Re:The Floppy Disk (2011)
by js2 on Saturday August 19, 2023 @01:19PM
(#37190937)
> The big storage breakthrough came in 1977 when Apple introduced the Apple II, its first mass-produced computer. It came with two 5-¼ inch floppy drives.
Not quite. The Disk II Interface Card wasn't available till 1978. It supported two drives. But the card and drives were options. A couple ads re-affirming my memory:
> Apple II'™ is a completely self-contained computer system with BASIC in ROM, color graphics, ASCII key board, light-weight, efficient switching power supply and molded case. It is supplied with BASIC in ROM, up to 48K bytes of RAM, and with cassette tape, video and game I/O interfaces built-in. Also included are two game paddles and a demonstration cassette.
I owned an Apple II fully loaded and upgraded to a II+. (I actually still have most of it in a closet and someday need to get it functional again.)
The Disk II Interface Card was another one of Woz's legendary designs:
Not quite. The Disk II Interface Card wasn't available till 1978. It supported two drives. But the card and drives were options. A couple ads re-affirming my memory:
https://brian.carnell.com/articles/2021/apple-ii-ad-1978/
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d9/92/81/d99281c7517692b48093...
The second ad has this copy:
> Apple II'™ is a completely self-contained computer system with BASIC in ROM, color graphics, ASCII key board, light-weight, efficient switching power supply and molded case. It is supplied with BASIC in ROM, up to 48K bytes of RAM, and with cassette tape, video and game I/O interfaces built-in. Also included are two game paddles and a demonstration cassette.
I owned an Apple II fully loaded and upgraded to a II+. (I actually still have most of it in a closet and someday need to get it functional again.)
The Disk II Interface Card was another one of Woz's legendary designs:
https://www.bigmessowires.com/2021/11/12/the-amazing-disk-ii...