The /// is obscure even among people like me who were using computers at the time. Basically being only semi-compatible with the ][ combined with the poor quality control of the early units meant very few people upgraded.
It was meant as an office/business Apple ][ as opposed to a personal computer. It was, as you said, only barely compatible and a real loser for Apple.
a dark reminder of the days when computer science pioneers were outcasts, and forced to hide in the woods
You mean… I can come back now? 
Are you a “'full stack’engineer” – cause I understand thats the only kind anyone wants.
I remember going with my dad to the nearest town with a computer store to look at one. I loved it because it was running space invaders. Oddly enough that didn’t impress dad.
Ten years Spencerian Only.
…in a field that’s three years old or newer.
“An elegant computer for a more civilized age …”
Nominating whatever machine Lee Felsenstein used to support the Community Memory Project for that designation.
And the Homebrew Computer Club was where the Old Republic Jedis must’ve hung out.
Hokey religions and ancient computers are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.
The Curta Type 2 gets my vote.
Click, click.
:sigh:
Good old times before the Dark Age, the Age of Cloud…
You don’t believe in the FOSS, do you @slybevel?
Yes, starting in Weimar, it’s history is a story of struggle against real darkness. And the Reagan era is a suitable comparison.
Oh man, free range Apple ///s taste the best!
If people want it, it’s already old.
Community Memory ran on a mainframe. It was surplus from some company, offered to community groups, and Community Memory was the result. It was under the banner of Resource One. I’ve never heard if it was used for anything else.
Somewhere, maybe in “What the Dormouse Said”, it was suggested that some of the money for the project came from Fred Moore, who of course was the one who ended up with the money leftover at the end of “The Demise Party” (which was supposed to end The Whole Earth Catalog). I’m not sure if that was speculation or reality. Fred Moore of course did help to start The Homebrew Computer Club, so her certainly got to know Lee Felsenstein later, if he didn’t already know him.
“Popular Computing” once ran a feature on Paul Lutus, who wrote some well known programs for the Apple. He lived in the woods, the area looking like this Apple III. So maybe there’s more to uncover, assuming this isn’t staged.
#drool
I have a half-finished text adventure about a computer camp, set in the early 80s. It has new Apple IIs. Somewhere out in the woods is a dump with the camp’s old hardware . . . the PET Cemetery.
