Apple II Bits

It sometimes feels like display technology has outpaced the Apple II’s evolution: connecting to a modern display, such as via VGA, often requires expansion cards that are rare or still in development. I’m hopeful a future Juiced.GS article will outline all the possibilities for bridging these technologies.

In the meantime, Matthew Pearce has demonstrated how to connect the Apple II to a relatively modern and high-quality monitor: the Apple Cinema Display.

This setup has its own hardware requirements and challenges: used in this video are a Portta AV/CVBS RCA composite-to-HDMI mini-converter ($18.99), a Kanex XD HDMI-to-Mini-Displayport converter ($71.49) — and, of course, an Apple Cinema Display, which was discontinued six years ago, in 2011. With Matt’s video having been produced in 2015, that means he was showing us how to connect two equally unsupported Apple products.

It’s not a perfect solution, and one that we saw Matt demo in 8-bit mode only with Oregon Trail; Herbert Fung warns it won’t look great with the 640 x 200 mode of the Apple IIGS. But as a proof of concept, it’s a pretty cool configuration — and one that could have applications for other HDMI or MiniDP devices. For lack of turnkey alternatives, this hardware combination is a good one to add to your bag of tricks.

For more from Matt, check out his factual overview video of the Apple II.

(Hat tip to Buster Hein)

Can we have too many books and movies about Steve Jobs? Apparently not, as this October 9, the titular Steve Jobs hits theaters, with its first full trailer having been released last week:

Compared to an earlier teaser trailer, this look at Steve Jobs gives Michael Fassbender plenty of screen time in the title role. We see plenty of the ego and cruelty that often characterizes Steve Jobs; in that sense, Fassbender seems to be playing the role to a tee. But even critics of the 2013 film Jobs can likely agree that Ashton Kutcher looked much more the part than Fassbender does.

(Personally, I’ve never seen Fassbender in any role other than Magneto, so this will be a stretch for me.)

Aaron Sorkin was originally reported to be writing this film based on Isaac Walterson’s biography but with only three scenes, which seemed awfully limiting. According to Esquire‘s story — which has a great headline: "Steve Jobs Is a Tech Visionary, Total Dick in the Steve Jobs Trailer" — the film is instead "structured around three Apple product lunches [sic]", which seems more reasonable. Spanning the eras will afford us the opportunity to see Jobs’ maturation (or lack thereof) as a person and leader.

Some Apple II enthusiasts are already decrying this film for casting Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak. But if Woz has as small a role here as he did in Jobs, then it’s likely not to matter — besides, even Woz himself says a bit of fiction makes for good cinema. So, as before, I’ll be seeing this film — will you?

(Hat tip to Angela Watercutter)

Cult of Mac, which recently interviewed John Sculley, now has an interview with Lee Unkrich, director of Toy Story 3, in which he reveals his first computer:

Tell me about your first Apple product.

My very first Apple product was an Apple II Plus computer, which I got around 1981, when I was about fourteen. It had 48k of memory.

How many have you owned through the years? Any favorites?

How many Apple products? Wow, I don’t know if I can account for them all. Practically one of everything. And I’m not exaggerating. Yes, even a Newton.

I can tell you how many PC’s I’ve owned: Zero.

Is it coincidence that such a hardcore Apple fan would be employed by Pixar, a company owned by Steve Jobs? Probably. The way the quotation is worded, it’s possible he had a non-Apple computer before the II Plus (available 1979–1982). But that Mr. Unkrich has been so dedicated to the brand in the thirty years since that introduction is telling of the kind of loyalty Apple computers inspire. I wonder if he still has that Apple II somewhere? Would any other machine have led him to create the highest-grossing animated film of all time?

(Hat tip to Michael Gray)