[cctalk] Re: Cleanup time again

On Thu, 4 Apr 2024, Bill Gunshannon via cctalk wrote: Was that "IIe", "][e", or "//e"? Speculation: The "Language Card" could be populated with a fancy BASIC (what Kurtz and Kemeny called "street BASIC"), OR COULD BE, at least in theory, populated with other languages, hence the name "Language Card". I am not aware of any successful examples of it ever being populated with anything other than BASIC. The "Soft Card" was Microsoft's first significant venture into hardware. It was incredibly successful, and Microsoft's largest revenue source in 1980. At one point, somebody at Apple said that 20% of AppleII owners had one. "The SoftCard was Paul Allen's idea.[5] Its original purpose was to simplify porting Microsoft's computer-language products to the Apple II.[6] The SoftCard was developed by Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products (SCP). SCP built prototypes,[7] Don Burtis of Burtronix redesigned the card, and California Computer Systems manufactured it for Microsoft.[8] Unsure whether the card would sell, Microsoft first demonstrated it publicly at the West Coast Computer Faire in March 1980.[2][" - Wikipedia It had a Z80, and a copy of CP/M. I suspect that the name "Soft Card" might be due to its intent to open the Apple to CP/M SOFTware, particularly software that Micorsoft had originally written in 8080/Z80. There were rumors that an IBM person had one in a personal Apple, and that that caused IBM, when they went to Microsoft for BASIC, to assume that they could get CP/M (CP/M-86) through Microsoft. When Microsoft sent them to DRI for CP/M, IBM and DRI had a "culture clash" and IBM went back to Microsoft (long story, with some disagreements about details) -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com