[Info-vax] An alternative history of computing

[John Dallman]

In article <5ca128e4-4654-46b0-a0b2-abae23fa49d0n at googlegroups.com>,
gah4 at u.washington.edu (gah4) wrote:

> > Did any Apple II model support AppleTalk?
> I think there was Localtalk for some, maybe with an add-in card,
> but the later models might have it built in.  I believe the IIGS
> has it built-in.

All the early Macs and the Apple IIGS had high-speed serial ports that
could be used for LocalTalk, at about 230kbps. 

The IIGS was a much more advanced beast than the II, II+ or IIe, none of
which had any kind of built-in serial or network communications. There
were add-on serial ports for them, but they were limited by the low
processor performance: communications at 9600bps or faster required
disabling interrupts.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_II_serial_cards#Super_Serial_Card_%E2
%80%93_Apple_Computer>

A sensible LocalTalk interface card would have needed a processor and
buffer memory on the card, making it quite expensive. Ethernet cards
would be more expensive, and the ability of an Apple II to do anything
useful with Ethernet-speed communications is rather doubtful. Also, early
Ethernet cabling was thick, inflexible and expensive to install. The
story's author doesn't quite appreciate how limited the early 1980s
technology was in some respect; their thinking is more like the mid-1990s.


John