with the machines. While personal computer users may develop their own applications these systems run commercial software, free-of-charge software or free and open-source software, provided in ready-to-run form. Software for personal computers is developed and distributed independently from the hardware or operating system manufacturers. Many personal computer users no longer need to write their own programs to make any use of a personal computer, although end-user programming is still feasible; this contrasts with mobile systems, where software is only available through a manufacturer-supported channel, end-user program development may be discouraged by lack of support by the manufacturer.
Since the early 1990s, Microsoft operating systems and Intel hardware have dominated much of the personal computer market, first with MS-DOS and with Microsoft Windows. Alternatives to Microsoft's Windows operating systems occupy a minority share of the industry; these include free and open-source Unix-like operating systems such as Linux. Advanced Micro Devices provides the main alternative to Intel's processors; the advent of personal computers and the concurrent Digital Revolution have affected the lives of people in all countries. "PC" is an initialism for "personal computer". The IBM Personal Computer incorporated the designation in its model name, it is sometimes useful to distinguish personal computers of the "IBM Personal Computer" family from personal computers made by other manufacturers. For example, "PC" is used in contrast with "Mac", an Apple Macintosh computer.. Since none of these Apple products were mainframes or time-sharing systems, they were all "personal computers" and not "PC" computers.
The "brain" may one day come down to our level and help with our income-tax and book-keeping calculations. But this is speculation and there is no sign of it so far. In the history of computing, early experimental machines could be operated by a single attendant. For example, ENIAC which became operational in 1946 could be run by a single, albeit trained, person; this mode pre-dated the batch programming, or time-sharing modes with multiple users connected through terminals to mainframe computers. Computers intended for laboratory, instrumentation, or engineering purposes were built, could be operated by one person in an interactive fashion. Examples include such systems as the Bendix G15 and LGP-30of 1956, the Programma 101 introduced in 1964, the Soviet MIR series of computers developed from 1965 to 1969. By the early 1970s, people in academic or research institutions had the opportunity for single-person use of a computer system in interactive mode for extended durations, although these systems would still have been too expensive to be owned by a single person.
In what was to be called the Mother of All Demos, SRI researcher Douglas Engelbart in 1968 gave a preview of what would become the staples of daily working life in the 21st century: e-mail, word processing, video conferencing, the mouse. The demonstration required technical support staff and a mainframe time-sharing computer that were far too costly for individual business use at the time; the development of the microprocessor, with widespread commercial availability starting in the mid 1970's, made computers cheap enough for small businesses and individuals to own. Early personal computers—generally called microcomputers—were sold in a kit form and in limited volumes, were of interest to hobbyists and technicians. Minimal programming was done with toggle switches to enter instructions, output was provided by front panel lamps. Practical use required adding peripherals such as keyboards, computer displays, disk drives, printers. Micral N was the earliest commercial, non-kit microcomputer based on a microprocessor, the Intel 8008.
It was built starting in 1972, few hundred units were sold. This had been preceded by the Datapoint 2200 in 1970, for which the Intel 8008 had been commissioned, though not accepted for use; the CPU design implemented in the Datapoint 2200 became the basis for x86 architecture used in the original IBM PC and its descendants. In 1973, the IBM Los Gatos Scientific Center developed a portable computer prototype called SCAMP based on the IBM PALM processor with a Philips compact cassette drive, small CRT, full function keyboard. SCAMP emulated an IBM 1130 minicomputer in order to run APL/1130. In 1973, APL was available only on mainframe computers, most desktop sized microcomputers such as the Wang 2200 or HP 9800 offered only BASIC; because SCAMP was the first to emulate APL/1130 performance on a portable, single user computer, PC Magazine in 1983 designated SCAMP a "revolutionary concept" and "the world's first personal computer". This seminal, single user portable computer now resides in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.
C.. Successful demonstrations of the 1973 SCAMP prototype led to the IBM 5100 portable microcomputer launched in 1975 with the ability to be programmed in both APL and BASIC for engineers, analysts and other business problem-solvers. In the late 1960s such a machine would have been nearly as large as two desks and would have weigh
Apple IIc
The Apple IIc, the fourth model in the Apple II series of personal computers, is Apple Computer’s first endeavor to produce a portable computer. The result was a 7.5 lb notebook-sized version of the Apple II that could be transported from place to place. The c in the name stood for compact, referring to the fact it was a complete Apple II computer setup squeezed into a small notebook-sized housing. While sporting a built-in floppy drive and new rear peripheral expansion ports integrated onto the main logic board, it lacks the internal expansion slots and direct motherboard access of earlier Apple II models, making it a closed system like the Macintosh. However, the intended direction for this model — a more appliance-like machine, ready to use out of the box, requiring no technical know-how or experience to hook up and therefore attractive to first-time users; the Apple IIc was released on April 1984, during an Apple-held event called Apple II Forever. With that motto, Apple proclaimed the new machine was proof of the company's long-term commitment to the Apple II series and its users, despite the recent introduction of the Macintosh.
The IIc was seen as the company's response to the new IBM PCjr, Apple hoped to sell 400,000 by the end of 1984. While an Apple IIe computer in a smaller case, it was not a successor, but rather a portable version to complement it. One Apple II machine would be sold for users who required the expandability of slots, another for those wanting the simplicity of a plug and play machine with portability in mind; the machine introduced Apple’s Snow White design language, notable for its case styling and a modern look designed by Hartmut Esslinger which became the standard for Apple equipment and computers for nearly a decade. The Apple IIc introduced a unique off-white coloring known as “Fog,” chosen to enhance the Snow White design style; the IIc and some peripherals were the only Apple products. While light-weight and compact in design, the Apple IIc was not a true portable in design as it lacked a built-in battery and display. Codenames for the machine while under development included: Lollie, ET, Teddy, VLC, IIb, IIp.
Technically the Apple IIc was an Apple IIe in a smaller case, more portable and easier to use but less expandable. The IIc used the CMOS-based 65C02 microprocessor which added 27 new instructions to the 6502, but was incompatible with programs that used deprecated illegal opcodes of the 6502; the new ROM firmware allowed Applesoft BASIC to recognize lowercase characters and work better with an 80-column display, fixed several bugs from the IIe ROM. In terms of video, the text display added 32 unique character symbols called "MouseText" which, when placed side by side, could display simple icons and menus to create a graphical user interface out of text, similar in concept to IBM code page 437 or PETSCII's box-drawing characters. A year the Apple IIe would benefit from these improvements in the form of a four-chip upgrade called the Enhanced IIe; the equivalent of five expansion cards were built-in and integrated into the Apple IIc motherboard: An Extended 80 Column Card, two Apple Super Serial Cards, a Mouse Card, a disk floppy drive controller card.
This meant the Apple IIc had 128 KB RAM, 80-column text, Double-Hi-Resolution graphics built-in and available right out of the box, unlike its older sibling, the Apple IIe. It meant less of a need for slots, as the most popular peripheral add-on cards were built-in, ready for devices to be plugged into the rear ports of the machine; the built-in cards were mapped to phantom slots so software from slot-based Apple II models would know where to find them. The entire Apple Disk II Card, used for controlling floppy drives, had been shrunk down into a single chip called the “IWM” which stood for Integrated Woz Machine. In the rear of the machine were its expansion ports for providing access to its built-in cards; the standard DE-9 joystick connector doubled as a mouse interface, compatible with the same mice used by the Lisa and early Macintosh computers. Two serial ports were provided to support a printer and modem, a floppy port connector supported a single external 5.25-inch drive. A Video Expansion port provided rudimentary signals for add-on adapters but, could not directly generate a video signal.
A port connector tied into an internal 12 V power converter for attaching batteries. The same composite video port found on earlier Apple II models remained present; the Apple IIc had a built-in 5.25-inch floppy drive along the right side of the case—the first Apple II model to include such a feature. Along the left side of the case was a dial to control the volume of the internal speaker, along with a 1⁄8-inch monaural audio jack for headphones or an external speaker. A fold-out carrying handle doubled as a way to prop up the back end of the machine to angle the keyboard for typing, if desired; the keyboard layout mirrored that of the Apple IIe. Two toggle switches were located in the same area: an “80/40”-column switch for software
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