The Apple 1 discussion reminds me of some (evil)
thougts I had a while back.
What do the people on this list think of building an Apple I as a "homebrew"
project? Without much work, I was able to dig up a schematic and boot rom
listing for an A1, and the parts are all (mostly) readily available.
What about the dynamic MOS shift registers in the video? When I
had to do Apple I repairs in the early 80's these were "out of production"
parts, but I could always start tearing apart some early-to-mid-70's
video terminals and find some in there.
If the purpose is education rather than collector's
value, have I still sold
my soul to the devil? What if I then tell people I have "an Apple 1 (-ish)
computer", thereby letting me brag about building it myself, if not the
actual authenticity?
If you like the Apple I architecture, sure, it's a fine thing for you
to do. I'd put my own efforts into other architectures (the TIMSAI is
one obvious example), but I readily admit that the choice is obviously
up to the whims of the builder and nothing else!
Tim.