Though much more expensive than cassette tape storage, diskettes offered greater convenience and flexibility.Īpple president Mike Markkula was one Apple II user that was dissatisfied with cassette tape storage. These devices became popular with users of the various microcomputers that were being marketed and sold in the mid 1970s.
Shugart SA 400 The company went on to design and market the SA400 “minifloppy” drive that same year, with a formatted capacity of 90K. It was small enough to be a convenient size, but large enough to prevent it being put in a pocket (and therefore be at risk of being bent). The disk size suggested was about the same as a table napkin, 5 1/4 inches. Alan Shugart, an IBM manager, left that company and formed his own in 1973.Īn engineer from Shugart Associates was challenged in 1976 by a company making an S-100 computer to make a smaller size floppy disk, more appropriate to the size of microcomputers. IBM engineers had invented the 8-inch floppy disk in 1971, and over the next two years gradually increased its capacity from 80K to nearly 240K. The Apple cassette system also needed careful attention to the location on the tape where a program was stored, and was no more accurate than the number on the recorder’s mechanical tape counter (if it had one). On the Apple II it took very careful adjustment of the volume and tone controls on the cassette recorder to get programs or data to successfully load. The cassette system used on the TRS-80, though slower, was more sophisticated than that of the Apple II, allowing named files and easier storage of files and data on the same tape. One area that needed improvement was its program and data storage and retrieval system on cassette it was a continued source of frustration for many users. But the Apple II still needed something to make it more attractive to buyers, to stand out above the TRS-80 and the PET.
In the latter part of 1977, Apple had introduced some enhancements to the II, including their first version of a floating point BASIC (called “ Applesoft“) on cassette, and a printer interface card to plug into one of the slots on the motherboard. The strength of the Apple was expandability and graphics, while the strength of the others was cost (both the TRS-80 and the PET sold for around $600, half the price of the Apple II). The TRS-80 and the PET even came with a monitor and cassette recorder. The products made by these two companies, together with Apple, could be considered as the second generation of microcomputers they all came fully assembled and ready to use out of the box, with a keyboard and cassette interface. Apple’s major competitors were the Radio Shack TRS-80 and the Commodore PET. Most customers used their television as an inexpensive color monitor, and used a cassette recorder to store and retrieve their programs and data. If you don't think any of the above situations apply, you can use this feedback form to request a review of this block.Disk II drive – Photo credit: Scot Krayenhagenīy December 1977, the Apple II had been available for about six months. Contact your IT department and let them know that they've gotten banned, and to have them let us know when they've addressed the issue.Īre you browsing GameFAQs from an area that filters all traffic through a single proxy server (like Singapore or Malaysia), or are you on a mobile connection that seems to be randomly blocked every few pages? Then we'll definitely want to look into it - please let us know about it here. You'll need to disable that add-on in order to use GameFAQs.Īre you browsing GameFAQs from work, school, a library, or another shared IP? Unfortunately, if this school or place of business doesn't stop people from abusing our resources, we don't have any other way to put an end to it. When we get more abuse from a single IP address than we do legitimate traffic, we really have no choice but to block it. If you don't think you did anything wrong and don't understand why your IP was banned.Īre you using a proxy server or running a browser add-on for "privacy", "being anonymous", or "changing your region" or to view country-specific content, such as Tor or Zenmate? Unfortunately, so do spammers and hackers. IP bans will be reconsidered on a case-by-case basis if you were running a bot and did not understand the consequences, but typically not for spamming, hacking, or other abuse. If you are responsible for one of the above issues.
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