Editing Apple II (section)

==Legacy==
[[File:Apple II Europlus Tietokonemuseo.JPG|thumb|Apple II Europlus computer with Scandinavian keyboard layout in [[Helsinki]]'s computer and game console museum]]

The Apple II series of computers had an enormous impact on the technology industry and expanded the role of microcomputers in society. The Apple II was the first personal computer many people ever saw. Its price was within the reach of many middle-class families, and a partnership with [[MECC]] helped make the Apple II popular in schools.<ref name="lussenhop20110119">{{cite news|last=Lussenhop |first=Jessica |title=Oregon Trail: How three Minnesotans forged its path |url=http://www.citypages.com/content/printVersion/1740595/ |access-date=January 20, 2011 |newspaper=City Pages |date=January 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206102726/http://www.citypages.com/content/printVersion/1740595/ |archive-date=February 6, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> By the end of 1980 Apple had already sold over 100,000 Apple IIs,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sy8vejqbcocC&q=apple+IIe+educational+sales&pg=RA1-PA19|title=Essentials of Strategic Management By Charles Hill, Gareth Jones|isbn=978-0-547-19432-5|last1=Hill|first1=Charles|last2=Jones|first2=Gareth|date=October 13, 2008|publisher=Cengage Learning |access-date=October 24, 2020|archive-date=September 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220915140457/https://books.google.com/books?id=Sy8vejqbcocC&q=apple+IIe+educational+sales&pg=RA1-PA19|url-status=live}}</ref> and at the introduction of the II<small>GS</small>, {{nowrap|3 million}} models in the range had been sold. However, in other markets, the range saw rather more limited adoption, with only 120,000 units selling in the UK over this nine-year period.<ref name="practicalcomputing198611_iigs">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/practical-computing/PracticalComputing-1986-11/page/62/mode/2up | title=Apple IIGS Best of Both Worlds | magazine=Practical Computing | last1=Moody | first1=Glyn | date=November 1986 | access-date=16 July 2024 | pages=62–64 }}</ref>

The Apple II's popularity bootstrapped the [[Personal computer game|computer game]] and [[educational software]] markets and began the boom in the [[word processor]] and [[computer printer]] markets. The first spreadsheet application, [[VisiCalc]],<ref>{{Cite book |author=((United States Congress House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Administration of Justice)) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l2ckdERaPukC&q=%22the+first+spreadsheet%22&pg=PA762|title=Computers and Intellectual Property: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Administration of Justice of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred First Congress, First and Second Sessions, November 8, 1989, and March 7, 1990|date=1991|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|language=en|access-date=October 24, 2020|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418211317/https://books.google.com/books?id=l2ckdERaPukC&q=%22the+first+spreadsheet%22&pg=PA762|url-status=live}}</ref> was initially released for the Apple II, and many businesses bought them just to run VisiCalc. Its success drove [[IBM]] in part to create the [[IBM PC]], which many businesses purchased to run spreadsheet and word processing software, at first ported from Apple II versions.

The Apple II's slots, allowing any peripheral card to take control of the bus and directly access memory, enabled an independent industry of card manufacturers who together created a flood of hardware products that let users build systems that were far more powerful and useful (at a lower cost) than any competing system, most of which were not nearly as expandable and were universally proprietary. The first peripheral card was a blank prototyping card intended for electronics enthusiasts who wanted to design their own peripherals for the Apple II.

Specialty peripherals kept the Apple II in use in industry and education environments for many years after Apple Computer stopped supporting the Apple II.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} Well into the 1990s every clean-room (the super-clean facility where spacecraft are prepared for flight) at the Kennedy Space Center used an Apple II to monitor the environment and air quality.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} Most planetariums used Apple IIs to control their projectors and other equipment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Peltz |first=William H. |date=1989 |title=Review of Designing Blueprints for Green Plants Apple II series |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24141666 |journal=The Science Teacher |volume=56 |issue=7 |pages=64–68 |jstor=24141666 |issn=0036-8555 |access-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-date=February 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214061626/https://www.jstor.org/stable/24141666 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Even the game port was unusually powerful and could be used for digital and analog input and output. The early manuals included instructions for how to build a circuit with only four commonly available components (one transistor and three resistors) and a software routine to drive a common [[Teletype Model 33]] machine. [[Don Lancaster]] used the game port [[I/O]] to drive a [[LaserWriter]] printer.

===Modern use===
Today, [[Apple II emulators|emulators]] for various Apple II models are available to run Apple II software on [[macOS]], [[Linux]], [[Microsoft Windows]], homebrew enabled [[Nintendo DS]] and other operating systems. Numerous [[disk image]]s of Apple II software are available free over the Internet for use with these emulators. [[AppleWin]] and [[Multi Emulator Super System|MESS]] are among the best emulators compatible with most Apple II images. The MESS emulator supports recording and playing back of Apple II emulation sessions, as does Home Action Replay Page (a.k.a. HARP).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.homeactionreplay.org/search.php?tourney=36|title=Home Action Replay Page|website=www.homeactionreplay.org|access-date=April 27, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304121123/http://www.homeactionreplay.org/search.php?tourney=36|archive-date=March 4, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

There is still a small annual convention, [[KansasFest]], dedicated to the platform.

In 2017, the band [[8 Bit Weapon]] released the world's first 100% Apple II-based music album entitled, "Class Apples". The album featured dance-oriented cover versions of classical music by Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart recorded directly off the Apple II motherboard.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://8bitweapon.com/2017/07/22/historic-apple-ii-album-released/|title=Historic Apple II Album Released!|date=July 22, 2017|website=8bitweapon.com|access-date=April 27, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010005609/https://8bitweapon.com/2017/07/22/historic-apple-ii-album-released/|archive-date=October 10, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

{{Timeline of Apple II family}}