Ladies and Gentlemen,
today I finally managed to hunt down an Apple II (or, as it says on the
lid, Apple ][), and trawling the net for some info on it, found your
little community.
My son, 10, and myself, 44, are relatively recent Apple Mac converts,
never having really cared about computers until about two years ago
when I finally was fed up with viruses, worms, and the like, stopped
having an e-mail account and subsequently was told by a colleague that
there is a way to avoid the hassle.
I then bought a second hand G3 iMac re-vamped to run OS X 10.3 which
has adorned my desk ever since, and which will go on doing so for a
long time, I hope. Next my wife needed a computer for work, so we got
another second hand G3, a Lombard Power Book, and lastly our son found
his, a G3 iBook in Blueberry, in the small ads section of the
newspaper, for a ridiculously low price.
My son and I proceeded to go berserk, subscribing to a Mac magazine,
even buying a book on the matter, which my son quoted when asked by his
teacher of German about his favourite book, generating a puzzled look
or two. Also we got hold of a whole array of stuff, mostly for free,
just for the heck of it, and to be able to try things out. We are now
proud joint owners of an LC, a Macintosh Classic, a Power PC 7.500
missing its display, and a Portrait Display missing its computer (found
in the bulky refuse collection in Paris, France, of all places). Also,
we´re busy saving up for a TAM and have nearly given up hope of ever
finding a LISA here in Germany.
Today, in the said section of small ads in our newspaper, a chap
advertised 10 or so Apples with a huge lot of periphery for the sum of
6.000 Euros, about 7.000 US-Dollars. Assuming a small publishing firm
having gone under or some such thing, I rang, was told that all of
these computers were new, or nearly, equipped with huge screens, and
had been taken off the market because something new had been hitting
the shelves. No, he was not able to furnish any other data, I would
have to come and see for myself.
Into the car I hop, ten miles or so, my heart thumping wildly at the
thought of me being able to grab a relatively recent G5 with a Cinema
Display for a song. Hundreds of farm animals were flying over me, thick
and fast, but I must have watched the road rather intently.
Imagine my shock when I arrive at the premises, encounter someone who
proudly professes neither he nor his wife have the first idea about
computers, and shows me an LC, with a broken mouse. And the rest?
Where´s my G5? Oh, in the garage, perhaps.
There I encounter a weird collection of cannibalized scrap, a box or
two of bits, typically labelled "taken off 1993-06-08, maybe working",
and all of it stemming from a shop which must have cleared out its
dungeons. Gawd. A dozen LCs, mostly not working, only two displays, a
512 k Mac, empty shell, an Appl IIc carcass and at the very bottom of
the heap ...
...there it was, an Apple II, Serial No. A2S1- 23426, motherboard
marked, in felt tip, 7912, slot #6 equipped with a Disk ][ Interface
Card with the two disk drives sitting next to the computer, the
motherboard absolutely crammed with all sorts of goodies, inc. three 16
Kb storage devices, and only the Game 1/0 one free. Many of the ROM
chips are marked 1978.
So, what is it I found and was able, after some violent pitting of
minds, to take home for a low two-figure sum?* Fame at last, or what?
Is this really the 23426th of all of those millions and millions of
Apple computers?
And what was it that left some glue marks right in front of the brass
coloured power supply unit? Hopefully nothing vital, for it is gone.
And what do I do with the 10 Mb Apple ProFile in its elaborate original
cardboard-and-foam box that I also managed to salvage from the pet
cemetary? Having a collecting background (old racing bicycles), I acted
on instinct thinking the box would be in danger of being discarded,
which might perhaps be a shame. Or mightn´t it?
But whatever your verdict, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, my son´s
face lighting up when beholding the Apple II upon his return from the
municipal swimming pool was worth it. Twice.
Oh, the excitement of it all.
Thanks for your help, and regards,
Toni Theilmeier, Belm, Northern Germany.
______________
* The decisive factor in the battle was my remark that the Apple II was
lacking its display. I can be a meanie sometimes.
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