October 1985 — Vol 7 No 10

Overview

★ Tom Warrick continues as President — page count jumps to 84 pages. ★★ Apple announces major new products (covered in this issue + Clinton Computer ad): UniDisk 3.5 (high-capacity 3.5" floppy for //e and //c), ImageWriter II (color, near-letter-quality successor to the ImageWriter), composite color monitors for //e/c, 20MB Mac hard disk, new Apple modem. Pi members get 25% off via Clinton Computer. ★ "1985 Apple Users Group Conference" (Tom Warrick, p18) — Warrick reports on the national Apple-UG conference (precursor to the User Group Connection era at Apple). ★ "WAP Goes to the MacWorld Expo" (Tom Warrick, p70). ★ "Confessions of a SYSOP" (V. Scott Galbraith, p32) — Galbraith's confessional, four years before Bob Platt's famous 1989 "Confessions of a SYSOP" (1989-10 — V11 N10). ★ "Thoughts on the Future of WAP" (Joe England, p31) — strategic-reflection piece. "Chipwits for the Apple II" (Dave Granite, p14) + "Chipwits for the Mac" (Jessica Weissman, p16) — paired Mac/Apple II review of the programming-game Chipwits. "Financial Cookbook: A Review" (Ellen L. Bouwkamp, p72) — Lotus's personal-finance Mac software. "Apple II Beginners' Tutorials" (Bruce F. Field, p76). "Apple Keys" (Tom Kroll, p46) — Kroll's first byline (later writes "Pie Ala Mode (A Slice of WAP)"). "WAP Bulletin Board SYSTEMs" (p45) — plural; WAP now had multiple BBSes. "Fixing Wordstar Rev 3.3" (George Kinal, p40). "Custom Characters Into the IW" (Chester H. Page, p42). "AppleWorks Corner" (Paul Koskos, p47) — Koskos's column formalizes. "USUS Natl. Meeting in Baltimore" (Michael Hartman, p48) — Pi-USUS overlap. "Mac Q & A" (Jonathan E. Hardis, p54). "Review Corner" (James M. Burger, p60). "MacAdvantage: Using Units" (Robert C. Platt, p64).

Table of contents (selected)

Highlights

★★ Apple's Sep 1985 announcement

The "Apple Sep 1985" event: ImageWriter II, UniDisk 3.5, color monitors for //e/c, 20MB Mac HD, new Apple Modem. This is the biggest Apple product event between the Mac launch (Jan 1984) and the IIGS launch (Sep 1986). Clinton Computer's Pi member ad offers 25% off.

1985 Apple Users Group Conference — Tom Warrick

First sustained Pi coverage of Apple's national UG event. Pi was a major UG; Warrick attended in his presidential role.

Confessions of a SYSOP — V. Scott Galbraith

Galbraith's confessional column predates Bob Platt's famous 1989 piece by 4 years. Pi's sysop-confessions thread is older than the 1989 governance crisis suggested.

Thoughts on the Future of WAP — Joe England

England's strategic-reflection piece — published while Warrick was new in the chair and the org was 7 years old.

Entities

People: Tom Warrick, Joe England, V. Scott Galbraith, David Ottalini, Ronald Wartow, Dave Granite, Jessica Weissman, Donald Smith, Richard Grant, Bruce F. Field, Paul Koskos, Nancy Harvey, Mike Ungerman, George V. Kinal, Chester H. Page, Rick Chapman, Tom Kroll, Michael Hartman, Jonathan E. Hardis, Ralph J. Begleiter, James M. Burger, Robert C. Platt, David Morganstein, Ellen L. Bouwkamp, Regina Litman, Adrien Youell, Brian Mason, Jeff Peterson, Jim Little, Chris Klugewicz Topics: Apple September 1985 Announcement, Apple Users Group Conference, Confessions of a SYSOP, Pi Strategy 1985, ImageWriter II Launch References: ImageWriter II, UniDisk 3.5, Chipwits, Financial Cookbook, Mac 20MB Hard Disk, Apple Personal Modem

Connections to other issues

• ImageWriter II + UniDisk 3.5 + composite monitors set up the Apple //e/c late-life renaissance
• Galbraith's "Confessions of a SYSOP" predates Bob Platt's 1989-10 — V11 N10 piece by 4 years
• Warrick at Apple UG Conference — establishes Pi's presence in national UG community
• Mac 20MB HD coverage opens Mac storage discussion through later 1985