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Apple II -- why do they seem so rare?


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Posted

Back in the 80's, they were very popular.  Lots of people and schools had them.  Apple II computers....whether they were the II, II+, IIe, IIc models.

 

But why are they so scarce now?  I've been hoping to find one to buy for many years, but I've rarely ever seen one for sale.  Why???

 

Is it because they were so large?  Were they fragile -- and thus broken and thrown away?  Where did they all go?

 

 

Posted (edited)

I don't think they held up well, to be honest.

And yeah, they were popular....but they were also VERY VERY expensive.   When I grew up I knew ONE kid that had an Apple.  I knew many that had C-64's and Atari 8-bits, TRS-80s and CoCos. 

Edited by Rowsdower70

"For you - Rowsdower from the 70 - have been appointed Omnivisioner of the Game Grid."  ~ Atari Adventure Square

Posted

Most of the time I spent with an Apple II(e) was in High School.  Until they came out with the IIgs, it wasn't very good for gaming in my opinion.   Sound and graphics were both sub-par compared to the Commodore and Atari computers.

"For you - Rowsdower from the 70 - have been appointed Omnivisioner of the Game Grid."  ~ Atari Adventure Square

Posted

Most of the time I spent with an Apple II(e) was in High School.  Until they came out with the IIgs, it wasn't very good for gaming in my opinion.   Sound and graphics were both sub-par compared to the Commodore and Atari computers.

Aha!  I think it was kind of a chore to get a proper sound board and get joysticks connected.  Also, the joysticks were analog.  Maybe that's part of it.  No cartridges.  You need a floppy drive.  Do they work with TV's?  I think a monitor is needed. 

 

I think we are circling our answer...I think it may be a painful thing to collect. 

Posted

I have had three Apple computers at once in 08. One was the blueberry all-in-one iMac or eMac...I don't remember which, the second one was a beige tower G3 with a G4 processor installed I got for helping out a friend who ran a computer business, and the third one was a IIc I found for $7 at my hometown's thrift store for the animal shelter. I was having a rough time, living out of my car, and had just went through a divorce so I gave them away because I felt I was toting around excess weight that I didn't need. I don't regret doing it because I know they went to a good home, it was a decision I didn't want to make but I couldn't use them and I knew they might be getting ruined keeping them in the trunk of my car that was slinging them around. My favorite of those was the beige tower...it had connections that were ahead for their time. It had composite connections on the back that appeared to be standard and was running a version of OS X without breaking a sweat. I don't remember how much memory was installed in it. I did use them before my divorce and the beige tower was the one I had the most fun with. Machintosh Gardens became my friend and place to turn to for abandoned Apple games. Atari remains my favorite computers of all time but if I could I would grab up another biege tower again. Not an Apple II, I know, but a decent machine for the time. The IIc seemed a little strapped for power in my opinion.

Posted

If you really want an older Apple computer, not necessarily a II, you might check out Weluvmacs website. There s also another forum for everything Apple called ehmacs. You might check those out. Finding these machines in the wild is more rare than finding Atari stuff. I have a feeling, thought that if you find one it won't be cheap.

Posted

They're not that rare. And there's always something available on ebay and craigslist. Some are ratbaggy, some are clean and ready to roll.

 

I think they've held up over the years much better than the cheap C64 or Vic20. TRS-80, Apple II, and Atari 400/800 seem to be the best built 8-bit micros around.

 

As far as finding them in the wild..? That's going to be more difficult. People are fixated on "Because Apple" and "Steve Jobs". And when they see Apple they see dollar signs. And the way to get those dollar signs is by selling on ebay or Christies.

 

 

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