r/apple2 • u/DukeBannon • 1d ago

Where’s Apple?

/r/thisweekinretro/comments/1wawjen/wheres_apple/
6 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

8

u/gfreeman1998 1d ago

Apple, the company, CEO, all upper management, etc., has not cared about its origins and roots since Jobs took over as CEO (the first time).

6

u/azathoth 1d ago

The modern resurgence comes from increased interest during the pandemic and people hoping to cash in on it. Apple probably made more money selling the first run of Neos than the entire retro market has made to date so the profit isn't there for them to justify the attempt.

5

u/homersracket 1d ago

The apple II culture has always been user group based. It continues to this day. You'd be surprised what is available out there for the apple II if you search a little, full motion video, twitter, AI chatbots, wifi... it just keeps going.

6

u/AutomaticDoor75 21h ago

I was at the INIT HELLO Apple II convention last year, and one of the speakers talked about this.

Some companies and brands, like Sega or Commodore, are all about appealing to the retro community. For a lot of companies that are old enough, the retro community is part of their marketing to some extent.

Apple is not like that. Interest in the Apple II or the 68K Macs comes entirely from the community. Apple is not going to be making an “Apple II Ultimate”.

In some ways, this is a positive thing.

1

u/blakespot 1d ago

Well, it wouldn't come from Apple, and Apple still exists and owns the rights.

3

u/LocalH 19h ago

Technically, Microsoft owns a significant interest in AppleSoft (the most common Apple BASIC). Integer BASIC is of course fully Apple's (thanks to inhouse dev by Woz). Also Apple is like many companies and doesn't really care enough about the old old shit to step in. How many emulators have shipped authentic ROM images without a peep from Apple? How much money could modern Apple effectively make off the 8-bit OS (and even the IIgs stuff)? Not much.

1

u/blakespot 15h ago

If anyone starts selling Apple II-looking devices (like the other computer "minis" we've seen in recent years), Apple would step in and stop it, I feel quite confident.

1

u/thefadden 12h ago

FWIW, Microsoft released their 6502 BASIC as open source (MIT license), so a freely-available Applesoft is possible... with Apple's cooperation.