Well, modern single-chip microcontrollers are very
cheap, and they're
easy to use. Probably less hassle than attempting to (legally) clone the
Apple disk ][ controller.
This may be going counter to the tone of the discussion, but...
If the goal is the least-hassle way to read and write Apple ][ disks, isn't
the best solution
AN APPLE ][ ?
Besides, none of these other solutions are more than 10 years old!
Tim.