The Apple II (sometimes written as Apple ][ or Apple //) was the first popular microcomputer manufactured by Apple Computer. Its direct ancestor was the Apple I, a circuit board computer for hobbyists that was never produced in quantity but which pioneered many of the features that made the Apple II a success. Introduced at the West Coast Computer Faire in 1977, the Apple II was one of the very first and most successful personal computers. A number of different models were sold, and the most popular model was manufactured, with relatively minor changes, into the 1990s. By the end of its production, 2 million Apple IIs were produced.

Unlike any other machine before it, the Apple II looked more like an appliance than a piece of electronic test equipment. This was a computer that would not seem out of place in the home, on a manager's desk, or in a classroom. The lid popped easily off the beige plastic case, allowing access to the entire motherboard and inviting users to look inside and tinker with the computer's eight expansion slots and its bounty of empty RAM sockets, which could hold up to 48 kilobytes of memory.

Also unique for its time were the machine's color and high-resolution graphics modes (which could be used on an ordinary television), its sound capabilities, and its built-in BASIC programming language. Compared to earlier machines, these features were well-documented and easy to learn. The Apple II thus marked the beginning of the personal computer revolution: it was a machine for the masses, not just hobbyists, scientists, and engineers. The Apple II's influence was widespread; most of the machines that followed imitated many aspects of the successful machine.

More on [ Apple II family ]

eWeek - RSS Feeds

Cox Did Not Infringe Verizon Internet Telephony Patents: Jury
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:46:45 -0400
Verizon had accused Cox of infringing six patents related to Internet telephony. Verizon settled a similar suit against digital phone service provider Vonage last year for $117.5 million. - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cox Communications did not infringe patents owned by Verizon Communications, a jury in Virginia decided on Monday. Verizon had accused Cox of infringing six patents related to Internet telephony, but a jury at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia decid...
Mozilla Geode to Join Google, Yahoo for Geolocation Web Services
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:33:02 -0400
Mozilla Labs is set to launch a geolocation add-on called Geode in the wake of similar Web services from Google and Yahoo. This latest application development comes as location-based Web services are heating up. But what form will such services take beyond the now cliche restaurant review scenario? - Mozilla Labs Oct. 7 will announce Geode, a geolocation add-on for the Firefox Web browser, which will enable developers to create content tailored toward users' locations. In a brief note before the launch, a Mozilla spokesperson said that with Geode, a user who is looking for restaurants while ...
AMD Spins Off Processor Manufacturing Facilities to Better Compete with Intel
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:01:58 -0400
AMD is now offering details of on its much anticipated “asset smart” plan, which will allow the chip maker to spin off its processor manufacturing facilities into a new company. The plans will allow AMD to trim its payroll, concentrate on engineering and designing new processors and graphics chips for PCs and server systems, and allow AMD to better compete with Intel. - Advanced Micro Devices is finally detailing its long talked about “asset smart” plan, which will allow the chip maker to spin off its manufacturing facilities into a new company while allowing AMD to reduce its financial debt and better compete against Intel. The new manufacturing company, wh...
5 Technology Businesses Poised to Boom in the Financial Crisis
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:27:32 -0400
Risk management, e-discovery, enterprise search, e-mail archiving, and secure and managed file transfers might all beat hard times in a recession or economic downturn in the wake of the Wall Street financial crisis. Risk management, e-discovery, enterprise search, e-mail archiving, and secure and managed file transfers are all positioned for a boom as the business and financial sector call on their unique services more than ever. - Risk management, secure and managed file transfers, e-discovery, e-mail archiving, and enterprise search are all positioned for a boom as the business and financial sector call on their unique services more than ever. 1. Risk management Companies that offer risk assessment tools, such as RSA Se...
E-Discovery Search and Storage Providers Await a Litigation Boom Following Financial Crash
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:27:28 -0400
E-discovery providers stand to gain from the Wall Street financial crisis, as potential customers such as investors, shareholders and pension funds prepare to pursue or defend lawsuits. E-discovery firms such as Kazeon, Autonomy, Clearwell Systems, Attenex, Symantec, Seagate Technology's MetaLINCS, Iron Mountain's Stratify, LexisNexis, Recommind and some other smaller companies are in good standing to gain business from what many expect to be a surge in litigation surrounding the Wall Street financial crisis. - Now is a good time to be an e-discoveryware provider. Companies such as Kazeon, Autonomy, Clearwell Systems, Attenex, Symantec, Seagate Technology's MetaLINCS, Iron Mountain's Stratify, LexisNexis, Recommind and some other smaller companies stand to gain business from what many expect to be a su...
eWEEK Labs Walk-Through: Lotus Symphony 1.1
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:35:35 -0400
Lotus Symphony 1.1 is a freely-available office productivity suite from IBM that brings together a trio of word processor, spreadsheet and presentation applications under a Big Blue label. Symphony's interface is new, based on Eclipse, but its internals are old, based on OpenOffice.org 1.1.4; the result is a fairly good productivity suite with an interface that's much fresher-and a feature set that's more stale-than those that grace the OpenOffice.org 3.0 release I recently tested. - Upon firing up the Lotus Symphony 1.1 word processor application, I was impressed right away by its tabbed interface, which makes switching between different documents as well as spreadsheets and presentations as easy as shifting between tabbed pages in Firefox. However, it wasn't...

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology

Fed to buy massive amounts of short-term debt
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:35:25 -0700
The Federal Reserve announced Tuesday a radical plan to buy massive amounts of short-term debt in a dramatic effort to break through a credit clog that is imperiling the economy.
World stocks swoon; new rescue weighed
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:33:28 -0700
As pressure built in the credit markets and stocks spiraled lower around the world on Monday, the Federal Reserve was considering a radical new plan to jump-start the engine of the financial system.
Positions harden in Boeing strike; McNerney, unions spar over outsourcing
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:51:29 -0700
Boeing has not talked directly with the International Association of Machinists (IAM) since the union's strike began more than four weeks ago. But in a memo to salaried employees still at work, McNerney said Boeing won't scramble to settle on the union's terms.

NYT > Technology

A.M.D. to Split Into Two Operations
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:05:21 -0000
In a dramatic effort to maintain its position as the only real rival to Intel, Advanced Micro Devices plans to announce that it will become two companies.
Seeking Broader Reach for Social Web Sites
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:35:56 -0000
As the Web becomes a more social place, media companies are trying to make it easier to share links, add comments to articles and extend online identities.
DealBook: Venture Capitalists Are Hearing Footsteps
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:44:21 -0000
Venture capitalists are optimists by nature. But these days, even some of the sunniest venture investors are having dark moments of the soul.

CNN.com - Technology

Mercury, up close: Photos to be unveiled
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:42:48 -0400
A U.S. spacecraft was scheduled to beam hundreds of photos of Mercury back to Earth on Tuesday after a close encounter with the planet closest to the sun. The images should show scientists never-before-seen landscapes on the planet.
Three physicists share Nobel prize
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:20:46 -0400
An American physicist and two physicists from Japan will share this year's Nobel Prize in Physics, the Nobel Foundation announced Tuesday.
Review: Zune music player catching up to iPod
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:33:27 -0400
Slowly but surely, Microsoft's Zune is staking its claim as a legitimate alternative to Apple's iPod line of MP3 players.

NPR Topics: Technology

New Solar Cell Easy As Pizza To Make
Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:16:00 -0400
The iJET is a new type of solar cell that's cheap and easy to make, requiring not much more than a pizza oven, some nail polish remover, and a common inkjet printer. Australian scientist Nicole Kuepper describes her invention.
SpaceX Celebrates First Successful Rocket Launch
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:53:00 -0400
SpaceX's flagship Falcon1 rocket has successfully launched from an island in the central Pacific, becoming the first privately-developed rocket to orbit the planet. NASA has already contracted SpaceX to begin private space flight missions to the International Space Station beginning in 2010.
Northeast States Trade Carbon Emission Credits
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:46:00 -0400
A consortium of Northeast states has completed the first cap-and-trade greenhouse gas auction in the U.S. Under cap-and-trade, limits are set on emissions. Companies that do not use up their quota of emissions are able to sell their excess emission capacity to other companies.

BBC News | Technology | UK Edition

Cars set to get parental controls
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:05:21 -0000
Ford is to introduce a key-based security system that limits what younger drivers can do to the family car.
DVD copying software gets pulled
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:23:36 -0000
RealNetworks is being pursued by six movie studios over software that makes copies of DVD films so they can be played on a PC.
Oyster card hack details revealed
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:41:32 -0000
Dutch researchers reveal details of how they managed to copy the radio chips used on London's Oyster card.

Reuters Video: Technology

Shazam enters new era
Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:22:20 -0400
Oct 6 - The mobile music discovery service has seen a surge of new users after broadening its offering to work seamlessly with social networks.
Solar clothes
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:30:01 -0400
Oct. 3 - Argentine designer looks to the future by creating solar-powered clothing.
Ring ring, bling bling
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:21:52 -0400
Oct. 3 - Ring ring, bling bling; NIntendo's latest player, 3D reality, and a hybrid motorbike.

AP Top Technology News At 10:52 a.m. EDT

AMD to spin off factories in bid to save money
By BARBARA ORTUTAY Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:27:38 -0000
NEW YORK (AP) -- In a move to dramatically cut costs and better compete with Intel Corp., chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said Tuesday it will spin off its factories into a new joint venture with investors in the Persian Gulf state of Abu Dhabi....
EBay cutting 1,600 jobs, 10 percent of work force
By RACHEL METZ Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:14:42 -0000
NEW YORK (AP) -- After a series of changes designed to draw more people to its online marketplace, eBay Inc.'s latest alteration is aimed at its own employees. The auction site operator said Monday it will cut about 1,600 jobs, 10 percent of its work force, in its largest round of dismissals ever....
Ford feature will let parents set limits for teens
By TOM KRISHER Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:49:28 -0000
DETROIT (AP) -- So you think junior is a little too lead-footed when he drives the family car? Starting next year, Ford Motor Co. will give you the power to do something about it....

CNET News.com

Kleiner Perkins backs smart-grid firm Silver Spring
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:11:00 -0700
Venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins digs into its Green Growth fund to lead a $75 million investment in Silver Spring Networks, which uses IP-enabled devices to improve grid reliability.
AMD finds 'fabless' alternative
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:45:00 -0700
The chip company is not going fabless in the classic sense of the word: a design house without any manufacturing facilities.
VeriSign sells Jamba stake to News Corp.
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:38:00 -0700
The domain registrar sells its 49 percent share of the mobile-entertainment joint venture to its partner, News Corp., for $200 million. Ringtones sound good to Murdoch's media empire.

Subscribe to Computers RSS feed