Huxley
Well-known member
I wrote a longer account of this on my website (you can read it here if you're curious), but the short version: after posting here (and on Facebook + Twitter for some ID help) yesterday my family took a ~2-hour drive and bought this Apple II computer, which was built in 1980. Since we were going to be passing by Cupertino on our way home, we took a short detour and stopped for a pic outside Apple's first custom-built headquarters on Bandley Drive, which they used for much of their early history before relocating to their more-famous HQ at 1 Infinite Loop (which itself has been replaced by the massive new Apple Park campus).
After this, we stopped into the Apple Visitor Center at the new campus - it's a sort of combo Apple Store + gift shop + community center + cafe + architectural showcase, and definitely worth seeing if you're ever in the area. We brought the Apple II in with us, and were delighted by the response - dozens of staff and customers stopped by to ask about it, take pics and share stories about their own memories of Apple's early years. Fun!
The machine itself is interesting: the lid identifies it as an Apple ][ (not a ][+ or IIe) and the under-case label is marked "A2S1" (which also indicates that it's a 'real' Apple ][). However, the motherboard is date-stamped to the 44th week of 1980 (which I understand was pretty late in the Apple ][ production run), and from eyeballing it, appears to have been upgraded from the original 'integer' ROM's to the later AppleSoft ROM's which would usually be found in an Apple ][+.
Even more interesting: when we were at the Apple Park Visitor Center someone asked if they could snap a pic of the underside of the machine, so I flipped it over and held it for them. While they were taking their pics, I noticed what I initially thought was a small screw poking through one of the under-case air vents... but upon closer inspection, I realized that it's a tiny toggle switch! I haven't quite figured out what that teeny-tiny switch is doing under there, but from eyeballing the wires that come out of it, I suspect it's in-line with the speaker, and may serve as a sort of mute switch for the internal speaker. Has anyone else seen an Apple II-series machine with a "DIY" modification like that?
In any case, I'm delighted to have this in my "Retro Roadshow" collection - all I need now is an Apple IIc and we can realistically set up a pretty-representative exhibit of all the major machines in the series!
Huxley
After this, we stopped into the Apple Visitor Center at the new campus - it's a sort of combo Apple Store + gift shop + community center + cafe + architectural showcase, and definitely worth seeing if you're ever in the area. We brought the Apple II in with us, and were delighted by the response - dozens of staff and customers stopped by to ask about it, take pics and share stories about their own memories of Apple's early years. Fun!
The machine itself is interesting: the lid identifies it as an Apple ][ (not a ][+ or IIe) and the under-case label is marked "A2S1" (which also indicates that it's a 'real' Apple ][). However, the motherboard is date-stamped to the 44th week of 1980 (which I understand was pretty late in the Apple ][ production run), and from eyeballing it, appears to have been upgraded from the original 'integer' ROM's to the later AppleSoft ROM's which would usually be found in an Apple ][+.
Even more interesting: when we were at the Apple Park Visitor Center someone asked if they could snap a pic of the underside of the machine, so I flipped it over and held it for them. While they were taking their pics, I noticed what I initially thought was a small screw poking through one of the under-case air vents... but upon closer inspection, I realized that it's a tiny toggle switch! I haven't quite figured out what that teeny-tiny switch is doing under there, but from eyeballing the wires that come out of it, I suspect it's in-line with the speaker, and may serve as a sort of mute switch for the internal speaker. Has anyone else seen an Apple II-series machine with a "DIY" modification like that?
In any case, I'm delighted to have this in my "Retro Roadshow" collection - all I need now is an Apple IIc and we can realistically set up a pretty-representative exhibit of all the major machines in the series!
Huxley