Bytes From The Apple

Mar 7 2012

Bytes From The Apple — What We Expect From Todays Apple Event

By Bill Martens

With Apple poised to introduce the Apple iPad 3 or it’s equivalent, we decided to sit down and write a short laundry list of items we figure we will see today.   Many of the rumors running the mill this week have been everything from the outlandish to the absolutely hilarious and it is time to put a bit more of a cap on it all and bring the rumors back to a bit of reality.

The first thing we will see is a lot of updates to the iBooks and Apple’s educational efforts.  The iPad is an integral part of the educational effort and Apple really wants to grab even more of the market as they roll out the next version of their iPad.   These changes will include some changes to the EULA allowing more friendlier terms but they will still control the core of the technology.

The second thing we will see is the Catalogs section fleshed out in its entirety.  Apple showed glimpses of the catalog section this week, but the reality is that they are going after every major department store and seller in an effort to put them right up there with Amazon in reach in the market.   Amazon has long been pushing to over run all the other sellers, but Apple is looking to bring them totally int he fold.   I see the catalog bit not just being the catalogs, but eventually the products as well, with Apple obviously getting a percentage of the sales from that as well.

The third thing obviously will be the iPad 3 or the iPad HD or what ever the iPad will be called.  We are seeing signs that the configuration will be the 32/64/128 gb units with the top end only offering the typical Apple slight increase in memory.  It is highly doubtful that we would see 256gb on the iPad for two reasons.  The first is the cost of the memory alone would push the top end model well over the $799 range that Apple likes to keep their top end model at.  The second is the fact that Apple really wants the users of the iPad to use the iCloud service.  However, that is not really a realistic approach since syncing movies between the devices can take days at times.

The display on the iPad 3 will likely be a retina display, complete with it’s high capabilities as well as the high definition cameras that are currently on the iPhone 4S.  While many people have been pushing for Siri on the iPad, I for one dont see it happening.  At least not in any major way as that would undercut what Apple is trying to do with the iPhone 4S.  While we will see a faster CPU in the iPad 3, we will not see the mythical quad core CPU as it would price the iPad right out of peoples hands and it would also produce so much heat that Apple would have a new issue on hand with people suing them for burning their hands.

The other thing we will see this morning is an update to the Apple TV box.  While many folks are expecting more, it would be absolutely disastrous for Apple to take on the TV industry full force right off the bat.  What we do see instead is a marked improvement of the Apple TV box with more HDD space and a better remote control, allowing users to have the type of viewing experience envisioned by Steve Jobs.   This will include the ability to not only watch the TV shows and the Movies but also to watch streaming television, likely incorporating some of the major cable companies.   Slingboxes have become popular devices in the past few years and Apple may target that as well as the standard cable box, wanting to become the primary distributor of the box that people will want instead of the typical cable box or digital box.  Apple will introduce it as the logical next step.

The upgrades to the Apple TV box will likely be a 500gb HDD internal to the box.  This would make it compete directly with those Mac Mini’s for the users living rooms.   As a true believer in the Mac Mini’s capabilities, I too have one as the primary box in my living room and not the Apple TV box that everyone thinks should have similar capabilities to the Mac Min.  However, Apple will likely bring that change about today and we could see the revolution in the living room take place beginning today.

While we would obviously like to see more than this, it is highly unlikely that we will.   The One last item will be the pricing of the iPad 2 with Apple lowering the iPad 2 price to match the Kindle Fire and other android tablet devices in a more concerted effort to totally drive them out of the market place.   This is a move that Apple could make up costs with by the contracts and they could even get the phone companies to take them on to give them away for next to nothing if not for fre with two year contracts.

With 15 Minutes to go until game time, errr….I mean Event time, well, that is what we see.  I hope everyone gets what they want out of this event and I, for one, am looking forward to what Santa Cook is bringing us.

By admin • Bytes From The Apple, Columns • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

Feb 20 2012

Bytes From The Apple — Is Proview Black Mailing Apple over Name

The trademark dispute in China between Proview, a bankrupt supposed owner of the iPad name and Apple, the known manufacturer of the iPad, is now widening to a point where Apple is being black mailed for 2 Billion USD by Proview.  While Apple purchased the rights to the name several years ago, Proview is now arguing that that sale did not cover mainland China where the iPad is made.

Apple was initially being asked for 1.6 Billion in addition to the 55,000 USD it paid to the Hong Kong office of Proview when it purchased the name.  The purchase of the name in 2009 should have ended any challenges to the Apple ownership of the iPad name.  Hong Kong courts agreed with Apple on this accord.  However,   China, long known for its blatant copying of the worlds goods, now also seems to have a court system now where it is acceptable to use black mail and under handedness to take money from western companies. The chinese courts over ruled the Hong Kong courts and is saying Proview owns the name.   It is sad that Proview is just the latest example of this type of underhandedness.  The company is by all rights, bankrupt.  The sold the name when they were trying to get rid of assets for cash.  Now they are seeing dollar signs and thinking Apple is going to buy them out again.  If this court case is allowed to proceed in addition to the seizure of iPads prior to a conclusion of the court case and appeals especially in local areas in China, then no company will ever be safe in the Chinese market.

In China, it also seems to be the norm to attempt to file the iPhone and iPad name for other products not related to anything in the technology field, with companies filing the claims saying that the names are not well known in China. This includes everything from clothing items to food product.   This in essence a total scam of the system, with the Chinese courts and local governments in cohorts with the companies, all to garner money from the world’s most famous and most valuable brand.  This is the type of activity western companies have long feared about doing business in China.  While everything on the surface seems to be copacetic, scammers in the country will try anything to get money out of a system that they have no real part in or any real business in.

If the Chinese courts don’t wake up and realize their mistakes, correcting the illicit activity with the copyrights and trademarks in the country as well as respecting international trade deals,  they could well find that Apple will no longer be manufacturing there.  At this point, other countries such as Brazil and Malaysia hold a much more appetizing state where the cost of building goods, also is not nearly as costly or as ridiculous as China has become recently.  Another thing that China needs to realize is that they are only an assembly plant and that a good majority of the actual technologies and items put into the iPad are are made in other countries, putting China in a very vulnerable position.  The stand to lose a trillion dollar conglomerates business to greed and stupidity.

Sources: Washington Post,  IBN Live, Wall Street Journal

By admin • Apple Inc., Bytes From The Apple, China, Columns, Global Markets, Lawsuits • 0 • Tags: , , , , ,

Jan 25 2012

Bytes From The Apple – Will Apple’s great Quarter push expectations too high?

Apple had a slam dunk, in your face type of quarter in quarter 1, 2012.  It’s profits were beyond that of any belief.   The stock price jumped to over 455 USD a share at one point after profits were announced.  The number of iPhone 4S’s sold were more than 4 million units beyond that of even the most optimistic analyst.  It was a huge success, but there are cracks in the mirror.

Supply is an issue for the iPhones, hard drives are still problematic for the desk tops, and really, the fiasco in Beijing cant be good for the next quarters profits.  Even Apple themselves were selling the good results this quarter as a one off type of deal.  But what is the truth.

At this point, Apple is the most valuable company in the United States.   It is selling products that customers wait in lines for days to get, and their corner on the Tablet Market doesnt look like it will wane any time soon.  This will especially be true if behind this great quarter, Apple comes out and announces the iPad 3. However, the iPad3 will need to have some major improvements in order to keep it on the leading edge of the market.  People are also expecting the iPhone 5 or something of the sort sometime within the next 12 months and that should also be a super star seller if it increases capabilities exponentially.

If all of these items are introduced this year, what will hapen next?  The stock go through the 1000 USD mark?   Or will we hear a large thud next quarter in Cupertino as Apple comes back to reality?  While Apple seems to be playing up the we are not going to do that well this quarter bit, it is doubtful that it will be any kind of crash to earth.  It will more likely be more modest profits, but profits all the same.

Many people are still attributing this quarters results to Steve Jobs, however, Tim cook has been in control for a while now really and if this quarter is anything to judge his tenure by, it should be a good one.   Apple still has tons of money and plenty of time for a few stumbling blocks along the way, but looking at the current state of affairs, it looks like the steps will keep spiraling upward.

And speaking of all that money.  97.6 Billion USD in cash.   No one can even really fathom that amount in their minds, yet Apple is still sitting on it.  While they say they are talking about how to use the cash horde, they really could just keep accumulating the cash and sit on it.  Investors might like some dividends but then I guess the stock price rising the way it is is thanks enough for the average investor. The way Apple will likely spend it is to keep producing the kinds of products we have come to expect, leading the way, spending on research and development and more factories.

By admin • Apple Inc., Bytes From The Apple, Columns, Quarterly Reports, Steve Jobs, Stock Price, Tim Cook • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

Jan 19 2012

What Apple Must Do To Make The Education Initiative Work

This morning, Apple announced their new initiative to make education one of their highest priorities.  This announcement has not really changed their stance on the subject of education, but the way in which they did it deserves merit.

The first thing that Apple did is to eliminate the physical books and the cutting down of trees to print those books.  This alone will save Billions of dollars each year and definitely help save the forests that are so important to our survival.  It will put lots of money back into the state coffers to buy equipment and to improve our schools, and perhaps even pay our teachers the money that they should get paid for educating our children.

However, in spite of the glossy apps and the wonderful tool that the iPad is, there is still one thing which is out of reach.  It is the iPad itself.  In Japan, the phone companies actually subsidize the iPad to a great extend with their “iPad for Everyone” campaign.  This means that anyone who can make a small monthly payment can get one.   Of course, this must be subsidized even further either by the states or by Apple themselves in order to put an iPad in the hands of every student within all of the states.  Students should be handed an iPad the minute they walk into the schools their first year with periodic upgrades of the machines as needed, say every three or four years.

They also need to be accounted for so that if they are stolen, they can be tracked down.  This means that the “Where is my iPhone” app will need to be turned on and Apple will need to get to the business of turning in the thieves to police.  Their current policy of non-involvement cannot carry over when we are talking about students machines.

The other thing that must change in order for this to work is the machine specifications itself.  While 64gb may be fine if you intend on doing absolutely nothing much with your machine, the minute you introduce books that could potentially take up to 2gb each means that people with a few dozen books will quickly fill their machines.  I currently only have 10 movies on mine plus my music library and it is nearly plum full.    This will be even more important as students implement the iTunesU app where the downloads of the lectures can take a great deal of space on the iPad in a hurry.

My recommendation would be that the iPad 3 (if that is indeed what Apple will call it) should have a minimum of 256gb and have all of the amenities of the iPhone 4S.  This would allow students to not only use the machines for their studies but potentially use their iPads for their projects as well.  This would especially be true if Apple comes out with a version of the iBooks Author App for the iPad.

While many folks are concentrating on the little failures of Apple such as the glare from the iPad and other such issues, the real issue is that in the long term this initiative could save states a ton of money and the students a lot of time, giving them more time to really learn what is necessary in order to be competitive in this high paced world.  Failure to make the iPad accessible and specification worthy on the part of Apple would be disastrous, not only for the initiative but also for the idea of the program itself.

Notes:  My own personal concerns about the problem of everyone having the same thing, the same books, the same machines smacks of the Orwellian idea of Big Brother.  I guess this comes from having been educated with books such as Animal Farm, 1984, Brave New World, and other utopian books which teach the dangers of such orderly society.   However, as long as we give the students the right to freely think about the topics they are taught, this idea of a single line of thought will never become a reality.

By billm • Apple Computing, Apple Inc., Bytes From The Apple, Columns, Education, iPad • 0 • Tags: , , , , , ,

Jan 17 2012

What’s Really Coming on the 19th of January 2012 from Apple

On January 19th, 2012, Apple Inc. is scheduled to have an education related announcement in the heart of New York City. While many in the world are speculating that apple is trying to “destroy the textbook industry”, We suspect that they are just following up on several lines of thought.

First, Texas was the first in the nation to embrace to totally digital textbook idea. It currently saves the state 2 billion USD per year in text book costs. If Apple is really going to “destroy the textbook industry”, then it will have to have the help of three places. The Apple suppliers and factories.  Apple needs to deliver the iPad3 immediately and it must have markedly superior capabilities to the current models with upgrades in nearly everything.  The cameras, the memory, the UI, and of course the power of the machines.  Second is the states.  Apple also needs the states to buy the iPads  and buy into the idea that digital text books are better than the paper ones. Thirdly, the textbook manufacturers.  Apple is  also going to have to get the current textbook publishing companies to go completely to digital copies of books and abandon the idea of printing books on paper (please tell me where we have heard this idea before). Of course, while we are at it,  why not destroy the entire physical book industry.  Could this not the end of the entire hold it in your hand type book industry? (Again, tell me where I have heard this before)

What little do we know that as of 19 January 2012, everything in our libraries will become controlled by computer and by the amount of memory in the computing device. If a glitch or hardware failure hits them, they are gone! Great idea!  That way the book companies can charge consumers for another copy of a book they have already paid for.  Thankfully, Apple has resolved this blight in the system for us by already incorporating that into the cost of the initial copy.  But this will get people buying books from Apple and now it will be very easy for  every book we ever order can be checked out by someone in the Ministry of Truth.

Second, the ebook publishing format currently used by Apple with their iBook store is epub2. epub2 is outdated and definitely not up to snuff with the current level of ideas in the digital publishing arena. They must implement epub3 and do it not only quickly but also they must support it with their announcement. If they fail to implement the new standards, they will not only not get the support from the publishing industry that they need, but they also will not get the teachers or the schools or states. Apple’s 1980′s education initiative put apples in many schools across the country but there were definitely haves and have-nots in that game.I suspect that the Trash-80 vs Apple wars came out of this idea of haves and have-nots.  Unless Apple is going to subsidize an iPad for every student in the US, we will likely have this same flame ware between the Android Tablet vs Apple iPad users  of this generation. This subsidization might deplete 10 percent of their 85 Billion Dollar war chest of cash.  Perhaps the Ministry of Plenty will forgive them for being so generous and the Ministry of Peace will thank them for ending the perpetual wars between the haves and have-nots.

Thirdly, Apple must make it easier to publish to the Apple book store. Our suggestion that iPublish is the new publishing product that they will introduce on the 19th is not far fetched.  It would definitely get the ball rolling to the point where everyone and their brother in the publishing industry would suddenly publish for Apple and no one else.  Should such an app not appear on the goodie bag list, Apple could suffer for a long time in the publishing arena and it would likely make any push for the education initiative mute point. Up until now, they have always supported the larger publishers when introducing the latest products and failed miserably at getting the smaller mom-and-pop shop types on board.  Apple must get them and the end consumer to the same playing field as those big guys. This failure to provide a clear path to the promised land is the reason that many of the smaller publishing companies wind up paying through the nose to some big publishing company just to reach that playing field. This is definitely the one area they need to improve upon if they really want to get ahead of the game.

Will Apple announce the iPad3? Not likely, but they may have a pre-anouncement type announcement which they will announce the initiative and then say when the iPad3 comes out, it will be available, similar to Steve Jobs famous “You don’t need an SDK” statement at WWDC 2007. We all know that changed in a hurry. With all of the parts rumors going around, it is possible that we may see the iPad3 mid year 2012.

Thus the announcement will be “We are starting an Education Initiative, we are digitizing books (already been done), and the book companies are on board (already been done).” No hardware and quite possibly, no software which would make this the biggest non-event type event Apple ever had. Oh Wait, there is one more thing….I was dreaming.

The real announcement will be “iPad3 with 256gb memory in 2 months, iPublish in 2 months, and all current major text books on iPad3, including those used by major universities in time for school year 2012-2013 to start”.  One more thing…Break out the check books!

By billm • Apple Inc., Bytes From The Apple, Columns, Events, New Product, Rumors, Tim Cook • 0 • Tags: , , , , ,

Dec 9 2011

Who Needs MacWorld Expo — Apple proves again why they dont.

At 10:00 am EST, Apple made a move that will send shock waves through the world of computing forever.   They opened their biggest and brightest store yet, right smack dab in the middle of Grand Central Station.  Long, the center piece of the New York existence, Grand Central serves more than a million people every day.

Even though MacWorld Expo 2002 in Tokyo boasted some of the highest numbers ever for an Apple based event, coming in at 198,000 attendees over a three day period, it is expected that more than 75,000 people will grace the halls of the Grand Central Station Apple Store today.

While these large numbers do not translate to pure sales always, it does translate to being in the sub-conscious mind and if only 75,000 people enter the store, how many more people actually see the store.   To put it bluntly out there for all the folks, this move alone will translate into millions of dollars in free advertising for Apple, without even having to place a single ad on TV.

One can look around and see that there are many stores that try to go glitzy, it is Apple, with it’s wide, open, clean look complete with lines and lines of Macs and iPad 2′s on the high table tops which garners the attention of many folks.  The ability to walk in, look at the items, actually feel it in ones hands, and use the product in line with what Steve Jobs had in mind, is what sells these folks and makes them tell their friends about the product.  The general trend is for stores to downsize in this day and age and eliinate product lines, however, Apple with their slim product lines and their clean, easy to use equipment, is making money faster than anyone else in the industry.

The other thing Apple is doing is garnering market share.   The general trend is that the first person to bring a product to market will garner 100% of the market share.  However, as is the case with the iPod and iPhone, many companies have tried to copy the styles, and have indeed captured some market share, but if you ever wanted to dominate a market, then the Grand Central Station Apple Store is the way to go.  It is loud, large, bold, and out there for all to see and will remain in the minds of the people walking by even if they never actually step into the store.  It is essentially the equivalent to having a MacWorld Expo every day of the year.

Thus, while many folks decried the fact that Apple left the MacWorld Expo arena and caused the cancellation of the Tokyo, Paris and Boston versions of the show, they have once again proved to the world that, Yes, Apple does have the right idea and No, they dont need MacWorld Expo or anything else that takes so much of their resources and efforts.

By billm • Bytes From The Apple, Columns, Stores • 1 • Tags: , , , , , , ,

May 15 2011

Bytes From The Apple — A Resurgence of the Apple-1

By Bill Martens

When Steve Wozniak first created his Apple-1 computer, it was all hand wire wrapped and on breadboard.  No fancy automated electronic assembly was even thought of.  It was purely a labor and work of true love of the art form.  These hand built machines were mostly produced in early 1976 with the original production machines being produced in April 1976 by Steve Wozniak (http://www.woz.org) and Steve Jobs.

The fact that only 175 of the original Apple-1 production machines were ever manufactured makes the machine one of the rarest form of computers that are still in circulation.  A trade in program for the Apple][ computer in which Apple-1 customers got a discount by sending in their Apple-1 boards to Apple.  The boards were then apparently all destroyed making the machine even rarer.

However, the price of an original Apple-1 computers is no longer the paltry $666.66 of the 1976 boards and  is generally beyond most peoples purses as shown in recent Christies Auction House auction of an original Apple-1 computer. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1328439/First-Apple-Steve-Jobs-auction-150k-Christies.html).  The high cost of the original Apple-1 has made the efforts to copy and reproduce the Apple-1 high on the list of many hobbyists lists of must do projects..

Thus it is that this week, the Apple-1 computer has made another comeback onto the world stage.  Aurélien of the hackzapple.com forums, released photos of his own replica of the original Apple-1 computer, completely hand wire wrapped and inside of a nicely crafted wooden case.  The machine definitely maintains the true tradition of the Apple-1 as Steve Wozniak set forth by giving away plans for the machine at the Homebrew Computer Club meetings in Palo Alto, Califronia in 1975. (http://applethefirst.blogspot.com/p/photo.html)

There have been some replica’s built including one produced by Steve Gabaly of Obtronix.  Two of these replicas have been built, one  by Bryan Blackburn (http://www.bytecollector.com/images/1869x1131_board.jpg), and one by Philip Lord (http://web.mac.com/lord_philip/apple_1_&_II/Apple_1_Obtronix.html).  The Obtronix Apple-1 is one of the few replicas which remain nearly totally true to the production model of the Apple-1.

Other replicas such as the A-One (http://www.achatz.nl/catalog/) and Replica-1 (http://www.brielcomputers.com/wordpress/?cat=4) took the approach of only emulating the Apple-1 through modern boards and chips. These machines have been mass produced and are still currently available for purchase online from the manufacturers.

Most people though want to try and do what Bryan Blackburn and Aurel did with their machines. Bryan also produced a handbuilt version of the Apple-1 (http://www.bytecollector.com/images/apple1.jpg) which according to Bryan, “didnt work well and was soon abandoned as a project.”  But then this type of hand building does take quite a bit of patience.   Thus, while Aurel’s machine is not the first ( http://www.cpmuseum.com/Exhibit.aspx?address=7603), it is a very visually appealing hand crafted machine rarely seen in the replica and home brew spectrum.

 

By billm • Apple-1, Bytes From The Apple, Columns • 0 • Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Feb 1 2010

Bytes From The Apple

By A.P.P.L.E. Staff

This month, we are back to full steam on our production and our setup.  Our staff are finally back in place and we are attempting to make up for some lost time here.   Getting back to our normal production schedule has been a bit problematic but thankfully we are heading in the right direction as we produce this issue.

There have been several items of interest this month from A.P.P.L.E. including the back issues also have been set up for publishing.  We will get our Fall and Winter issues from last year up for download as soon as our directorship checks them for accuracy.

The A2GS-L01 Laptop project team has been going strong and the laptop is expected to be in working form sometime in March with the prototypes of the machine being on display later this spring.  Production models will be available for ordering, according to Bill  once the cases have been designed and any final engineering issues have been cleared up.

Obviously, this project is being anticipated by a great number of people and the parts we are seeing put into the machine make it  a must have item for the Summer of 2010.  The stereo sounds, no moving parts, high memory capacity, and the coolness of the case are just some of the items that are going to knock peoples socks off when they see the machines.  Be sure and see it at KFest 2010 if you want to check it out before purchasing one.

One side note occurred this past month with the introduction of the Virtual Apple ][ sister site, Virtual Atari.  While not Apple ][ related, we still feel it is worth mentioning.   The new site has over 550 Atari games all playable online.

If you have any ideas of items that should be added or of games that you would like to see, check out the Virtual Apple ][ twitter account or their support BBS.

Websites:

A.P.P.L.E. Site

http://www.callapple.org

Virtual Apple ][

http://www.virtualapple.org

Beagle Bros Software Repository

http://beagle.applearchives.com

Applied Engineering Site

http://ae.applearchives.com

Apple IIgs Hacks Site

http://www.a2gs.com

By admin • Bytes From The Apple, Columns • 0 • Tags: ,

Jan 1 1979

Bytes from the Apple

Bytes from the Apple

We’re a little late, so that’s all for now! But seriously,’ folks, we are still suffering growing pains, and putting out this growing magazine is no small job, despite the everincreasing assistance we are receiving. When Call-APPLE is under preparation, all other works ceases. This means that for certain periods of time, growing longer each month, orders do not get mailed out promptly, new Library Paks do not get created, etc . . ,…. All of this is by way of justification to explain why, when we announced library Pak 3 in October, it is still not finished. Library Pak 4, however, has been finished, and we will be shipping the first copies right after Christmas. It contains an 18 program Financial Pak, a neat HIRES game, “APPLEWARS,” “SPIROLATERAL,” a HIRES demo, an Applesoft LO-RES shape table using the mysterious & command, a program called Poet and an excellent LO- RES birthday greeting.

Of equal importance is the fact that library Paks 3 and 4 will also be available on disk at a $15 price tag. library Pa~s 1 Band 2 will be available also on disk, but later on in the year. Many other new items are in the offing. An update of the popular Programmer’s Workshop adds the INTEGER command, which permits the user to execute any Integer Basic function without ever leaving the confines of the Workshop.  This and an update of the new Applesoft Workshop will be available in the near future on disk for $17.50 or $25 if ordered with two Library Paks.

And then, wait till you see APMAIL, a superb mailing list program which will print labels or all data to screen or printer, and search or sort on any of the nine available data fields. We expect to release this about January 15th at $7.50 on tape or $12.50 on disk. But we haven’t finished! Around February first, we expect to have a complete text editor/word processor program.

Two new names have been added to our staff box on Page 1: Mike Weinstock of R. Walton Beach, Aorida, who joins us as Advertising Manager and who is also in charge of the PEEKing at Call-APPLE project, and Dave Garson from Southern California, who, as Assistant Program Editor, will be helping assemble the Library Paks and modules that we have been so slow to release.

WElCOME to both of you!

By billm • Announcements, Bytes From The Apple, Columns, Members Information • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Aug 1 1978

Bytes From The Apple

Bytes from the Apple

And now a word from our sponsor …, you! Look elsewhere in this issue for an as yet untitled letters to the editor feature. We are now actively soliciting your letters and will reproduce in part some of the interesting ones. H you have a question or a problem, and we can’t find the answer in time to print it, we’ll throw it open to our readers for solution.

Money talks. Unfortunately, we have a number of words on that subject. As you will see in other stories, the prices on the Apple Box, software and dues are all to be increased. We don’t like to see this, particularly since one of our prime objectives is low cost software, but it is a necessary evil, if we want to adequately support Call -Apple, the cost of’which has grown to over $100 per month, not counting postage. Your understanding will be appreciated.

New software. Library Pak 2 should be ready for release as you read this. It contains many new color games and demos, music programs, a Greeting Pak which has a variety of Xmas and other greetings, a nifty game called “Nightmare No.6″, which in its opeing title states “The object of this game is to figure out the object of this game! “  You take it from there. Also available now is “Disk Workshop”, a new version of Workshop II, designed to work with Disk II and adds two new commands:  DSAV saves an appended program to disk and CONNECT appends a Disk program to the Workshop. This is available at $6, postpaid, and if you have previously, ordered Workshop as a separate program,
we will send you this one for just $2.

By billm • Announcements, Apple ][, Bytes From The Apple, Columns, Members Information • 0 • Tags: , , ,

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