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From: toddpw@tybalt.caltech.edu (Todd P. Whitesel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: Apple wimped the GS. Not Compatibility
Message-ID: <1990Oct2.103622.9486@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
Date: 2 Oct 90 10:36:22 GMT
References: <9009281635.AA09585@apple.com>
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$CSD211@LSUVM.BITNET (Mark Orr) writes:

[ crippled GS conspiracy theory deleted ]

Your technical points are all correct, but the conspiracy theory cannot
be responsible for some of them. The Mega // was originally designed for
a low cost //e, but wasn't cheaper enough, and was hastily kludged around
to get the GS out the door and into competition with the PCjr which was
never really a threat. Thus the 1 mhz video bottleneck was born. Later,
when the Video Overlay Card was designed, the engineers attempted to do
it right and make a new chip to eliminate all the kludges, but management
wouldn't give them the resources and the project turned out to be complex
and overpriced because of it.

I can't offer any evidence on the 4 meg expansion limit except that the FPI
should have supported more than it did -- the DMA compatibility problems are
due to certain specs of the slowest 65816 Apple used in the GS in combination
with the fact that the FPI does not fully support memory past four rows of
chips.

>If you (or anyone else) hasn't done so already, I would suggest that you
>download the textfiles "Reality vs. Apple Computer" (TE.REALITY) and
>"The Apple //F paper" (TE.APPLEIIF) from FTP Site UMMTS.CC.UMICH.EDU.
>(35.1.1.43). These are two well written papers by Todd Whitesel that present
>credible arguments for the continuing and augmenting the II line.
>(really...I'm not kidding)

This is old news here, as I posted both here first.

It's nice to hear them recommended though.

Todd Whitesel
toddpw @ tybalt.caltech.edu