Call–A.P.P.L.E. World’s Largest Apple User Group Magazine
Volume 26 Number 1 December 2016 www.callapple.org
KansasFest 2016 Keynote Speaker Mike Harvey: The Complete Interview
Castles of Darkness Woz Speaks Sneak Preview Australian Apple Review Redux Wendell Sander's Apple-1 Project Turtlesoft Returns Making Basic Behave: User Input Washington Apple Pi Newsletters And More...
Apple PugetSound Program Library Exchange Volume 26 Number 1 December 2016 www.callapple.org
A.P.P.L.E. Board of Directors A.P.P.L.E. Staff Chairman – Bill Martens Editor-in-Chief – Bill Martens Director – Brian Wiser Managing Editor – Brian Wiser Director – Jim Maricondo Staff Writer – Javier Rivera Data Digitization – Antoine Vignau Production & Design Bill Martens Contributing Authors Brian Wiser Quinn Dunkie Rick Sutcliffe Cover Photo Brian Wiser Call-A.P.P.L.E. Magazine ISSN 8755-4909 1705-4109
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i A look back at the year past and the goings on within A.P.P.L.E.
First I would like to welcome the new members who joined This was project that we thought initially would take a few A.P.P.L.E. this month. With everything else we were working months and, while we announced the WWA Enhanced on for KansasFest and thereafter, the magazine has been a Edition at KansasFest 2015, it was not until about three bit neglected. After a couple of of last minute KansasFest weeks before this year's KansasFest that we put the final additions were completed, we decided to get the magazine touches on the book. Some of the changes we added to the back into the loop. book some feedback received at KansasFest 2015 in addition to discovering many other areas that we could Over this past year, we have continued improve upon for beginning and advanced programmers. with the same crazy production schedule with the releases of the Thus, the version of What’s Where in the Apple: Enhanced C a l l - A . P. P. L . E . M a g a z i n e 1 9 7 8 Edition that we released is nearly 600 pages with tons of Compendium and Call-A.P.P.L.E. 1979 new information in addition to correcting many, many legacy Compendium, which are both available issues with the original editions, and serves as an excellent in Paperback or Hardback formats from educational resource. Lulu. The 1978 Compendium includes all the rare magazine issues from our first Then just in time for KansasFest 2016, year, fully-restored, while the 1979 Compendium features a we also released Nibble Viewpoints: forward from Don Williams. Business Insights From the Computing Revolution in coordination with keynote speaker, Mike Harvey. This book was Brian Wiser’s pet project, and is an Also our production of What’s Where in enhanced and highly organized version T h e A p p l e : E n h a n c e d E d i t i o n of Harvey's business/personal advice encompassed two years of corrections, editorials as well as Apple history enhancements, and expansion in editorials from Nibble magazine. It's an incredible resource coordination with the original publisher and wealth of information. Robert Tripp.
2 We also released a new restored the skills of Martin Haye, Olivier Goguel, Bill Martens, and version of The Colossal Computer Brian Wiser – producing a very playable and enjoyable game Cartoon Book: Enhanced Edition in which was featured in a game contest at this year’s coordination with David Ahl of Creative KansasFest. Computing Magazine and featuring a new forward from him. It takes a look KansasFest contest winner, Marcus Adams made it all the back at the wonderful computer- way to level 13 with a score of 17,408 points winning the related cartoons from from the 1970’s. prize of a WOZPAK Special Edition. The tournament featured about a dozen contestants at the event. And we couldn't resist republishing and enhancing the 1979 programming Projects this coming year include the impending WOZ reference The Apple II Monitor Peeled by Speaks DVD re-mastering, the new A.P.P.L.E software site, William E. Dougherty. It is available in as well as the expansion and updating of the Paperback and now Hardback for the VirtualApple.org database and website. first time. The Virtual Apple II database is currently used to drive the Virtual Apple II website, the FTA ActiveGS Apps on iOS and It was a battle producing these books all at the same time Android, as well as a portion of it driving Egan Ford’s online but we worked through it and managed to get high-quality game server. We hope to have a new, more complete, and enhanced books done for users of all levels and version of the database available over the new year and will interests. All of these books are available to our members include all of the new Freeware offerings from this year as and non-members alike at callapple.org/books. Be sure well as the initial inroads into including all of the Apple II and read our Twitter feeds for the latest discounts offered by apps. our publisher. One of the games we have published on our Virtual Apple II As we continue working on the next project, a note for all website is Shell*Shock which will allow two users to play those who are wondering what is going on. All I can say at each other right on the website. If there are any members this point is that there is a lot going on. With the help of a lot who have modems connected to their Apple II’s, we would of good people, we are pushing all of the efforts in the be really interested in hearing results of tests or game play. membership and returning the magazine to the forefront of the technological world. We have been doing a re-release of Now as the end of the year is fast approaching, we are Call-A.P.P.L.E. magazine this year with a really interesting taking on a new task. Over the past several months, we start to this issue with a look back at a number of items have begun to look at upgrading both our server and our while keeping an eye to the future of Apple and the Internet Service Provider. What we hope it will bring is more computers they produce. capacity to make more materials available in the coming year as well as to expand the number of simultaneous users Not only do we have those historical items that are Apple II on the server since it seems we have been maxing out the related, but also reviews of software for the Macintosh as server a bit these past two years. This upgrade is to improve well as the iOS-based devices. Hopefully our balance will speed of the websites as well as to provide expansion keep within the spirit of the historical magazines where we potential for the next few years. not only produced programs but also showed people how to delve into their computers with all due abandon.
Another project that we finished this year was the iOS version of Martin Haye’s popular Apple II game Structris, complete with neo-classical music, touch controls and support for Game Center. The iOS game included
3 Castles of Darkness Miklos Gergely takes users through the world of Castles of Darkness in a step by step walkthrough.
4 BY A.P.P.L.E. STAFF accurately track ones Health, Score and Inventory and allows for up to seven games to be saved. A website dedicated to the high-resolution graphics and text based adventure Apple II game Castles of Darkness was While all of these features are quite usual for many discovered at: http://castlesofdarkness.page.tl. Creator adventures, the one that was not in many games at the time Miklos Geregely has taken a step-by-step approach in his was the high-resolution animation. The only other game walkthrough, detailing all of the pertinent steps in completing which contained anything similar was Odyssey: The the game. Compleat Apventure from Synergistic Software.
The game originally was released at Christmas 1981 and was featured in the February 1982 issue of SoftTalk Magazine. The game came in the usual plastic baggie that was common in that era, selling for a mere $3.50 per copy.
Included in that baggie was a card with the original logo on it and a few features of the game showing in the graphic below.
Originally written by Michael Cashen, Castles of Darkness was one of the only software packages ever published by The Logical Choice software company.
The game featured 85 rooms through which the user would wonder, gathering items and picking up treasure in the goal of reaching and defeating the evil wizard, Grimnacht, and undoing his curse of evil over the realm.
With a vocabulary of over 200 words and even spoken words, the game is a challenge for even the most Marketing of the game stated that it was the first animated experienced adventurer. The game features the ability to adventure game and while it may or may not have been true,
5 it was a valid selling point from the quality of the animated Applewin to run the game.) After that, the Troll can be killed graphics which were in the game. with a single hit. While this may not be the most savory way to defeat the game, it is certainly not completely out of sorts. A general hint letter or “Clue Sheet” was also available for Unless of course you know the troll’s name, then you will the game which contained a host of commands that could have to be a bit patient when you get to the troll. be used in each room as well as a list of questions the user might have and a non-descript answer so as not to give the game path away. The letter could be obtained by sending $2.00 to The Logical Choice and one would receive the sheet shown below.
Game Play Castles of Darkness uses a host of commands including all of the normal directional commands used in text adventures. The game continues until you are either killed which is most likely or until you defeat Grimnacht.
Scoring The game itself has a number of treasures which must be gathered and at the end of the game if you have gathered all of the treasure and defeated Grimnacht, you should have a grand total of 200 points. Good luck and happy adventuring!
System Requirements: Apple II or II plus with 48K RAM A single disk drive DOS 3.3 Based
One of the hints given by Miklos about the game is that there is a cheat for defeating the troll in the game. If one has all the time in the world, one can just hit the troll 255 times and then he will die. Otherwise, one can entering “ME 54FE FE” www.virtualapple.org in the Debugger screen. (This is based on Miklos’s use of
6 Mike Harvey: The Complete Interview The 2016 KansasFest Keynote Speaker shares his insights with Brian Wiser and John Leake.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Harvey of Nibble JL: RetroMacCast… of course our people are going to be magazine with my friend John Leake at KansasFest, as listening to this on the RetroMacCast. another joint interview between Call-A.P.P.L.E. and RetroMacCast. The interview audio can be heard on BW: And do you think they’ll remember what they’re listening RetroMacCast episode 413. to?
Mike Harvey, the founder and publisher of the long-lived JL: Well perhaps, it’s been a couple weeks since we had an Nibble magazine, has career that spans major companies in episode. the computing and financial realms. Through those years Mike studied management philosophy, systems, and BW: Okay, okay, well good. methods voraciously and developed many principles that were to become extremely valuable through the years. JL: But the important thing is who is here with us. Nibble magazine eventually grew to a $4.5 million business publishing Apple magazines, product disks, and books. BW: We are very fortunate to have Mike Harvey with us. Mike Harvey who is perhaps best known for the long-running – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Nibble Apple II magazine in the 1980s and 1990s, and also the Nibble Mac magazine. And Mike has been president of Brian Wiser: Hello everyone, I’m Brian Wiser with many different corporations, in charge of multi-million dollar Call-A.P.P.L.E.. budgets, setting records all the way around, and doing so many different things. Nibble…we all love Nibble and we’re John Leake: And of course I’m John. here for Nibble, but looking at everything you’ve done in your career Mike, that’s kind of a drop in the bucket compared to BW: With… everything else. You’ve done everything from, as we learned today, selling night crawlers and yo-yos for your yo-yo club
7 as a kid, onto being part of Xerox, IBM, and other JL: And the magazine you started… another one of your companies. skills that it sounds like you learned on your own was programming. One of the cool things about your magazine JL: Which of course I’ll have interest in talking about from a was the programs that were available to be typed in by the Mac standpoint at some point. user every month, or eight times a year to start with and then every month. How did you start your programming BW: So thank you for joining us Mike. background?
Mike Harvey: It’s a pleasure. A pleasure and an honor to be MH: I was very here. fortunate in that my fir s t j o b o u t o f JL: I have to say your keynote was very inspiring. It had a graduate school was lot of great anecdotes. Some of the stuff you talked about, IBM, and IBM taught about the early Apple days and you are obviously… a big me how to program a thing is your business practices over the years. And of mainframe. We used course part of this is of course the new Nibble Viewpoints to have shots to test book that you’ve got out talking about your business our programs at 1 practices, that also deal a lot with Apple history back… o ’ c l o c k i n t h e starting from the 1980s all the way through the 1990s. So it morning. We’d run in was great hearing some of those stories. with a stack of punch cards, shoved them in BW: And as far as those different management models that the reader, and they’d you’ve talked about, I was really curious in Nibble magazine either work or not. where you wrote your monthly Nibble Viewpoints editorial, at least half of those editorials over the years were business- BW: Fun! focused, giving personal and business advice with models. Could you tell everyone about your background that gave MH: But you had 15 minutes to do it. And so I used to you the foundation for those models? leave those things thinking, “Boy…” The computer of the day at that time was the IBM 1401, which was a business MH: Sure. For one thing, I’ve always been a voracious computer. And I used to think about having a 1401 in my reader of management books. I followed a philosophy that basement, so I could program it any time I wanted. says, “The way to get ahead is to get promoted beyond your capacity and then work like hell to learn it before anybody JL: So what year was this? finds out.” And quite literally, when I got my first presidency of a company, I didn’t know the first thing about being MH: This was in 1972 to 1973. president of a company. But I got books that told me how. I assimilated them, used them, selected the parts that JL: So the home computer industry is pretty much non- worked, and gradually evolved a management philosophy existent. that encompassed how to solve problems, how MH: That’s right. But I got interested in to manage people, and programming way back when. And then as how to grow businesses. things started to evolve, I’ll never forget one of It was partly on-the-job the things I got really excited about, was the t r a i n i n g , b u t announcement of the Altair 8800. The first supplemented by a lot of programmable computer that you could buy, reading and studying. take it home, and do something with. As I really looked into it, I was all set to go and get one, so
8 JL: That’s great.
MH: I took it home, then I realized I didn’t have any software to run on it.
JL: That would have been cassette at that point, right?
MH: Yes. So I didn’t have any software, and I wanted to write letters. So I though, “Well, I guess it’s time to write a word processing system.” And my wife was saying, “What are you going to do with that thing?” I thought, “Well, I guess it’s time to write a home finance program.” So I spent I looked into it. I couldn’t figure out how to get a program a lot of time with the Radio Shack TRS-80, actually writing a into it. It had all these little switches and lights and stuff, little word processing system. didn’t have a keyboard. And so that sort of went kaput, until the TRS-80 was announced, and when the TRS-80 was JL: With the Apple II, you put in the disk and it had BASIC announced I had already been….I think it was Hewlett- right away so you could start programming. If you didn’t Packard that had a programmable calculator where you have anything for the TRS-80… could actually program in 10 or 20 steps in your equation. I used to carry one of those around with me. When I got MH: The TRS-80 did have built-in BASIC, so I could bored in meetings, I programmed my calculator to do program. There I am, and I had this little tape cassette for something. So I was kind of hooked on programming going storing things, boy that was the absolute worst. But I way back to IBM days. When the TRS-80 was announced, I programmed some things and then I stumbled across the shot into my computer store, ordered one, and I think I got Apple. I was talking to a friend and he described the Apple. serial number 30. JL: What year do you think this is?
MH: This is probably 1979.
BW: Would this have been the Apple II Plus?
MH: The Apple II. So where can I buy one? He told me about this little hole in the wall electronics store down in the heart of Dallas. I went down, they had one in the back room, and I bought it on the spot. I brought it home, put the TRS-80 in the closet and never went back to it. And so I started really learning the Apple. At that time, the only thing it had was tape cassettes, but very shortly after that it came out with a diskette – the disk drive. When that came out I thought, “I’m in heaven.” By that time I’d learned a little bit about how to program the disk. I was bringing forward some of the training I had at IBM, and I had a pretty good BW: You were definitely inspired. idea of what I wanted in a word processor. I’d been involved in evaluating word processing for Xerox when I was with JL: You were an early adopter, huh? Xerox. As a matter of fact, I lead the team in Xerox that wound up acquiring Diablo Systems. MH: I got one of the first ones off the production line.
9 BW: I’m not familiar with that. would ever work. And it turned out my boss, who was the exec VP at Xerox didn’t believe it either. So we tried to push MH: Diablo Systems back that terminal through, and they wouldn’t do it. The only thing in the late 1970s invented a they understood was making copies. So we configured a daisy wheel printer. It was computer printer with a laser driver, and we actually got the patented thing. I headed company to introduce a laser-driven xerographic computer up the team that went and printer. But during that time, I kept circling back on the word acquired Diablo Systems processing and I wasn’t getting it done. I kept promoting for Xerox. And Xerox software inside Xerox and they said, “We’re not interested in started selling word processors based on that printer. So software. We’re interested in patentable hardware.” And I’d anyway, I learned enough about word processing to know get asked, “What’s the patent position?” on every new the things I wanted, and so I started building my own. And product I brought in, because they were looking for another printing out on a Centronics impact printer. xerography. So anyway, through all that process I learned a pretty good amount about word processing, what the JL: You mentioned in there your time at Xerox, the Palo technology was, how to make it work, and I was using an Alto… IBM word processor at the time. So when I got my Apple, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted it to do. I wanted to BW: I think you said, or I read, that you’d seen a be able to edit. I wanted to be able to cut and paste. I demonstration from Alan Kay with the mouse and so forth. wanted to be able to back up and write over, and these were Can you talk a little bit about that? all very very primitive, but in those days it was pretty hot stuff.
BW: Definitely.
MH: So when I sat down to write my word processor, I started putting in the things I wanted to use, because I was writing for myself initially. So that’s what I did. I developed a word processor which I used myself. I thought, “This is pretty good.” So I got in touch with Kilobaud the magazine, MH: Let me back up a little bit. In the mid 1970s, I worked for Xerox in Rochester. I headed up a product planning group and program management group, and our responsibility was everything that is not the copier or duplicator. In those days, that was a lot of stuff, because Xerox had non-impact computer printing going on in the lab – that was one of my projects. It had something called a Computer Forms Printer, which was the thing that dragged paper over a platen to print forms on it. It had facsimile in “So I’ve got this neat word processing package. Would you the form of a telecopier, which a box about the size of a like to publish it?” They said, “Sure” and they paid me for it. great, big, huge breadbox and ran for six minutes, and it also I earned $50, something like that, it was pretty big bread at had some advanced terminal technology. And I was very that time. And boy I’m off to the races! Several months later much into data communications. At the time we were when I decided to start my magazine, by that time I’d sold working with Texas Instruments, their advanced electronics Kilobaud my word processor, and I sold them a home group, and we had actually designed an LSI chip for that finance system. And when I started my magazine I realized I terminal that would make it work. Nobody had ever heard of didn’t have any authors to write for the magazine. I thought, LSI before. Anybody who had heard of it didn’t believe it “I’ve got some stuff I’ve written, I’d better go get it back.”
10 JL: This wasn’t a magazine where you were with a magazine MH: This was in 1980. house. This was all self-financed by you. Still pretty small. How do I get going? Well, I MH: Right. Exactly. scrounged around and found Val Golding’s JL: There is employee number one and you’re it. Call-A.P.P.L.E. newsletter. So I MH: Exactly. contacted Val and asked if I could run an BW: And you had just been laid off, correct? So you were ad for my magazine in between jobs? Call-A.P.P.L.E. and he said, “Sure.” So I MH: Yes, I’d been laid off from Inforex, so I was between went to my typewriter, jobs, I didn’t have a job. So I was doing this in my spare carefully counted out time while I looked for a job. And so I’m merrily going along the spaces in the trying to get my first issue put together, and I got a call from letters, did the first ad, and ran it in Val’s newsletter. At the Exxon. One of the people who used to work for me had same time I was doing research into computer stores trying gone to Exxon Enterprises, and they were looking for a to find out where they were, and my strategy was to just president for a division for voice synthesis – voice send them five copies and say, “Put in on your shelf and see recognition. if they sell. We’d like to have your order.” Armed with that with Val letting me advertise, and with the ability to send JL: Wow. Back then in the 1970s. copies to computer stores, I ordered my first press run of 5,000 copies. BW: Back then – that’s incredible! JL: At this point was there any advertising, had you talked to MH: Voice recognition. So I went to work for them, prime anyone? So it was straight up a magazine. time, but my typical work day I would start at 3 o’clock in the morning, I’d work on Nibble stuff until 7 am, have breakfast, BW: All self-financed. go in and work at Exxon until 5pm, come home, work on Nibble until 10pm. JL: Black and white to save the cost of color.
BW: My goodness. MH: Forty pages.
JL: Of course Nibble had a very Apple II-centric… JL: That’s forty pages of content created just by you. That’s pretty impressive. MH: Totally Apple II-centric. MH: I think I ran a Call-A.P.P.L.E. ad. JL: Was that pretty much a no-brainer at the time? What was the state of the Apple community at the time? Had you BW: Do you remember the artist you used? You found a met up with any other Apple enthusiasts at this point? great artist.
MH: At that time I recall there was a total population of MH: His name is David Davidian and I found an artist Apple II’s of something like 250,000 worldwide. Pretty small. who….actually he was a production manager, but his wife Anna was the artist. So I asked him to help me get the thing BW: And this is still in 1978-1979? printed, since I had no idea how to get a magazine printed. I found this guy through a referral, who knew how to get things printed, brought him in and gave him 10 percent or 15
11 percent of the stock in the company. It turned out his wife one every six weeks. And I figured for the first four issues, I was a very talented artist, so got his wife in on the act, and could personally write the first four issues by myself for six so she illustrated the magazine, and he got it printed. months, and then try to get some authors in to write issues five, six and seven. Which fortunately turned out to be good JL: You sent out that first batch of magazines. What was timing because I was getting ready to figure out how to put the feedback from that initial issue? issue number five together, when I got the first authors volunteering their work. MH: The best way I can describe it is I sent it out with absolutely no idea what to expect. And the first subscriber I JL: How many issues in were you before you started to go got was a guy up in Alaska. I thought, “How did my with color print? And how much did what you decided on message get up to Alaska in the first place? Where is for content change from that first episode to say when you Chicago? Where is New York? Where are these other got a year in? ones?” So I got this guy in Alaska. It turned out he was the first of quite a few people who saw the ad and ordered it, so MH: The very first issue was glorious black and white. Issue we got up to 1,000 subscribers in a month or so. number two we added color – one color – red.
JL: That’s fantastic.
BW: And didn’t you say that after six months, you had set a goal for yourself to have so many subscribers by a certain period of time, or you would close?
MH: My goal was a drop dead date. We had a drop dead date of six months. If I did not have 1,000 subscribers in six months I was going to wind it up, stop spending any more money, kill it. We had 1,000 in the first six weeks. And at the six month mark we were something like five or six thousand. So my wife said, “This is turning out to be a lot better than I thought!”
JL: So you had that first issue, but by six months, how many issues in are we talking? BW: You have to start somewhere. Were you doing one each month at BH: If you look at the cover of issue number two it has a red that point? apple on the cover, but everything else is black and white. The third issue, by that time we had something like five or six MH: No, when I thousand subscribers, and I thought, “This is starting to look set the thing up, I serious.” At that point, I authorized four-color, but only for knew I didn’t have ads and only very limited… the resources to do a monthly, so I JL: So four-color spot colors, or four-color actual four-color set it up as an 8 process? issue subscription, so we were doing
12 MH: To be honest, I don’t know, because when I started this BW: Exactly. thing I had no idea what camera-ready copy was. I was an absolute neophyte in printing, absolute neophyte in MH: Let me give you a dramatic example of that. Xerox publishing, and was learning like crazy…. corporate had five, count them, five separate pricing groups, and Xerox’s strategy was pricing. How many mills per copy JL: You were going back to your original philosophy of to charge, and how many to charge in a batch, or per copy, getting into something and then catching up. or whatever. So they had very elaborate strategies focused on “How can we strategically sell more copies?” Which is BW: You were learning well. I was going to ask too, with bull. So they had no concept of what it meant to break out, some of the examples you just gave, where you set yourself what it meant to try new things. There were a few people a goal, you need to have so many subscribers by a certain there, or else my group would not have existed at all. I wrote date, at that point you were probably using one of the a white paper on software and said, “Software is where its management models you had developed. And I was going. It’s where the margins are. It’s where the creativity wondering if you could talk about some of your other is.” I used some examples and I think I may have even used experience at other companies that lead you to some of Apple at the time. I said, “This is where we should be these experiences. investing,” and they rejected it.
MH: That’s a good question. Part of the problem in BW: I am curious too, beyond Nibble that ran 12-13 years answering that is the kind of experience I’m describing takes and focused on the Apple II, you of course also produced place in the board room. And the people who are out in the Nibble Mac, later Macintosh Hands On magazines…. trenches only see the result – they don’t see the process. Fortunately, with Xerox I was in high enough on the planning JL: One of the stories you brought up is before that you side that I saw a lot of the process too. I saw several things decided the Mac was the coming thing, so you decided to that made an impression. One was that I saw in companies put a Mac section into the regular Nibble magazine. the propensity to keep spending big money independent of the results, because somebody thought it was a good idea. BW: Right, that’s what I was hoping he could talk about, And I saw huge sums of money wasted in that regard. The and with that in mind, how that idea progressed and second thing I remember is nobody had any perception of especially one of the management models you mentioned what it meant to test, to probe, to try out without committing was your guiding force at least toward the end of that… the hundreds of millions of dollars. So I was a continual “Tomato Plant Problem” and deciding to eventually close proponent of “Let’s try this – do a test market.” But it was Nibble Mac. either all or nothing. Xerox wasn’t interested in test marketing. They wanted another xerography and if you MH: At the time, this was in the late 1980s, and at the time I didn’t have that they weren’t interested. When I went into thought that the Mac was new. I thought, “Ah hah! I can the executive boardroom with a xerographic laser computer replicate the Nibble success with the Mac.” We got Macs printer, with facsimile, with word processing, it had a very into the office immediately, and I started programming Mac cool reception because nobody there understood the versions of things we had published several years ago in dynamics of marketing. They were looking for technology to Nibble. And I thought, “This is going to be great.” Then carry the day. Steve Jobs announced you couldn’t get inside the Mac to put anything in there. It was a sealed box. Jobs wanted it to BW: Which is a little ironic considering how big they were. be doing what it was supposed to do, and nothing more. You would think they have some concept of marketing. That’s really a market suppressor if I ever heard one. But it was very real. You could not get plug-in peripherals for the JL: Sure, but obviously that wasn’t their mindset, otherwise Mac in the early years from other people. So anyway, with they would have never let Steve Jobs and company come in the Mac, I thought, “Well, there have to be people out there and go, “Hey we like that…” who still don’t know how to program, and still don’t have programs.” The Mac market was in its infancy and I thought
13 MH: HyperCard was an application development system that Apple produced, where you could sit down and you could write English language statements to control graphics, control movement of data, and it made it very very easy to write pretty spectacular, pretty competent programs. So I shifted, I thought, “I’m going make my users into HyperCard programmers.” So I started publishing major features in HyperCard, they worked great, they looked beautiful, but fundamentally people didn’t want to fool with it.
BW: There was clearly a different market from the Apple II market.
JL: That’s another thing I was going to ask, so at that time they had the Apple II users which were still very hobby based, still very “What can I do with this? Let’s get inside” because it was built that way. As opposed to the Mac where you basically had a user mentality, “Just give me the thing, I don’t want to know how it’s doing it.” Did you get that feeling? Do you think that was the problem with trying to do the Nibble version for the Mac?
MH: I think it was and I think that part of it was that the market had advanced. Part of it was that the Macintosh made it tremendously easier, and part of it was that the there was a market for what we sell – for word processor, Macintosh attracted professional software developers who home finance, games and stuff. And so we started Nibble actually developed commercial software for the Mac. So Mac, publishing basically articles and programs for making people wanted use that instead of writing their own. those things run on the Mac. And for a while that looked pretty good and then Apple started to wise up and announced software for the Mac that was much much better. And the Mac started to attract big software developers who could see that the user interface was ideal for the kinds of things they wanted to market. And with the emphasis on the simplicity of the interface, people didn’t want to get into the guts of the programs and fiddle with them.
JL: That’s one of the things I wanted to ask you about. Of course getting programs into the Apple II was pretty easy. It was kind of designed for that, whereas again you said the Mac was very closed. It’s not like you could throw in an Applesoft BASIC disk and then start programming. You’ve got this whole windows environment and everything. I think you mentioned that a lot of what you did was through HyperCard, or in your magazines how did people get the applications in?
14 BW: I think the interface has a lot to do with it too, because MH: Sure. The “Tomato Plant Problem” defines a situation of course there were many major publishers for the Apple II. where you have 10 acres of tomato plants, and only five It was just a different, easier-to-use system that I suppose acres of water. Another way of saying it is you have an attracted a different market, a different segment, who opportunity, but you don’t have the resources to go after it. perhaps had never used a computer before and I guess that In the case of the Mac, there were a million acres of became the dominant market for the whole industry. tomatoes and five acres of water. So I looked around and I saw the people who were going after the Mac market were JL: Right, because it was a lot less threatening for the spending humongous amounts of money in advertising, person who wasn’t necessarily as computer savvy. direct mail, and so forth. I know because they would come to us and they would rent our mailing list. So we knew what BW: Much, much more approachable. they were doing, we knew in advance what they were doing, and they were doing that and not getting a big enough yield MH: Somebody could bring home a Mac, plug a disk in, and because the size of the market had not yet grown to the all of a sudden have graphs of their investments, etc. point where it could produce that kind of yield. So there were people literally spending millions of dollars on JL: As opposed to just meeting with a prompt. marketing and not getting a yield. I wasn’t spending millions, but I was getting a modest yield. And the way I saw MH: Yes. it, my only alternative to compete would be to join the people who were spending millions of dollars, and to BW: Since we just mentioned it in brief, could you talk about compete on the same level that they were. And I was just the “Tomato Plant Problem” and the demise of Nibble Mac? not willing to do that.
BW: The Mac and Apple market was definitely a different market than it is now.
MH: It was, yes. Just one footnote. Shortly after Nibble Mac, I introduced the PC version of Nibble (PC Hands On) and we only published that for a little over a year. Because I could see the same phenomenon occurring with the PC that with the PC you bought it, you plugged in software you bought commercially, and you ran it. But people didn’t want to fool with the innards. So as I looked at those I thought, “I have a choice. The choice is to chase after those markets to put more resources in, to put more programming talent in, to put more advertising, etc, etc. But that’s not going to change the market. And the market is such that it’s not going to catch fire the way that Nibble did – the way that the Apple II market did, because people just didn’t have the same enthusiasm for getting into and making it do what they wanted it to do.” And so, to use the “Tomato Plant Problem,” there were a million acres of tomato plants, but I only had five acres of water, and there was no way I could get a million acres of water, so it was silly to pour five acres of water on a million acres of tomato plants.
BW: It won’t go very far.
15 MH: That’s right. JL: If somebody was interested in buying that where would they find that. BW: Thank you. I’m also curious, what do you think of the state of the software market today? Do you have any thoughts in general with the App Store, not necessarily Apple even, but just the way the ecosystem has evolved, do you have any thoughts about one considering entering the app business or so forth, how viable do you think that is?
MH: That’s a very good question. I think it is a short route to suicide. When I look at the app market, the App Store, MH: I have a Web site, it’s called NibbleMagazine.com. the proliferation of apps and there are going to JL: That’s easy enough to remember. Besides that product be a million apps, and I you working in conjunction with Bill and Brian have another think of all those apps as… product out right now. Do you and Brian want to talk about there’s “Nibble Tough,” that a little bit – the book? there’s “Nibble Track,” there are two apps and there’s 997 thousand 894 million others. So BW: Nibble Viewpoints: Business Insights From The frankly I think the Internet has allowed the market to become Computing Revolution. so porous and so high-volume, that anybody can enter it. And a lot of people have who shouldn’t even be in it. But the MH: I am very excited about the book. I’ve thought over the result is it creates a lot of noise, which creates a lot of years from time to time of doing that myself, but that’s a lot confusion, and becomes extraordinarily difficult without a of work! And I’m not really up to it. So when Brian called huge investment of advertising and marketing to make any me up and said that he and Bill had been talking about it and money at it. was I interested, I thought, “Boy they really hit a hot button with me.” Because I thought for years that those models BW: That’s one challenge I’ve realized, looking at it as well, would make a wonderful collection for young people in how do you market yourself in a sea of millions of other business, people who are interested in entrepreneurial apps? It seems almost impossible to stand out without a lot ventures because it is keyed to that, and that the structure of luck, or a lot of money. and clarity and brevity of the models, makes each one a very powerful lesson to them. I’ve read books that I can MH: I’ll be candid to say I probably could not do Nibble summarize in one model, but the whole book deals with all today. If I were doing something today, I would probably go of this, that, and the other thing. So the models bring a very for a highly-specialized subset like simulation, or something sharp clarity to very complex business problems, and very like that, as a newsletter and try to carve out an application- sharp clarity to the alternatives for how to deal with those centric segment of the market where the unique thing I have problems. to offer would have appeal. JL: Besides those models, you also have real world JL: Now speaking of unique things you have to offer and examples that you’ve dealt with that for us has the interest of market, one of the cool things is you spent a lot of time and also having a lot of computer history in it. You’ve got these you’ve scanned in every single issue of Nibble, and you have great anecdotes, like we’ve talked a little bit about here that it available for purchase online on DVD, is that correct? coincide with the stories you have – the models and different business lessons. MH: Correct.
16 BW: And I think it’s important for the listeners and the BW: Definitely. readers to understand as well that the book covers not only all of Mike’s great management models, but these were MH: That sounds a lot heavier than I am. So I thought, “I’ll based on the Viewpoint editorials that Mike published every use that,” and I used it as “S.P.A.R.C.” with periods month in Nibble magazine, which cover not only separating it. So I ran my first issue and S.P.A.R.C. was the management models, but also things that were going on in company, and I trademarked the name because I wanted to the market at the time like the rise and fall of the Apple II protect it. So we started advertising the company as market, etc. S.P.A.R.C..
MH: That’s right. Each one I JL: About what year is this right now? tried to deal with a particular critical situation where I MH: This is 1980. And so we ran it that way with S.P.A.R.C. c o u l d s e e m u l t i p l e for probably three or four years, and then somebody said, viewpoints, and try to bring “Sun Micro does have SPARC and maybe you ought to some clarity to it to see how change it to protect yourself from them.” I said, “Okay, I’ll to resolve it. I looked on the make it MICRO-SPARC”, so I put MICRO in front of it, editorial comment as a trademarked that and we just kept running. That went on problem/resolution page, until 1986 or 1987, and one day the phone rings and it’s a where the problems could be lawyer from Sun Microsystems on the West Coast saying, generic business problems, “We know you are misusing the SPARC name. We are or they could be problems ordering you to cease and desist.” That’s a lawyer’s favorite with mismanagement. One term – cease and desist. I said, “Well, I think you may have of the big companies, I think it wrong here since I have that copyrighted” and there was it was Lotus, spent millions trying to defend 1-2-3 against silence on the other end of the line. And to make a long Excel, and I watched that battle. And I thought, “That is a story short, I said, “Look, let me consult with my lawyer. We terrible, terrible conflict. And Lotus is going to loose,” and will be back to you.” I consulted with my lawyer and he said, they did. “You are rock solid.” So I had my lawyer write them a letter saying, “We own the MICRO-SPARC copyright. You should JL: That reminds me of one of the anecdotes I got to hear cease and desist using SPARC.” today, which I absolutely loved, and if you could just talk to us a little bit about a certain company called Sparc, Sun Microsystems. If you could tell that’s story, that’s really wonderful.
BW: Oh yes, that was fun.
MH: When I started up Nibble, I also started my company, and I thought, “Okay. What should I name my company?” I looked at Byte, and I didn’t want to use Byte, but I did want BW: Turning the tables! to use Nibble because a nibble is half a byte, and I advertised Nibble from day one as computing for the small MH: And I said, “However, if you are interested in guy, the little guy. But I still needed a company name, so I purchasing the copyright, we are open to a bid.” It didn’t thought, “What should be in it? Software should be in it, take them very long to come back and say we’ll give you a publishing should be in it…S.P…okay.” And I just started quarter million dollars for it.” playing with words, and finally came up with “Software Publishing And Research Company.” I thought, “That sounds pretty heavy.”
17 JL: That’s awesome. That was great. Nothing like beating MH: This was 1986 or 1987. back a bully, right? BW: That’s surprising. The industry had been around for at MH: Right. What was really funny about that was when the least eight years on some level at that point. word spread that we had done that, there were other companies that had titles of products that sort of infringed MH: Well, copyright doesn’t become an issue until it is on others. I started getting calls from them saying, “Do I broken and challenged, so I guess everybody was just going have a case for going after this magazine for using their along fat, dumb and happy. There was no copyright law on name?” And I said, “No you really don’t” because they magnetic images on disks. We got a hearing with Judge hadn’t done it properly. Garrity in the federal court in Boston. Garrity was the one who did the famous ruling on busing in Boston in the 1970s BW: Since we’re on a little bit of a legal topic, I was really – a very famous judge. I went down the courtroom with my impressed by the copyright precedent that you set, where Apple II under my arm, two disk drives, a couple of disks, someone was selling the type-in programs from Nibble. and we demonstrated on the screen with Judge Garrity and Could you talk about that and the precedent that still affects his associate there how programs get typed into a software copyright to this day? computer. We described where they go. We described what can happen to them once they get where they go – they can MH: Sure. There was an entrepreneur in Las Vegas who be duplicated, and we demonstrated the whole process. At decided he could make a business out of getting an issue of the end of it, Garrity said, “I don’t understand.” I said, “Well, Nibble, hiring a typing service to type in the programs, which could we ask you and your assistant to talk about it some he would then put on disk, and then he would sell copies of more, and we’ll come back?” We came back a week later, the disk. went through the whole thing again, and his assistant was a very bright, young guy who did understand. And when he JL: Which also competed the fact that you also sold copies explained it to Garrity, Garrity said, “Yes, that is copyright of the programs on disk, correct? infringement.” And there was no precedent for it, so Garrity wrote the law. And the law is published in the law. MH: Right. The difference was were paying the author JL: That’s great. and doing all of this, this g u y w a s j u s t p a y i n g BW: That’s really impressive that by your efforts… someone to type it in, and then duplicating multiple MH: We established a real milestone in software copies of it, and flooding production. The interesting thing was when the decision the market with cheap was handed down, predictably the guy in Las Vegas just disks. We saw that as an closed up shop and moved to Hawaii. They do a lot of fly- extreme threat because by-night stuff. For him it was just a fly-by-night, quick-and- remember we were selling dirty, make some bucks and get out. five to eight thousand disks a month. And at $15, that’s a lot of money. So we saw that as an extreme threat. I got my BW: That’s good that you stood up and defended yourself, lawyer into it, he confirmed that our copyright was rock and everyone else in the process who creates intellectual solid, and then he researched to see what copyright law property on a computer… existed to cover software on a disk – magnetic impulses on a disk – none. It was brand-new territory. Copyright law had MH: We really did a service to the industry then. never been written to cover that medium. BW: You really did. BW: And what year was this?
18 JL: Brian is there anything you else you wanted to bring up BW: It is. It’s exciting in some ways just thinking that the before we wrap this up? car can drive us, but you’re right – how many thousands or millions of people will that put out of work? In one sense, BW: I do have a question before I summarize contact just using the car as an example, it will enable a lot of information – sort of a general, looking forward question. people, perhaps people who are disabled or can’t get a With all of your experience at IBM, and Xerox, and Nibble, driver’s license can now get around and live, but on the other and the consulting you’ve done before and since, where do hand it will fundamentally change things. you see computers of the future? Where do you see the industry transitioning into the future from where we are now? MH: The big payoff on these things is having an affect on everyday activity like driving to the market, driving to pick up MH: Oh wow. the kids at school, and that covers the whole spectrum – the vast majority of people, and that’s vulnerable. I think that’s BW: I know that’s rather a large very vulnerable. So I don’t have a good answer to it. It’s question, but do you think we’re going something I think about a lot, particularly as I see the to end up with the artificial intelligent politicians making their pronouncements about how they’re HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space going to make America great again and all that sort of crap. Odyssey, or where do you see It’s all bull. What it ultimately has to get down to is: there computers developing? needs to be some meaningful activity that can be done by a person, and probably only a person, and then put together in MH: That’s a very good question and I a business relationship. And that’s very hard to define these have thought about it. I see computers days. taking over more and more manual human activities. Most of them are BW: It is. Thank you for that thought. And if anyone wants very simple, but they are increasingly to read more about Mike Harvey and Nibble magazine you complex like driving a car, or monitoring can go to NibbleMagazine.com, and his new book Nibble a patient, or doing something like that. Viewpoints that I co-produced is available from The opportunities for people to do Call-A.P.P.L.E. at CallApple.org. those things are diminishing, because computers can do them faster, they can do them better, they JL: And is it my understanding that at some point there will can do them more comprehensively, and they are tireless – also be a digital version on iBooks? they just keep doing it, and doing it, and doing it. So the question is, “What’s left for people?” And I’ve thought a lot BW: Correct, after the KansasFest event, I will start on an about that, because I have eight grandchildren, and I’m eBook version of Nibble Viewpoints for the Apple iBooks wondering what they’re going to do when they grow up and store. have to get jobs. As I think about it, I think that we’re going to see more and more careers of young people involving the JL: Excellent. Mike, I wanted to thank you very much. I physical sciences like being an electrician, and being an auto hope you enjoyed yourself here at KansasFest. mechanic. Things that involve thought, that involve analysis correction, but that involve hands-on that can’t normally, MH: Immensely. easily be done by a computer. Frankly, I am not…I would hate to be starting out myself in these markets, because I JL: It’s wonderful to see a growing community for a think it is going to be very tough. The service industries are computer and reliving the excitement that everyone feels not robust enough or demanding enough to be able to about them. So thank you very much. command living wages, so that’s out. I wonder what’s going to happen when millions of cab drivers and truck drivers MH: My pleasure. aren’t needed to drive trucks and cabs anymore. And I think it’s a very weird and very very serious, scary transition time. BW: It was a real honor to meet you. Thanks for your time.
19 MH: Well, thank you for all the things you’ve done for me. By golly, bringing the Nibble models back to life is a huge event in my life, and I have you to thank for that.
BW: Thank you Mike. I’m glad that more people around the world can learn from your insights and expertise.
MH: Let’s take it to the next step.
BW: Yay!
MH: Spread the word! Photo by Brian Wiser
About Nibble ViewPoints
“I’m excited about my new Nibble Viewpoints book that is an organized culmination of my editorials from 12 years of Nibble magazine and over 30 years of experiences running large corporations. It contains a timeless array of shorthand management models that are interesting, powerful, and easy to use. The models cover a wide range of problems and solutions for businesses and individuals – they’re short, easy to read, and sharply focused on workable solutions. Nibble Viewpoints also traces the rise and fall of the Apple II computer over its amazing history. I’m looking forward to people reconnecting with Nibble and finding guidance and insights to help them with their endeavors.”
Mike Harvey Publisher of Nibble Magazine KansasFest 2016 Keynote Speaker
www.callapple.org/books
20 The Northern Spy – A Less Than Stellar Report Card
program at all. So, it became shopping time. Wanted: a replacement Mac, portable required, could be new or used, thirteen inch OK, must have FireWire connectivity and VGA (to match existing equipment), plus wired net preferred over wireless.
So the Spy, who is also the treasurer, got board permission to purchase and began comparisons. The slick and pretty new touch bar machines looked like possibilities, until he realized USB-C ports would not do--not so much for speed considerations, but because there doesn't appear to be a BY RICK SUTCLIFFE FireWire dongle, and the two dongles Apple does make (for video and extra ports) are $99 CDN each. Given that essentially nothing has USB-C ports, the new would not do, Sierra's problems continue, as the Spy receives other because those dongles (and dongles on dongles?) are reports of programs not functioning besides the ones cited required, adding $200-$350 to the price. No go. here last month. To be fair, the Olive Tree folk managed to get their Bible Study program working on Sierra, reducing But long time supplier Simply Computing had at a decent the number of fails by one. On the other hand, he now has price some early 2015 models (i7 2.7 GHz, 128+G SSD and multiple reports of Sierra installs killing off or corrupting the 8G memory) These are similar to the 15 inch 2015 model he keychain, and some of SSH, iTunes, and other apps failing, uses daily, the only difference besides screen size being a or running very slow. There are also compatibility issues with slight speed hit, and less storage. The one open box item Apple's own Mail program, certain sound file types, and fast was sold just before he called, but there is a new unopened battery drain. 13 inch MacBook Pro available that he's reserved for pickup tomorrow. Its ports include wired Ethernet, Thunderbolt-2 Safari is quirky too, but that was a problem in El Capitan as and USB-3, but the dongles to get VGA and FireWire are far well--so much so the Spy has given up on the product for cheaper and readily available. now and will use the ultra-reliable Firefox as his default browser. The touch bar models may be the buy of choice a year from now when the technology is well tested, the Sierra OS Sometimes the upgrade process itself fails or hangs. Advice: installed on them actually works, and the necessary dongles don’t sidegrade, continue to use El Capitan, which is much are manufactured and sold at a reasonable price. Not now. more stable. But if you really want to take the leap into the Can't afford to pay for mere cool. semi-darkness, backup the keychain securely. Better yet, install on a fresh partition from scratch and migrate your user. Don’t delete anything from the El Capitan partition until No New Mac everything has been thoroughly tested on the Sierra one. November having come and gone with no And don’t say you weren’t warned. In the Spy's view this announcement of a new Mac Pro suggests one of two iteration is the most disappointing in many years. possibilities. Either Apple has decided to scrap the high end and abandon the power users on whom they built the A New Mac business in the first place, or Cupertino will wait until next generation Intel processors are available and iterate the big The ancient white G4 brick of a Mac "portable" used in our iron in March of 2017. The Spy hopes the latter, and slightly Aldergrove Baptist Church sound booth has been dying expects it, but even if he were a betting man, wouldn't put lately. Last Sunday it didn't want to open the Audio Hijack
21 money on it. The cost of closing or repurposing the US- Opinions expressed here are entirely the author's own, and based factory where the "trashcan" Mac Pros are made no endorsement is implied by any community or organization would seem a deterrent to cancellation, but Apple is better to which he may be attached. Rick Sutcliffe, (a. k. a. The at being the first to abandon technology than it is at being Northern Spy) is professor of Computing Science and the first to use it. So, will it be "get it right" or "get it Mathematics at Canada's Trinity Western University. He has closed."? been involved as a member of or consultant with the boards of several organizations, and participated in developing Service? industry standards at the national and international level. He is a co-author of the Modula-2 programming language R10 Last Spring, the Spy sprang for a Cine Raid 2-bay portable dialect. He is a long time technology author and has written drive as a mega backup solution for just about everything he two textbooks and nine alternate history SF novels, one does. Initially he provisioned it with a 1T HGST drive and a named best ePublished SF novel for 2003. His columns have 480G 6G OWC SSD, and configured this as multiple appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers (paper partitions organized as several fusion drives for speedy and online), and he's a regular speaker at churches, schools, backups. It all worked, too--for a few months. Then it academic meetings, and conferences. He and his wife Joyce croaked. Extensive testing revealed both the enclosure and have lived in the Aldergrove/Bradner area of BC since 1972. the SSD were dead dead.
URLs for Rick Sutcliffe's Arjay Enterprises: Retailer Mac Sales (OWC) honored the warrantee on the SSD as it was a house brand, and issued an RMA. Back Northern Spy Home Page: www.TheNorthernSpy.com went the dead unit, and OWC shipped a new one on Nov 15. Author Site: www.arjay.ca It arrived on the 30th. Not their fault the Postal Service is so Arjay Blog: www.arjay.bc.ca/blog slow, one supposes, but... Publisher's Site: www.writers-exchange.comRichard-Sutcliffe.html The CineRaid unit was a horse of another colour. OWC disclaims all responsibility for non house branded products The Fourth Civilization--Ethics, Society, and Technology (4th 2003 ed.) : www.arjay.bc.ca/EthTech/Textindex.html after 90 days. Tekram, the distributer, failed to answer numerous requests submitted by their web form, and to return calls despite repeated promises. Apparently the only URLs for resources mentioned in this column: RMA person was on vacation. Finally getting through to a responsible individual after a month of trying, an RMA MacSales: www.macsales.com number was forthcoming in a mere day, the unit sent off, and Olive Tree: www.olivetree.com now we wait. We'll see if this saga has a better ending than it Tekram (CineRaid): www.tekram.com had a beginning.
--The Northern Spy
22 Gareth Powell’s magazine from the Australian Apple mid-1980’s makes a complete re- appearance thanks to Bill Martens, Review Redux Andrew Roughan, and Brian Wiser.
That December, Bill Martens completed the scans of the remaining issues of the magazine and posted them to the website.
Brian Wiser, who has provided technical support for the project, has once again taken on the aspect of cleaning up and improving the scans.
All the support we received from these folks has allowed us finally complete the project. Every page of the four years of the magazine has been scanned, OCR’d and is now available for download from the AAR website in Portable Document Format.
From 2007 to 2014, a group of avid readers of the Australian Apple Review put in an effort to make the pages of the magazine available to the public again.
Published from 1984 to 1987, Gareth Powell’s Australian Apple Review offers a rare glimpse into the Apple and Macintosh craze in the land down under. Complete with ads from Apple Computer Inc Australia as well as other companies of that generation, the AAR magazine is laden with programs, reviews and a bevy of information about the Apple series computers. To download the issues, go to our AAR Website at: http://aar.applearchives.com The project was originally started by Terry Allen, then the AAR restoration project was taken over by Bill Martens and Andrew Roughan. During this time, there has been many on again / off again attempts at the project. Finally in 2014, about the time KansasFest was making its annual coming about, the project once again came to the forefront.
23
New A.P.P.L.E. Product: Turtlesoft
The 1983 programming tool now comes in a ProDOS version and has a new manual
Over the five months prior to KansasFest 2016, a flurry of The result turned out even better than we had ever hoped for emails and actual mail flew back and forth between with him still having the disk and the original source code. A.P.P.L.E. and Turtlesoft author Robert Gallup. In our search Brian Wiser recovered the original data and source for the to find one of the remaining missing disks from our library we program using the EDD card and we were able to announce reached out to Robert with the hope that he would still have the program at the end of our KansasFest presentation. the software in his personal library.
25 What we did not realize at the time was that the introduction 10 & "DRAW of ProDOS for the Apple II and II Plus would actually present 30 FOR I = 1 TO 360/ANGLE a new opportunity to make Turtlesoft also available for 40 & "CIRCLE 45 & "RIGHT "ANGLE ProDOS. 50 NEXT I 60 VTAB 22: CALL -958: PRINT "PRESS A KEY TO GO ProDOS 2.4.1 author, John Brooks used the original source ON (Q TO QUIT) ";: GET KEY$ code for Turtlesoft and managed in short order to have a 65 IF KEY$ < >"Q" THEN GOTO 7 completely ProDOS compatible version done in a fortnight. 70 HOME : & "NODRAW 80 END It then took us nearly another three months to complete the 100 REM
While the program is neither complicated nor very many program lines, it does produce wonderful effects which will not only thrill the user but also make them want to learn more.
Turtlesoft is a wonderful adaptation of the Logo programming language utilizing the ability of Applesoft to have Ampersand based commands. Thus using this ability built into the Apple II, Robert Gallup added a library of 25 Logo commands or instructions (primitives) that manage the turtle just as they would in Terrapin Krell Logo.
There are much more extravagant and complicated All of the resulting programs can be saved to floppy disk in examples on the disk such as the SIERPINSKI.BAS program the same manner that you would normally save an Applesoft which is based on the Sierpinski Sieve Fractal. The sample program. program draws a Sierpinski Curve using a recursive definition of the fractal. For Example, the program CIRCLES.BAS shown in the screenshot below is performed with a very short program in A sample result of the SIERPINSKI,BAS program is shown in the following example: the following graphic: 5 HOME : & "DRAW 7 VTAB 22: HTAB 1: CALL -958: INPUT "WHAT ANGLE? ";ANGLE
26 There are a number of other included example programs on the disk allowing users ample opportunity to become familiar with the program and their capabilities.
The New Manual
The original Turtlesoft manual came out in 1983. The one that A.P.P.L.E. has available now is a completely re-typeset manual complete with all sample program listings and screenshots. Also. the manual goes into much greater detail on the usage of the program.
You can get a copy of the Paperback manual through LULU via: www.callapple.org/books
The Program Disks
The Turtlesoft program disk images are downloadable from the A.P.P.L.E. software library as as member benefit of joining AP.P.L.E.. There are two disks included, one for DOS 3.3, one for ProDOS 2.4.1. The ProDOS version of the disk also includes John Brooks’ Bitsy Bye program as a bonus.
For more information about the Turtlesoft program, ordering of the manuals, or the software downloads, please visit: www.callapple.org
If you are not a member of A.P.P.L.E., then this is a good opportunity to join and to get other first run software and manuals.
27 Open Apple Podcast #65 Alex Lee joins the Open Apple team to talk about Software Preservation
Keep listening, because you won’t want to miss Alex casually dropping the phrase “Late nineties and early naughties” in his charming Australian accent. Tune in as well to pine along with Quinn for the never-to-be Ultima VI.
Update 65.5: Mike Whalen at KansasFest
This week on Open Apple, we run a special piece of extra content, courtesy of friend-of-the-show Mike Whalen. Mike brought his mobile audio production gear to KansasFest back in July, and he captured a series of interviews and biographies during the event. He has graciously agreed to let us run it on our feed. It’s wonderfully produced, and a great way to get a feel for what KansasFest is all about. If you’re on the fence about attending KFest in 2017, this will certainly sway you into joining us for all the Apple II fun. BY QUINN DUNKIE AND MIKE MAGINNIS
This month on the Open Apple podcast, we sit down with Subscribe on iTunes: Alex Lee, purveyor of the canonical IIgs reference site "What http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/open-apple/id418895188 Is The Apple IIgs?" We talk about what it was like being one of the brave few with this machine, and that feeling of living in a secret world of incredible graphics and sound that nobody Open Apple Podcast #65: else seemed to know about. http://www.open-apple.net/2016/12/05/show-065-alex-lee- what-is-the-apple-iigs-software-preservation-softalk Alex walks us through the history of IIgs emulators, and all the ways that the IIgs Finder was actually better than the Mac. He also talks about the legal challenges of running an archive site Open Apple Podcast #65.5: like this, which luckily are not too serious for this obscure http://www.open-apple.net/2016/12/12/show-065-5-mike- machine. We finish up with talk of the future of the site, and whalen-week-of-the-kfest-the-audio-diary-rebroadcast the difficulty of finding some really rare software packages- help contribute content!
Alex is also working on an Apple IIgs coffee table book. Help encourage him to finish it, because we all want to buy it very very badly. Just saying.
28 Washington Apple Pi Newsletters Now online
The Washington Apple Pi Users Group has scanned and missing. Anyone who has copies of the missing issues is placed their newsletters online. The project which was a asked to contact the Washington Apple PI. crowd-sourced project was started by Walter Taylor and includes newsletters from over the entire run of the The entire run of the newsletters started in 1979 and Washington Apple Pi Journal and is available in PDF format. extended through 2009.
The Washington Apple PI was once one of the leading Apple For more information about the project or to contribute to II user groups in the country and was once one of the largest the effort, check out the Washington Apple PI Journal page supporters of the Apple III computers. at: http://www.wap.org/journal/showcase/
While a great effort and contributions by PI members Albert Lubarsky and Lawrence Charters as well as The Saturday Crew, there are still a number of issues from over the years
29 WOZ Speaks: The WOZ Speaks video is coming A Sneak Preview soon in new enhanced format.
Now, this unique speech and Q&A session with Steve Wozniak, long-preserved on video tape, is being reproduced by Bill Martens and Brian Wiser. Brian will enhance the video and audio as much as possible within the limitations of VHS video tape.
The new enhanced release will include subtitles for the entire speech, and musical pieces from neoclassical composer musician Tomoki Takamori.
At this time, plans are to make the video available in the Apple iTunes store early in 2017. No pricing was available at time of press but Woz Speaks will be announced on www.callapple.org.
In October 1980, Steve Wozniak spoke at the then very young Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange user group meeting. Besides answering many questions and sharing his perspectives, his speech also served to re-assure the Apple Users Group that the man behind the Apple-1 and Apple II computers was not out of the picture and still had a good number of years ahead of him.
Just six months prior to this meeting, Steve Wozniak had been in a plane crash which left him in a coma for several weeks. This accident left many in the Apple community wondering if we would ever see the magic of the Apple II computer in a new machine. But obviously, the Apple IIe was not far behind and the Apple IIc and Apple IIGS came years later.
An initial version produced in 2001 by Bill Martens, Jim Maricondo, and the Tokyo Skirt Collective allowed the VHS tape to be archived. It was sold on DVD later the following year but was a bit grainy and noisy and not up to the usual standards for such a historically important event.
30 We take a closer look at the sudden Wendell Sander's introduction of a number of Apple-1 items created by the father of the Apple-1 Project Apple /// computer.
The Apple-1 Computer has been the source of many of the century. Yet until now, only two engineers outside of Wendell legends of the Apple computing industry. Much of the talk Sander has really focused on creating components and has been about the generosity of Woz’s invention. peripherals for the original Apple-1 Computer.
What has not been talked about too much is how much Rich Dreher created the CFFA-1 and Vince Briel created a Wendell Sander really contributed to the Apple legacy. Now serial interface card which works with the original Apple-1 Apple Employee #16 has come back with cards not thought computers. of for the Apple-1. Wendell Sander has created four new cards including an Although many of the machines have been selling at auction expansion memory card which brings the Apple-1 computer houses for astonishing amounts of money, Wendell has to a lofty 32KB of FRAM memory. He has also include some taken to keeping his machine, not only running, but running other modifications how-to instructions right on the website. with the best and newest of Apple-1 hardware. If you still have your Apple-1 or you have one of the The funny thing is that most of the Apple-1 hardware he has Mimeo’s, the Apple-1 website created by Wendell Sander attached to his machine is self created. Everything from will definitely be of interest to you. You can find it at: expansion port cards to serial interface and storage cards. The only card attach which he did not create is his handy http://www.apple1notes.com/old_apple/Hello.html Apple iPod which he uses to store and load his apple-1 programs. A Short Email Interview with Wendell about the Apple-1 project produced some interesting results and answers that Several inventors have created pieces of hardware for the we really were not quite expecting when it came to the Apple II and IIGS computers, bringing them into the 21st recently disclosed project.
31 A.P.P.L.E.: Thank you for taking the time with us to talk WS: I am interested in designing a keyboard that would about your Apple-1 Project. What inspired you to go back work with the Apple-1 and probably also be compatible with and start digging around with the Apple-1 again? the Apple II
Wendell Sander: I got my Apple-1 working a few years ago A.P.P.L.E.: Are there plans for a similar type of project with and demonstrated it at Apple where I was back working on the Apple II? iPods before I retired a few years ago. I have been designing the Apple-1 boards simply as a hobby because I WS: When I worked at Apple starting in 1977 I finalized the like to stay creative. design of the original Apple II Printer board hardware and software, I finalized the design of the Comm Card hardware and I wrote the firmware, Andy Hertzfeld said that was the tightest code he ever saw and he came to Apple because he wanted to write code like that. I designed the original Serial Card, Dick Huston wrote the firmware. I designed the ROM Card, I designed the RAM card prototype complete with umbilical cord, and Bob Paratori did the production design. I designed the graphics card digital hardware and wrote the firmware, Rod Holt did the analog design. I then designed the Apple ///. I think I already did all my Apple II designs!
One of the most interesting projects I did at Apple was Telepong, it is a very early example of interactive computing and has been used as prior art in a least one patent dispute.
A.P.P.L.E.: Where did you get the ideas for your new A.P.P.L.E.: That certainly is a lot of hardware designing. But expansion cards and how did you decide which ones you of course, it was those pieces that really made Apple needed? popular and one reason the Apple II remains popular among hobbyists today. Thank you for taking the time to answer WS: The Serial card was designed because they are our questions and we certainly look forward to talking with universally useful and to make it possible to make a Dial-Up you again sometime soon. Apple-1 if anyone was inclined, the USB card was to make it easy for me to make listings of my BASIC programs, the FRAM card was to allow me to have memory on an Apple-1 without modifying the board, and the expansion board was to use more than one board at a time.
A.P.P.L.E.: Are you planning on having these cards produced for public consumption or are you looking at readers producing them themselves?
WS: I am not planning on producing the cards except possibly putting a very few on eBay. I may publish detailed design files, maybe even gerbers or could work with someone.
A.P.P.L.E.: Are you thinking of any further expansions to the current Apple-1 project or is this the final version of the machine
32 New Podcast Arrives Kevin Savetz and Carrington Vanston on the Apple II scene take on the world of interactive fiction
A new interac ve fic on Podcast has been created by Kevin Savetz The show’s creators, Kevin and Carrington are already known to and Carrington Vanston. The podcast takes a different approach to many of those in the Apple realm. Kevin Savetz is the creator and the world of Interac ve Fic on and Infocom games in general, the maintainer of the Atari Magazine archives as well as a number tearing into each one, highligh ng the good and bad points of the of other Atari, Apple, and general compu ng magazine and book game and even giving some inside pieces of informa on along the archives, and "ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast." way. Carrington Vanston has long been a stalwart of the Apple II The ini al edi on of "Eaten by a GRUE" delves into the world that community par cipa ng in the crea on of several of the Apple II is Zork I. Join Kevin and Carrington as they play the game giving specific podcasts like 1Mhz and Retro Compu ng Roundtable. their perspec ves on the game play as well as the historical significance of the game. Discussions on the puzzles, the engine To listen to the first edi on of the podcast, check out the Eaten by and the game itself make this one of the must hear pod casts of a Grue website: h p://monsterfeet.com/grue the year.
33 Nifty Applesoft Solutions for the Beginning Programmer
User Input
BY A.P.P.L.E. STAFF 60 PRINT A$, B$ 70 END This month we take a look at one of the more problematic items for beginning programmers to deal with – User Input. Line 10 in the above example would expect a number. While there is no limit to the number that could be inputted, there There are several ways to get user input and reaction are always the real limits of integers. That number input by through Applesoft. Everything from full input to single the user would be stored into a variable A. The only way the characters and we will take a look at each one, one at a user knows that the computer is expecting any input from time. them is the question mark (?) followed by the flashing cursor.
INPUT In this case, although the program is only expecting a number to store as A, the user has no means of Input allows us to get user input from the user in the form of understanding that expectation. numbers, letters, or even full sentences. This type of input statement has no controls outside of the specified variable If the user decided not to comply with the input constraint of or string that is used. the number input and decided to enter a letter, word, or even a sentence, upon pressing the
34 numbering. 1,000,000,000 would be displayed by the 60 PRINT A$,B$ computer as 1E+09. This is the same on the negative 70 END number side of zero as well. Now, one would thing that seem to be common sense is In line 20, we get a standard string titled A$. The contents of since INPUT accepts expressions in quotes to tell the user A$ will be what ever words are entered by the user. Strings what to input, that GET would do the same thing. This is have a definite input length limit. The character length of however not the case. Thus, both Line 30 and 40 would 256 characters. This is a limit which has several ways to be produce a SYNTAX ERROR. The only format that is correct overcome but we will discuss those later, is the format used in line 10 and 20.
In lines 30, and 40, we introduce an expression within quotes The way that we get around this limitation is by using the labeling what is expected from the user. In line 30, we are PRINT statement to print our expression and then use the telling the user to type a number. In line 40, we are telling GET statement to receive the input. them to type a name, While our expressions are not 100% clear as to telling the user what is expected, it is a small Thus our program would look more like this: clarification of what the user should input. 10 GET A To make it even more clear as to what we want could could 20 GET A$ tell the user to input a number between 1 and 100 or tell 30 PRINT "NUMBER : "; : GET B them to input their first name. This allows the user to know 40 PRINT "NAME : ";: GET B$ exactly what is expected of them. 50 PRINT A,B
However, outside of usual constraints there are still no 60 PRINT A$,B$ limitations on the input from the user. These limitations must 70 END be set by the programmer so that the user does not violate the terms of what is expected by the program. The problem with this version of the program is that all of the inputs occur straight on top of each other making it nearly impossible for the user to know what is expected. In order to fix this problem, we again utilize the PRINT statement. GET 10 GET A : PRINT A GET is one of the easiest statements to use when wanting 20 GET A$ : PRINT A$ user input. However, GET is limited to one character and is 30 PRINT "NUMBER : "; : GET B: PRINT B generally used when you want the user to select from a list 40 PRINT "NAME : ";: GET B$: PRINT B$ of items or in the case of wanting to get a boolean type of 50 PRINT A,B answer from the user (i.e. Yes/No). It can be used for other purposes as well, but these are just generalized ideas. 60 PRINT A$,B$ 70 END Our next step is a study in how not to use the GET statement. Take the program below for example: This example can be used to also accept larger numbers and words by using a loop to gather multiple inputs from the 10 GET A GET statement. If can then be compiled into whatever 20 GET A$ number or string you are going to use to allow for the same type of input as the INPUT statement. While this is a 30 GET “NUMBER : ”;B solution to the minor issues, this is still not perfect and 40 GET “NAME : “;B$ leaves a lot of room to improve things. 50 PRINT A,B
35 Keyboard Strobe PRINT the character once the key was pressed. To do that, you just need to add a line 67 to the program shown below The third methodology of getting is to use the keyboard stating: strobe to check for a keypress and then get the value of the key pressed. Once a key is pressed, the strobe is cleared in 67 PRINT A$; order to make way for the next key press. And change line 80 to the following: This is one of the best methodologies to use if you want to get key input for games or for controlling systems. It allows 80 PRINT:PRINT”THE TEXT THAT WAS TYPED IS: “;B$ direct feedback from the machine hardware and while it does take a bit more programming than the other methods, Simple modifications such as these would allow a user to it is a good way of controlling exactly what gets input and actually make the program a bit more useful. The one good accepted by the computer. thing about the previous program that only showed one character is that you can use this to check the result of the To perform the check of the keyboard, we check for a key key press and get the ASCII code for keys as well by press by checking the MONITOR iInput/Output memory changing line 60 of it to: location -16384 or $C000 using the PEEK command. If the value of the peek is greater than 127 then a key has been 60 A$=CHR$(A): PRINT A$;” WAS PRESSED WITH A pressed and we want the value of that key. VALUE OF “;A
Once we have the value of the key press we need to reset Further modifications will make these two programs even the Keyboard Strobe which is at memory location -16368 or more useful but we hope that the ideas have begun to flow $C010. Using the combination of these two memory for your usage of the code in your basic programs. locations we can create our own direct input system.
10 LET KB = -16384 20 LET KS = -16368 30 POKE KS,0 40 A=PEEK(KB): IF A <128 THEN 40 50 POKE KS,0 60 A$= CHR$(A): PRINT A$;" WAS PRESSED" 70 END
Placing the main component of this routine into a subroutine will allow you to call the routine any time you need a character to be input by the user. Using string concatenation will allow the routine to build full word or even sentence input for what ever program you choose to write. While we have just scratched the surface here, there will be Some of these modifications can be seen in the screenshot more good stuff in the months to come as we delve further below. it has just a few simple modifications which allow the into the mysteries of Applesoft. computer to track what is typed and will run until the RETURN key is pressed or 141 in ASCII.
The program shown in the screenshot could be modified to produce characters while they are typed on the screen using something known as echoing. In this case, we would just
36 Apple II Disk and File Utilities
The information in this page relates to Apple II utility programs which are used to convert Apple II floppies to disk images and to manipulate them.
ADTPro 2.0.2 virtual as well as physical. Compact Flash media can also be wri en and updated with the Ciderpress package.
Some of the Key features of Ciderpress 4.0.1 include:
•Full support for ShrinkIt archives. •Full support for all common disk image formats and Apple II filesystems. •Direct access to hard drives, removable media, and CF cards. •Converters for text and graphics files. •Disk image crea on and conversion u li es. •Some handy disk manipula on tools.
This version of the so ware is intended to run on Windows XP and later OSes.
ADTPro, which allows users to image Apple II and Apple III disks, The previous version of Ciderpress, version 3.0.1, which runs on u lizing either a serial connec on or an ethernet connec on. The Windows 98, ME and 2K, has been le on the server as the current program also allows boot strapping of a machine via those same official release version of the so ware will not work on these older methodologies. opera ng systems.
You can download the ADTPro program from: To download Ciderpress, go to the CiderPress website at: h p://adtpro.sourceforge.net h p://a2ciderpress.com
Ciderpress 4.0.1 AppleCommander 1.3.5.14
AppleCommander has been updated to version 1.3.5.14. The latest release of the program is available from the author, Dr. John B. Ma hews, on his personal website.
Ciderpress 4.0.1 is an Apple II disk image manipula on package which allows users to copy images and files between disks, both
37 AppleCommander is a disk image file manipula on package which For more informa on about Virtual II, check out their website at: allows conversion of files between formats as well as the export of h p://www.virtualii.com files. AppleCommander is available as a JAR file and runs on most major pla orms that run Java. A2Command 1.1 Visit Dr. Ma hews webpage at: h ps://sites.google.com/site/drjohnbma hews/applecommander
Apple Game Server 3.1
A2Command is a file manager which runs on any Apple IIe or newer Apple II series machine as well as a number of Apple //e clones. The program allows you to manage files on the disk in the same manner as Norton Commander and includes the following features:
•Dual Panel Opera on •Text File Viewing •Copy single files and batches of files •Delete single files and batches of files Apple Game Server allows users to boot their Apple // computers •Rename files without floppy disks. The only requirement for this is a func onal •Create, delete and navigate directories serial connec on to a computer running the Apple Game Server •Write Disk Images to Physical Disks so ware. •Write Physical Disks to Disk Images •Copy Physical Disk to Physical Disk For more informa on, check out the Apple Game Server file repository at: You can download A2Command for free from: h ps://sourceforge.net/projects/a2gameserver h ps://a2command.codeplex.com
Virtual II 7.5.3
The Virtual II emulator is a Macintosh-based Apple II, II Plus, and IIe emulator. Featuring realis c images , peripheral control, and real Apple sounds, this emulator is one of the best emulators available. Structris
Virtual II also has built in MX-80 Printer control and allows users to dump to PDF file. The latest version of Virtual II, 7.5.3 includes the for iOS following fixes: Just $1.99
* Licenses can be purchased at the FastSpring store. www.structris.com * The minimum required system version is Mac OS X 10.7 ("Lion").
38 Primary Sites: Additional Sites:
Apple Pugetsound Program Library Take-1 Movie Site Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) http://take1.applearchives.com http://www.callapple.org Willamette Apple Connection A.P.P.L.E. – New Books http://wac.callapple.org http://www.callapple.org/books Digisoft Innovations Structris http://digisoft.callapple.org http://www.structris.com Australian Apple Review Apple Archives http://aar.applearchives.com http://www.applearchives.com Computist Project Virtual Apple ][ http://computist.applearchives.com http://www.virtualapple.org A2-FS1 Flight Simulator Site Gamezyte http://fs1.applearchives.com http://www.gamezyte.com A2-FS2 Flight Simulator Site Applied Engineering http://fs2.applearchives.com http://ae.applearchives.com A2-PB1 Night Mission Pinball Site Beagle Bros Repository http://pb1.applearchives.com http://beagle.applearchives.com Ancestorworks Repository Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium http://anw.applearchives.com http://www.mecc.co The Apple /// Resource WOZ Speaks http://apple3.applearchives.com http://wozspeaks.callapple.org Apple II Hackers http://hackers.applearchives.com
Terry Allen’s Apple II Page http://apple2.callapple.org
39 Call–A.P.P.L.E.™
Join the A.P.P.L.E. User Group! 1 Year Membership $27.95
for iOS > Structris.com
^--- CallApple.org/books ---^ ^ --- A.P.P.L.E. Sites --- ^ Retro & Current NEWS CallApple.org
.co AppleArchives.com
VirtualApple.org
www.callapple.org