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Machine Memories: Apple IIc


On 02/07/2023 at 01:01 PM by KnightDriver

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I was right in the middle of High School when my parents bought their first home computer, the Apple IIc in 1984. I was 17. 

appleiic

At first I used it as a word processor to print out character and location descriptions for my D&D adventures. Then Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (a turn-based RPG with 3D wire-frame dungeon environments) appeared, and I got pretty hooked on playing that on Sundays after church. Sometimes a friend of mine would come over and we'd play it together, taking turns with our respective teams. My favorite part was creating new characters and giving them and names. Eventually we beat the whole game, but it wasn't easy. This game takes a lot of patience, careful mapping (on graph paper!), and level grinding. 

TV Time! Apple IIc Christmas commercial. 


 

Comments

Cary Woodham

02/08/2023 at 08:45 AM

I don't know if the Apple IIc was different from the Apple II+ I had, but the IIc had a mouse, so maybe it was.  We got our first PC (the Apple II+) when I was about in kindergarten.  In fact I remember testing it out at the sales rep's house.  He was wearing an Apple rainbow logo shirt and let me sit in his lap to play Pac-Man on the computer we were about to get (remember I was just a little kid).  While everyone else was complaining about the bad port of Pac-Man on the 2600, I was happily playing a pretty close arcade version of it on the computer, as well as other arcade games like Frogger and Zaxxon.  I also enjoyed a lot of original games on it like Choplifter, Lode Runner, Spare Change, and Aquatron.

KnightDriver

02/10/2023 at 09:51 AM

The IIc was marketed as portable and easy to use for those unfamiliar with computers. It was less expandable than the other II series machines and had a slightly less powerful processor. 

Vintage computers would be a fun thing to get into. 

Matt Snee Staff Writer

02/08/2023 at 05:57 PM

I'm not sure which one we had, but my mom taught computers at a vocational school, and part of that was getting one to take home with her (which I played games on.) But, when PCs became more dominant, I didn't look back at the Apple, and wouldn't use a Mac until years later. 

KnightDriver

02/10/2023 at 10:05 AM

Games were so much more numerous on PC than Apple. 

SanAndreas

02/10/2023 at 04:19 PM

They still are, especially now that Apple is using Apple Silicon instead of a x86 architecture. But I don't really use computers for gaming, and my MacBook is amazing for everything I need it for. 

KnightDriver

02/11/2023 at 11:01 AM

I'd love to get a gaming PC going again. Problem now is only time. 

SanAndreas

02/08/2023 at 06:41 PM

I'm mostly familiar with the Apple II because it was the default computer in schools when I was in school, and there weren't many of them to go around. And mostly, we were limited to educational applications (I learned how to type 60 WPM on an Apple II at school) and edugames like Oregon Trail. Every once in awhile there'd be something like Montezuma's Revenge or Pulsar II (a Star Castle clone), and I think I saw Karateka for Apple II once. It wasn't as good of a gaming computer as the Atari 8-bit line, but in school, we took what we could get, lol.

Nowadays I am a Mac user and haven't touched Windows outside of work for almost ten years. 

KnightDriver

02/10/2023 at 10:08 AM

I remember looking in to the computer room in High School and deciding that it wasn't for me. It seemed like a math/science thing, and I was into writing and the arts. So I never played Oregon Trail and such at school. 

My friend who I game with, used to be all about the PC but now has an Apple and never wants to go back. 

SanAndreas

02/13/2023 at 02:36 PM

Honestly, I don't either. Mac works with my iPhone, and its free applications are as good as Microsoft Office. Plus, the computer has a lot less bloatware. 

It doesn't do a lot of games, since a lot of game companies seem to have given up on the Mac market even before Apple switched from Intel to Apple Silicon, though it does include a few. You can even get Resident Evil Village on the App Store, and I have Cities Skylines on mine. But for everything else, I like my Macbook better than I ever did Windows, which now seems hopelessly clunky and bloated by comparison. My Mac never randomly shuts down to update itself.

KnightDriver

02/13/2023 at 04:41 PM

I've wanted a Mac for years, but it's always been money that's kept me in PC land. 

I kind of want to try the Microsoft Surface right now, but I'm not sure I even need a computer right now since I do almost everything on my phone these days. 

SanAndreas

02/14/2023 at 08:42 AM

These days, Windows PCs that aren't complete potatoes cost as much as some Macs, while even the low-end Macbooks are still very capable machines compared to low-end PCs. That helped facilitate my switch.

Super Step Contributing Writer

02/18/2023 at 09:07 PM

Under $2000?! Take my money!

KnightDriver

02/20/2023 at 02:49 PM

I've been shocked by the price tags of computers in the 80s. 

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