One of the depressing aspects of the computer industry, from the perspective of schools and other technology users with less-than-industrial-sized pocketbooks, is that technology really hasn't trickled down. We're up to Pentiums on the Wintel side, but 486's are hard to come by (used, yes, but not new with warranties and support), and 286's and 386's are non-existent. We now have PowerMacs, but nobody makes 68000/020/030/040-based Macs anymore.

This morning, I was wandering through a local toy store when I was shocked to see an Apple IIe! No, it wasn't by Apple. Somebody called "Tiger Computer" was selling it as the "Tiger Learning Computer." But it was clearly marked as "Apple Technology" and, in fine print, explained to be an Apple IIe internally. For those too young to remember, there was a time when the Apple IIe was *THE* personal computer, and even now, it's the most prevalent computer in elementary schools. There are tons of educational software products out there for the Apple II.

My Apple II cost me $1200 (1984). Even when Apple was dumping the line, they went for $800. This one was selling for $150! It comes with AppleWorks (the word processor that I used while working on my MS), some MECC software, and some StickyBear software. No hard disk or floppy -- the software comes on solid state cartridges, and you save to a RAM cartridge. They offer more MECC and StickyBear software through mailorder.

Yes, a 6502 microprocessor is several generations old now. But it's usable (e.g., computer based laboratories can be hooked up to the Apple II for about $5, compared to $150+ for PC's or Mac's), and it's cheap enough to be affordable by a pretty wide range of users.

Maybe it's mostly nostalgia on my part, but I choose to take this as a positive sign: That there may be a market for making reasonable technology available at a reasonable price, and there is hope that good technology doesn't just get tossed on the junk heap as the wave of Moore's Law takes all those who can afford it to the next generation.