March 1983 — Vol 5 No 3
Source
Open original PDF • March 1983 • Vol 5 No 3 • 59 pages
Overview
LISA arrives. James M. Burger (the lawyer who has been writing Pi's copyright series) writes the "LISA" cover piece — Apple's groundbreaking $9,995 GUI computer announced January 1983. Cover-highlight technical content: Bill Wurzel's "Speaking of FORTH: The FORTH Dictionary"; Tom Warrick's "VisiCalc and Your Income Taxes" (timely). William C. Jacobson writes a candid "Report Card on the Apple ///." A.R. Rumble on "Color Plotting from Equations." Bruce F. Field's "First Impressions of Apple Dot Matrix Printer." Walt Mills introduces ZCPR (Z80 CPM Replacement). Russ Eberhart continues home control. Jim Allison on editing long Applesoft programs.
Table of contents
| Section | Page |
|---|---|
| Cover with highlights | 1 |
| HLA Computers (chicken farm, now also Sage); Sidney Kramer Books ads | 2–3 |
| Officers; Editorial; Event Queue; General Information | 3 |
| Minutes; Classifieds; Job Mart | 4 |
| SIG News | 5 |
| President's Corner — David Morganstein | 6 |
| Q & A — Bruce F. Field | 7 |
| LISA — James M. Burger | 10 |
| Speaking of FORTH: The FORTH Dictionary — Bill Wurzel | 14 |
| WAP Hotline; Apple Teas | 18 |
| SoftViews: Recent Releases — David Morganstein | 20 |
| A Report Card on the Apple /// — William C. Jacobson | 21 |
| VisiCalc and Your Income Taxes — Tom Warrick | 24 |
| The Bottom Line — Leon H. Raesly | 34 |
| Color Plotting from Equations — A.R. Rumble | 38 |
| LogoSIG News — Nancy C. Strange & Ron Murray | 41 |
| Appleseeds Corner | 44 |
| Home Control: What It Can Do — Russ Eberhart | 45 |
| Editing Long Applesoft Programs — Jim Allison | 46 |
| ZCPR: An Overview — Walt Mills | 48 |
| WAP Tutorials — Stephen Stern | 49 |
| A Page from the Stack — Jill & Vance Giboney | 50 |
| EDSIG News — Peter Combes | 52 |
| Screenwriter Hot Line Followup — Peter Combes | 53 |
| First Impressions of Apple Dot Matrix Printer — Bruce F. Field | 54 |
Articles
"LISA" (page 10) — James M. Burger, Esq.
LANDMARK cover-highlight. Apple Lisa — Apple's revolutionary GUI/mouse computer announced January 1983 at $9,995. The first commercial Apple system with a graphical user interface, predecessor to the Macintosh.
"A Report Card on the Apple ///" (page 21) — William C. Jacobson
Cover-highlight area. Candid post-launch assessment of the troubled Apple ///. Continues the III thread from Cheren (Mar 1981 negative) and Dow (Apr 1981 positive) — now with hindsight.
"Speaking of FORTH: The FORTH Dictionary" (page 14) — Bill Wurzel
Cover-highlight. Wurzel's FORTH series — the dictionary (FORTH's word lookup structure).
"VisiCalc and Your Income Taxes" (page 24) — Tom Warrick
Cover-highlight. Tax-season VisiCalc templates and methods.
"Color Plotting from Equations" (page 38) — A.R. Rumble
HI-RES color plotting of mathematical functions.
"Home Control: What It Can Do" (page 45) — Russ Eberhart
Eberhart's home-control series continues from February.
"ZCPR: An Overview" (page 48) — Walt Mills
ZCPR (Z80 CCP Replacement) — community-developed CP/M shell replacement.
"First Impressions of Apple Dot Matrix Printer" (page 54) — Bruce F. Field
Apple's own dot-matrix printer — Apple finally entering the print market beyond Silentype/IDS rebadges.
Other content
- Editing Long Applesoft Programs — Jim Allison
- Screenwriter Hot Line Followup — Peter Combes
- Q & A — Bruce F. Field continues
- Bottom Line — Leon H. Raesly
- WAP Tutorials — Stephen Stern
- LogoSIG now co-edited with Ron Murray
Club news / events / announcements
- Lisa coverage
- March Pi meeting: Mar 26
Notable advertisements
- HLA Computers (chicken-farm success story #2, now also Sage Computers dealer)
- Sidney Kramer Books — "your downtown computer bookstore" — Apple-related title catalog
- Computerland Tysons Corner
Entities
People: David Morganstein, Mark L. Crosby, Dana Schwartz, Jesse Wagstaff, John Moon, Nancy Philipp, Rich Wasserstrom, Bernard Urban, Bob Peck, Bruce F. Field, James M. Burger, Bill Wurzel, Tom Warrick, William C. Jacobson, A.R. Rumble, Russ Eberhart, Jim Allison, Walt Mills, Leon H. Raesly, Nancy C. Strange, Ron Murray, Peter Combes, Stephen Stern, Jill Giboney, Vance Giboney Topics: Apple Lisa, Apple III Retrospective, FORTH Dictionary, VisiCalc Tax, Color Plotting Equations, ZCPR, Apple Dot Matrix Printer References: Apple Lisa, ZCPR, Apple Dot Matrix Printer, Sidney Kramer Books
Connections to other issues
- Lisa = Apple's GUI debut, predecessor to Mac
- Apple III "Report Card" = continuation of Cheren/Dow's 1981 commentary
- Tax season VisiCalc piece extends Walt Francis's VisiColumn
Open questions
- Lisa pricing reaction in subsequent issues?
- Member Apple //e adoption rates?