Apple III (was: Apple III motherboard)

From: Eric Smith <eric_at_brouhaha.com>
Date: Sat Jun 17 20:20:53 2000

John Wilson wrote:
> Hmm, that actually sounds a bit familiar. I kind of think I vaguely remember
> reading magazine articles in the early 80s about the /// being discontinued
> and then re-introduced in "new & improved" form. But I wouldn't know...

The Apple ///+. Very short product life.

> Was the /// the machine whose user manual suggested that you should drop the
> entire computer on a desk from a height of several inches before powering it
> on the first time, to give all the internal connectors a chance to chew
> through the oxide? Wild...

Not in the user manual, but some people did it. The problem was that Apple
used bargain-basement DIP sockets on the early machines. In shipping the
chips would work loose. Back then there shouldn't yet have been too much
trouble with oxidation, but there certainly is now. The "correct" fix is
obviously to open it up and reseat the ICs.

Eric
Received on Sat Jun 17 2000 - 20:20:53 BST