"Apple I Replica Creation"

Author	:	Tom Owad
Publisher	:	Syngress
Price	:	RM 159
Rating	:

Created by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak in 1976, the Apple I computer was nothing more than a bare circuit board which required users to attach their own keyboard and monitor (Today it would probably be called something with the word ‘mini’ tagged at the end!). But this was the little board that opened the doors to personal computing and revolutionised the way people used computers.

Because only 200 were made, finding an original Apple I today would be a pretty hard task. So what’s the next best thing? Build your own! Tom Owad’s “Apple I Replica Creation” describes in great detail everything you need to create your very own Apple I.

The book starts off with a very interesting 5-page foreword by Steve Wozniak himself, describing the beginnings of his interest in computers and the developments that led to the Apple I. It then covers the history of the Apple I from when it became commercially available, and includes interviews with pioneer users.

For the actual building of the Apple I, Owad provides details of all the tools and materials required, digital logic diagrams and a step-by-step guide on soldering and assembling it. He follows this with two chapters on programming the Apple I using BASIC and Assembly languages.

Owad also examines at length the processor, memory and input/output aspects to ensure you fully understand the Apple I. This would enable you to write new software and modify the hardware design.

Almost one third of the book is made up of appendices. Here you will find codes and instructions, electrical engineering basics and even a chapter on hacking Macintosh (not sure why Owad included such a chapter).

The book includes a CD containing McCAD EDS-SE400, an integrated Electronic Design System which takes you through the entire design cycle: schematic capture, PCB layout, and board fabrication.

In conclusion, “Apple I Replica Creation” was obviously intended for the technically inclined and targeted at the small group of Apple I fanatics. However, Owad’s easy-to-understand style and the inclusion of the many photographs and diagrams make it something that the rest of us may also find curiously interesting.