Why use an Apple II
By John L. Graham
Copyright (c) 1995 Apple Users' Group, Sydney
Republished from Applecations, a publication of the Apple Users' Group, Sydney, Australia.
Spotlight on the Internet
From: John_L._Graham@adbbs.antioch.edu (John L. Graham)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: Why use an Apple II?
Date: 25 Aug 1995 14:11:45 GMT
Organization: Apple Dayton Users Group
Two VERY SHORT answers (trying to avoid soap box syndrome).
I bought my first Apple II (a 48KB II+) in 1981 because I enjoyed
programming and I was particularly interested in writing astronomy related
software. Up until then all my programming had been on main frames and I was
tired of watching my jobs get shoved down the stack by tasks with higher
priority. I'll still never forget the first time I typed RUN on my II+, and
it did! It was the first time I ever encountered the speed of computers,
goodness knows the overall time on main frames was anything but.
I stuck with the Apple II and after years of selling high (while they still
had value) and buying low (getting them back for a song) I know have
everything from a II+ to three IIgs'.
When it became clear Apple Inc. was going to ignore the II to death it was
decision time. To make a long story short, I still enjoy programming and I
still write astronomy software, and the II's still get the job done. For me,
they're a lot of fun, they're paid for, and the current market offerings
aren't sufficiently different or offer significantly greater capability for
me to ever justify the cost of changing platforms while the market continues to obsolete itself at break-neck speed. It's an insane spending marathon that takes no prisoners.
At work I get to use the latest and greatest (there pockets are deeper than
mine) along side my IIs that I have in my office and research lab. They sure
are nice to have at work, but we drug them home a couple of times and never
turned them on, so they stay at work where they belong.
So, there you have it. For me, the IIs are still a lot of fun, they're
economical, and they get the job done. When they stop being these thing, time will come to move on. Until then, it's fun watching for a change.
Have fun!
John

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