This monitor is the last remaining piece of an Apple IIc system my mom bought for me at the Parkland Goodwill sometime in the early-to-mid nineties. I wish I still had the rest of it, but hey - c’est la vie. I don’t remember if I ever got it to work anyway.
In today’s days of widescreen LCD’s and HD tablets, it’s easy to look at this monochrome CRT with a screen size smaller than most netbooks and ask, what was the point? Back in the mid-80’s, though, dedicated computer monitors of any kind were still relatively expensive. A smaller screen could get the job done for less money. Almost all programs (other than games) ran entirely in text-mode - as long you could get a reasonable page of text on the screen, it was usable. You would only be using one program at a time anyway - even psuedo-multitasking was reserved for more expensive computers like the Macintosh.I’ve somehow neglected to check recently whether or not it still works. Oddly enough, it only takes a composite input(the yellow RCA jack on VCRs, etc.) I guess it’s for compatibility with the Apple IIc, which was supposed to be “portable.” I know it output component - maybe so you could hook it up to a tv wherever you were? I did hook up a vcr to this monitor long, long ago. I remember it being really weird to watch video in green and black. I’ll post a video here if I get it working.
I remember when my friend's parents had one of these sitting in their room. I don't know whether or not it still worked at the time, but I remember being amused by how old it was at the time. I was in middle school, so I don't know that I really valued technology or much of anything back then. Now seeing something like this is nostalgic more than anything for me.
ReplyDeleteBosomu aku ra mudheng blass.Nostalgia!
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