Computing with Apple 2
... Computer was born, with Jobs being the main driving force at the helm”. The Apple II was followed by the “Lisa”; a personal computer designed for business use that incorporated a hand-held mouse to select commands and control an on screen cursor. This set the pace for the modern computer. Following the Lisa was the Macintosh personal computer, providing easy and affordable access to information and computing power. Throughout the early 1980’s Steven Jobs led the company as it developed and sold personal computers, software, and printers through the world, “setting the standard for modern computer technology”. The Apple II was designed to suit the general user, so Jobs and Wozniak paid attention to aesthetics and noise. Jobs paid attention to the vents for heat dissipation (avoiding the need for a noisy fan), and thought about the shape and color that would blend in with other items in the home or on a desk. He also hired an engineer who was good with analog circuitry (not Wozniak's area of interest) to design a reliable, lightweight power supply that would stay cool. Rod Holt, developed a new approach by taking household current and switching it on and off rapidly, producing a steady current that was safe for the expensive memory chips. Wozniak added other features that he felt were important for a personal computer. He designed the memory so it could be expanded from 4K to 48K bytes, the control of the keyboard and hookup to the cassette recorder, and the BASIC that was stored in the ROM chip, in effect the motherboard. “The Apple II was not without its limitations”. Like all microcomputers, they were designed around a particular type of processor and hardware configuration; most early personal computers ran BASIC, but each machine ran a different kind of BASIC intimately related to the d...