Apple II for intro to microprocessors

While I do agree that the Apple II would be a good machine to study the basics of programming and simple microcomputing, my personal preference for learning about microprocessors is the Motorola 68HC11 EVBU. It's a very inexpensive and compact board featuring the MC68HC11 processor chip. The HC11 has numerous ports allowing serial and parallel I/O, analog inputs, pulse counting, with an RS-232 interface for programming and internal EEPROM for small programs. It's got a decent monitor program (Buffalo) which allows programming at the assembler level, direct access to every function on the chip, and there's a wire-wrap area to add more RAM, an EPROM, motor controls or what have you.... I picked up an EVBU some years ago to use as the heart of a small robot, but put it away when life got too hectic. I've recently got it going again and now have an external 32k RAM, a piezo buzzer, and two relays to drive the robot's motors. I'll be adding optical sensors wired to the analog inputs and eventually even an LCD display and/or a keypad. The 68HC11 EVBU is cheap (if you can still find it), has good documentation, and is a great platform to learn a LOT about microprocessors. The only downside is that it's likely a bit of a steep learning curve for anybody who's really new to the hardware side of things. Joel A. Weder jweder(a)telusplanet.net 403-556-4020