Floppy Days Episode 88 - The Apple III - Part 2

Hi, all, and welcome to Floppy Days #88 for December, 2018.  I’m your host, Randy Kindig, and it’s hard to believe that 2018 is coming to an end.  I hope you all had a great year! As stated in the last show, we are into the year 1981 for computer introductions and we are covering the Apple II’s more powerful sibling, the Apple III.  This is part 2 of the 2-part series and will again have Paul Hagstrom, prolific podcaster himself, to help me cover this machine. We will continue where we left off the last show, and will cover magazines, books, software, emulators, Web sites and a whole lot more.  Stay tuned to learn more than you ever wanted to know about the Apple III.

New Acquisitions/What I’ve Been Up To

• Tandy Assembly 2018 - http://www.tandyassembly.com/index.html
• Bartlett Labs (Peter Barlett) - MISE/M3SE/MIRE - http://bartlettlabs.com/
• Ian Mavric - The Right Stuff - http://members.iinet.net.au/~ianmav/trs80/
• Peter Cetinski - http://pski.net/category/retro/
• Brendan Donahe - CoCoVGA - http://www.cocovga.com/
• Jim Brain - Retro Innovations - http://store.go4retro.com/
• Thomas McLaren - Digital Dinos - http://www.digitaldinos.com/
• ZZap!64 Annual 2019 book - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/47744432/zzap-64-annual-2019-the-next-chapter
• TI-59 & gummy wheel repair kit - https://www.ebay.com/itm/TEXAS-INSTRUMENTS-TI-59-CALCULATOR-CARD-READER-GUMMY-WHEEL-REPAIR-KIT/264101043234
• Soldering Station - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D57JT3F
• Atari 8-bit SIO cables - https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=128
• Atari 8-bit SIO2SD p https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=58
• Atari 8-bit S-Drive Max - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EUVJYME
• Atari 410 Cassette Drive belt - https://www.ebay.com/itm/123508444012?ViewItem=&item=123508444012
• Pi1541 - https://www.ebay.com/itm/PiDRIVE-Raspberry-Pi-HAT-1541-1581-Commodore-64-128-Vic-20-Emulator-OLED-Pi1541-/332860073409
• Amiga External Drive Cable and Boot Selector - http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?88687-Gotek-Floppy-Drive-External-ROUND-cables

Upcoming Shows

• The Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network will have three tables at the second annual Retro City Festival, taking place January 5-6, 2019 at the famous Fairplex, Expo Hall 9, 1101 W McKinley Ave. in Pomona, California (east of Los Angeles). - http://retrocityfestival.com - a yearly celebration of video game history
• VCF Pacific Northwest 2019 will take place March 23-24, 2019 at Living Computers: Museum+Labs in Seattle, Washington.  Details can be found at http://www.vcfed.org/vcf-pnw.

Feedback

• “Sophistication and Simplicity: The Life and Times of the Apple II Computer” by Steven Weyhrich - https://www.amazon.com/Sophistication-Simplicity-Times-Apple-Computer/dp/0986832278
• Jupiter Ace resources - https://jupiter-ace.co.uk

Popular Magazines/Newsletters

• Apple III Dimensions (Apple) - https://www.apple2scans.net/magazines/apple-dimensions/ - 4 issues (tied to the recall/upgrade program)
• OnThree - https://www.apple2scans.net/magazines/on-three/ - ‘83 to ‘90 - Bob Consorti put in link to interview on Drop III Inches
• Open Apple Gazette - https://www.apple2scans.net/magazines/open-apple-gazette/ - ‘82 to ‘84
• Apple Orchard - http://yesterbits.com/scans/apple-orchard-magazine/ - ‘80 to ‘84
• Call-A.P.P.L.E. - https://www.callapple.org - ‘78 to (‘90, ‘02 to ‘11, ‘15 to) present
• Softalk - https://archive.org/details/softalkapple - ‘80 to ‘84
• Washington Apple Pi Journal - https://www.wap.org/journal/showcase/ -‘79 to ‘94

Books

• Osborne-McGraw Hill Guide to your Apple III - Stanley M. Miastkowski - http://www.apple2scans.net/apple-iii-documents/osborne-mcgraw-hill-guide-to-your-apple-iii/
• Exploring Business BASIC - an almost-book by Taylor Pohlman: http://www.apple2scans.net/apple-iii-documents/exploring-business-basic/
• "Using Apple Business Computers" by Kenniston Lord Jr - https://www.ebay.com/itm/1984-Operating-Programming-Apple-III-Computers-rare-book-on-the-Apple-III-/252985598982
• Business BASIC for the Apple III by Eddie Adamis - https://www.amazon.com/Business-BASIC-Apple-Eddie-Adamis/dp/0471883883 — http://www.apple2scans.net/apple-iii-documents/business-basic-for-the-apple-iii/
• BASIC Keywords for the Apple III also by Eddie Adamis - http://www.apple2scans.net/apple-iii-documents/basic-keywords-for-the-apple-iii/ [nearly identical to other Adamis book, just sorted differently]

Software

• Resource Guide for Apple III and Apple III Plus Harware and Software (Apple): http://www.apple2scans.net/apple-iii-documents/resource-guide-for-apple-and-apple-plus-hardware-and-software/
• Software - http://apple3.org/iiisoftware.html

Ads & Appearances

• Night Shift (1982) - Chuck, the morgue night attendant, uses Visicalc on an Apple III to keep his girls' finances in order.
• Dick Cavett TV ads - Apple IIII easy to use -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOk-gA_j_Cw
• Dick Cavett TV Ad - Electronic Worksheet - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk80YJ0H-ZU -

Modern Upgrades

• CFFA2 / CFFA3000 - http://dreher.net/?s=projects/CFforAppleII&c=projects/CFforAppleII/main.php , http://dreher.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=490
• Floppy Emu - https://www.bigmessowires.com/floppy-emu/
• SD Floppy II - http://www.a2heaven.com/webshop/index.php?rt=product/product&product_id=124
• X/ProFile - Profile/Widget Emulator Board for Apple Lisa&Apple3 - https://www.ebay.com/itm/X-ProFile-Profile-Widget-Emulator-Board-Apple-Lisa-Apple3-Hundreds-SOLD-/202428018286 - $369.99
• APPLE III PROFILE INTERFACE - (this is a vintage era card) - http://vintagemicros.com/catalog/apple-profile-interface-p-170.html

Emulators

• Sara - http://www.blackcatsystems.com/software/sara.html
• MESS/MAME - https://www.mamedev.org/release.html See also: apple3rtr https://github.com/datajerk/apple3rtr “Ready to Run”
• Open Emulator - https://github.com/OpenEmulatorProject/OpenEmulator-OSX , Unofficial snapshot builds: https://archive.org/details/OpenEmulatorSnapshots

Buying One Today

• Interview with Bob Cook, Founder and former President of Sun Remarketing - https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-classic/classiccomputingcom-bob-cook-fmin7S5wdps/

Community

• Facebook
• • https://www.facebook.com/groups/appleiii/
• Twitter
• • Drop III inches (podcast twitter feed): https://twitter.com/drop_iii_inches
• Forums
• • Applefritter - https://www.applefritter.com/forum/84 - Apple II and III forum
• Podcasts
• • Drop III Inches - http://drop-iii-inches.com
  • Open Apple - http://www.open-apple.net - Apple II podcast but with occasional Apple III mentions

Current Web Sites

• Centre for Computing History - http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/210/Apple-III/
• Vintage Micros - http://vintagemicros.com/catalog/apple-c-29.html
• Apple3.org - http://www.apple3.org/ - Documents, magazines, software, emulators, ads
• Washington Apple Pi Apple III FAQ - https://www.wap.org/a3/a3library/a3faq.html
• Yesterbits Apple III Software and Scans - https://yesterbits.com/topics/apple-iii-software-and-scans/
• Mike Maginnis 6502Lane - http://www.6502lane.net/
• David T. Craig scans of a vast amount of material, internal documentation - https://archive.org/search.php?query=dtca3%2A
• Apple ///: A New Beginning by Apple Computer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY7HRyXgeek
• Why I Failed with the Apple III and Steve Jobs Succeeded With the Macintosh - https://blog.aha.io/why-i-failed-with-the-apple-iii-and-steve-jobs-succeeded-with-the-macintosh/ by David Fradin, Apple III Product Manager https://twitter.com/davidfradin1 https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidfradin/
• The One Thing Melinda Gates Will Keep Forever Is an Apple III - https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a22824572/melinda-gates-apple-iii
• Archive.org - https://archive.org/search.php?query=apple+iii
• Cult of Mac - https://www.cultofmac.com/?s=apple+iii
• Digibarn - http://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/appleIII/index.html - Apple III documentation, manuals, interviews, photos

References

• https://www.mac-history.net/computer-history/2007-07-14/apple-iii-and-apple-iie
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_III
• http://www.vectronicsappleworld.com/archives/appleii/0002.php
• http://lowendmac.com/2015/apple-iii-chaos-apples-first-failure/
• http://www.applelogic.org/AIIIDesignBugs.html