February 1980 — Vol 2 No 2

Overview

Pi has hit "critical mass" — 142 paid members growing 10% per month, with last meeting's library sales hitting 150 floppies and a 25-minute checkout queue. Bigger meeting room needed. New SIGs forming around scientific applications, medicine/pharmacology, games, animation, software/hardware evaluation. The IAC First Annual Meeting is announced for March 13, 1980 at the SF Civic Auditorium, paired with APPLE TALKS at the West Coast Computer Faire featuring Steve Wozniak (Founder of Apple), John Draper (Forth), Charlie Kellner (Graphics & Pascal), J.D. Esenburg, Bill Atkinson (Pascal), Wendell Sanders (Hardware), Phil Roybal (Marketing), and Source guests Craig Vaughn and Wes Thomas. Notable content: a panel of seven text editors compared at the January meeting, first published Apple III rumors (4 MHz, 80-col screen, not 6502, plus a separate Pascal Machine), Pi's first demographic survey, and Jim Kelly's RS-232 interface for the Radio Shack Quick Printer II ($219).

Table of contents

Articles

Editorial (page 3) — Bernard Urban

"We've done it. I believe we have reached 'critical mass'." Reasons cited: (1) Susan Eickmeyer revitalized the meeting format as Program Chair; (2) the library is a winner (150 floppies sold at last meeting); (3) the newsletter is strong. Identifies needs: bigger meeting room; volunteer alternates (25-minute queue); start SIGs that meet separately — scientific applications (Pilloff), medicine/pharmacology, games (volunteer), software/hardware evaluation (Paul Sand), animation.

Event Queue (page 3)

• Pi: February 23, 9:30 AM at GWU — Lo-Res Graphics talk by Gerald Eskelund
• NOVAPPLE: Feb 28 (Tysons), March 13 (Computers Plus), March 27 Mountain Hardware demo
• IAC First Annual Meeting: March 13, 1980, Civic Auditorium, San Francisco
• APPLE TALKS at the West Coast Computer Faire (March 14–16):

Minutes of Pi 1/26/80 (page 4)

85 attendees. AP Notes materials list distributed. New membership form must be re-filled (post-Dec '79 form) so a directory can be compiled — only opt-in members appear. Club bulk-purchase discount of 10–15% available for disk drives, modems, most peripherals. Program: panel on text editors moderated by Sue Eickmeyer:

Minutes of NOVAPPLE 1/24/80 (page 4)

VP led — Eastman's wife had just had a baby girl. Constitution and By-Laws distributed (Cirillo's committee); vote at next meeting Feb 8. Kim Woodward continued his ML tutorial with SWEET 16.

"Another Opinion" (page 4) — Hersch Pilloff

Argues meetings haven't fully tapped members' technical knowledge. Proposes a semi-formal Q&A session after business — questions published in advance, then on-paper at the meeting, then open discussion. Provides 9 seed questions including FFT programs, EPROM board evaluation, Mountain Hardware ROMPLUS+ vs California Computer System Prom Module, IDS 440 underline/slash-thru hacks.

"A Page from the Stack" (page 5) — David Morganstein

Library now at 9 volumes (1, 2, 8 utilities; 3–7 games; 9 educational). Reviews Disks 2, 5, 6:

• Vol 2 (Utilities): SWEET 16 DISASSEMBLER, DISK TRANSFER (Call-A.P.P.L.E. Feb '79), DEBUGGING AID (Apple Corps of Austin Mar '79), FIND TEXT & PROGRAM TRACE (Alan Hill), MASTER CATALOG (Alan Hill, modified for 48K + Autostart ROM), TED (Text Editor/Assembler), DOS UTILITY #1, PASSWORD KEY ("POOPSIE"), MULTI-DISK CAT, FILE CABINET II
• Vol 5 (Games): BLACK BOX, SHOOT OUT, HUNT THE WUMPUS, BEGINNER MATH, SPELLING BEE, APPLESTAND, TOGNAZZINI CHESS, NIGHTMARE GAMEPACK, BRAIN BUSTERS (Paul Kayne), CRYPTOGRAM
• Vol 6 (Games): TRADER, DEATH STAR, SPACE ADVENTURE, HI-RES BREAKOUT, INTERACTIVE BASEBALL, INSPECTOR CLEW-SO (Creative Computing), ROLE-PLAYING STARWARS, TREK 79, PIT 2

Errata noted: NAME STATES on Vol 9 has typos for DELAWARE (line 1000) and MONTANA (line 1030).

"A Worm's Eye View of Our Membership" (page 6) — Bernard Urban

Pi's first demographic analysis from the membership forms:

5 IBM employees, 7 women (one is an iron worker/welder), 5 retirees, 2 TV broadcasters, 3 corporate memberships. Interest areas: scientific/medical, computational physics, music synthesis, ham radio, animation, ancient inscriptions, stocks, tax simulation. "How about those of you under 16 identifying yourselves and starting your own SIG?"

"Bits and Bytes from All Over" (pages 7–8) — Mark L. Crosby

News briefs: - Corvus AP-11 disk system for Apple Pascal — 100% Pascal-compatible, 10 MB, dynamic volume mgmt, $5,350 - Cosapple — 1802 simulator for Apple II from Dann McCreary, $20 - J&S Software — 15-program CAI Chemistry, Apple Grade Book, $19.50 each - Datacope Single Disk Sort — ML sort, $49.95 - Greater Baltimore Hamboree & Computerfest: March 30, MD State Fairgrounds Timonium - AMRAD receives federal grant (BEH/HEW) for telecom + education for the deaf - Apple Education Foundation announces 15 grants totaling ~$100,000 and 22 Apple II systems - The Apple Cart — Apple SIG within American Mensa - CAVRI System — Apple II + videotape CAI integration - Bison Products AP8x2 — double-sided full-size disk subsystem with Remex drive - Apple III rumors: not 6502, ~4 MHz clock (2× Apple II), 80-col screen, full keyboard, possibly 16-color HI-RES - Apple Pascal Machine rumor: completely re-engineered single-language Pascal system targeting universities

ARESCO Lipson Light Pen — new product release (page 9)

Neil Lipson's Light Pen — cadmium selenide cell (detects light intensity); plugs into PDL(0); $24.95 from ARESCO (Columbia MD). 12 demo programs (6 Integer + 6 Applesoft), 48-page manual. ARESCO publishes the RAINBOW newsletter for Apple owners.

"Interfacing the Quick Printer II to the Apple II" (pages 10–13) — Jim Kelly

$219 RS-232 printer for the Apple. Radio Shack's Quick Printer II — originally TRS-80 but interface-able. Drawbacks: 2½″ paper, 32-character line. References the November 1979 Creative Computing evaluation. Full schematic (parts from Radio Shack) plus interface software listing.

Other featured articles

• "In Search of a 'Perfect' Assembler" — Bruce F. Field
• "Software Review: Dakin5 Programming Aids" — Paul A. Sand
• "Apple Writing" — Phillip Wright
• "Remote Temperature Measurement with the Apple" — Bruce F. Field (cover highlight)

Club news / events / announcements

• 142 paid members, growing fast
• IAC First Annual Meeting March 13 at WCCF
• Bulk disk drive purchase available (10–15% off) plus modems and most peripherals

Notable advertisements

• Computerland Tysons Corner (with SOFTAPE, D.C. Hayes, Mountain Hardware, MUSE, Heuristics, IDS) — page 2

Key quotes

• "We've done it. I believe we have reached 'critical mass' and our user group is going to make it." — Bernard Urban (page 3)
• "Remember we are not the small group of thirty or forty that we were last Spring." — Bernard Urban (page 3)
• "Five members confess to being employed by IBM." — Bernard Urban (page 6)
• "Anyone for 16 colors in HI-RES?" — Mark L. Crosby on Apple III rumor (page 8)

Entities

People: Bernard Urban, John Moon, Genevie Urban, Robert Peck, Mark L. Crosby, Susan Eickmeyer, Sandy Greenfarb, David Morganstein, Hersch Pilloff, Jim Kelly, Bruce F. Field, Phillip Wright, Paul A. Sand, Steve Wozniak, John Draper, Charlie Kellner, J.D. Esenburg, Bill Atkinson, Wendell Sanders, Phil Roybal, Craig Vaughn, Wes Thomas, Fred Sharp, Joe Lewis, Howard Richoux, Jim Manley, Tom Woteki, Kim Woodward, Phil Eastman, Nicholas B. Cirillo, Gerald Eskelund, Neil Lipson, Dann McCreary Topics: Critical Mass, Pi Special Interest Groups, Word Processors on Apple, Apple III Rumors, Apple Pascal Machine Rumor, Member Demographics, Apple Education Foundation Grants References: West Coast Computer Faire, International Apple Core, Quick Printer II, Lipson Light Pen, ARESCO, RAINBOW Newsletter, Corvus AP-11, Cosapple, J&S Software, Datacope Single Disk Sort, Greater Baltimore Hamboree, The Apple Cart, CAVRI System, Bison Products AP8x2, Charles Mann Master Text Processor, AP.TYPE, APPLE PIE, Muse Super Text, ED Editor, Dakin5 Programming Aids

Connections to other issues

• "Apple III rumors" come to fruition later in 1980 — track exact announcement date
• IAC First Annual Meeting trip report should appear in 1980-04 — V02 N04

Open questions

• Who actually attended the IAC First Annual Meeting from Pi? Bernie Urban as Pi's IAC rep is likely.
• Did the text-editor panelists write up their evaluations as standalone articles?
• Did "Apple Pascal Machine" ever materialize?