My "New" Apple //c Setup
July 3, 2005
The Apple //c was my first Apple computer, purchased back in 1984 to replace my fading TI-99/4A (the first computer I ever owned). It was a very slick machine, basically a slotless enhanced Apple IIe with most of the ports you could wish for built in. It was a striking system to look at; the word "sexy" was frequently used to describe its appearance. Apple contracted industrial design firm Frog Design to design the enclosure of the //c and its accompanying 9" monochrome screen. The Apple //c represents such a friendly and stylish design that it was the obvious choice when looking for an image to place into the ByteCellar logo at the top of the page.
I was very fond of my //c and spent countless hours in front of it before ultimately replacing it with an Amiga 1000 in late 1985. I don't believe any Apple II I've owned since was as elegant, and the idea of one day putting another //c system together has long played in the back of my mind, but I could never justify it as I have an Apple IIgs that contains all of the functionality of the //c and then some. Also, there's really no space in my computer room for two machines with the same capabilities. It was several weeks ago, walking down the halls of my office building, that I found a route to having a //c to play with. As I was passing by this corner office, I noticed the guy working there had several antique typewriters setup "on display" to add to his office decor. If an antique typewriter, why not a //c?
So after some careful eBay digging, I found an Apple //c in excellent condition in its original box with all original manuals and disks, a //c monitor in its original box that looks like it has never been taken out, with plastic as white as the driven snow, and finally a perfectly clean //c monitor stand to complete the system. A few foam peanuts later and voila! As close to a perfect //c setup as I could ever hope to have, here 21 years after its debut. Shortly it will sit behind me on my office desk, looking out over the streets of Washington D.C.
Have a look at photos taken during the initial unboxing and setup.
UPDATE: As per this more recent thread, the //c is now in situ and a rather impressive pic of it, if I do say so myself, can be seen here.
Posted by blakespot at July 3, 2005 5:42 PM
That really is an awesome system. I used to have a //c in the mid-80's as well. Keep it up.
PB
Those photos really bring back some of the magic of opening up my //c for the first time back in 1986! It was my first computer, and it lasted me into my first year in college, in 1992. Simple yet elegant, the //c with AppleWorks was a real workhorse that could also let its hair down at the end of the days with tons of games and access to BBS services. (The color composite monitor was another story -- it caused real eye strain -- how did I live with that thing for so long?) I'm typing this on my black MacBook, which is much faster, more powerful and more pleasant to use than the //c -- but it doesn't hold the same magic to me. Perhaps it's because the older computer had a certain amount of novelty, and there's a mysterious quality that goes hand-in-hand with novelty. The //c is also a product of a design philosophy that products should be relatively straightforward and easy-to-use -- a philosophy that continues to this day with Apple. But even though computers have improved in almost every aspect since the //c was released, there will probably never be another computer that will hold the same magic to me as the first "portable" Apple II.
Posted by: Dave at December 15, 2006 4:18 AMDave,
Very glad to hear the photos brought back memories. I quite recall the "magic" of my second computer and first Apple, a //c I got in April of 1984. I had so much fun with it that summer! I actually consider 1984 to be one of the most pleasant years of my life (I turned 12 that summer), and the //c was no small part of it.
The Apple IIgs and Amiga 1000 and Amiga 2000 are some other computers I've had that had a similar "magic." Very nice.
blakespot
If your office has fluorescent lights, careful with the IIc.. it will start to turn yellow from the UV exposure. Might want to cover it.
~ J
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