It's done – it's finally done!
Hello there,
After weeks of painstaking work, today I have completed the conversion of the original Apple-1 Operation Manual to modern typesetting. The pictures attached show JPGs of the finished (although not finally corrected) work. Of course, the PDFs that I create will be way higher quality and crisp even if you look at them with a microscope.
I attach one higher res file of the power supply schematics page which gives you more of a feeling about the quality. The PDFs outshine this even more.
After I made a final check that everything is correct, I will shuffle the pdfs over to a printer where the reprint will be done. Features of the reprint will be:
1. Printed on "Munken Pure" paper, 150gsm. This is a very nice paper with a yellowish tint to it. I think it nicely resembles the age of the manual
2. The schematics will be fold outs just like in the original manual. I still have no confirmation about the EXACT way this has been done back in 1976 but I think made guess is good enough.
3. All pages are almost 100 represent exactly the original documents down to fractions of millimeter. Each character, each line, each dot is precisely positioned where it had been originally.
4. NO corrections have been done to the schematics. This version is true to the original. There might one coming where corrections are made, but this is not it.
Boy, that has been quite a bit of work. I hope you enjoy the outcome.
IF YOU SPOT ANY MISTAKE, PLEASE FEE FREE TO LET ME KNOW!
Best
Armin
Here are the JPGs of the whole manual (low-res):
Here is a high-res of the power supply schematics:
Yes, amazing work! Everything is so clear, very cool. You did a great job. Should we expect the rest of the high resolution manual pages here?
I've been following along in the other thread. Really incredible work!
Not at this time, I'm afraid. It will be eventually released, but I need to check some things first. Also, and please don't be mad with me, but I do not want to have people use my work to sell cheap laser printer copies on ebay …
I will do a limited print run and make those copies available for people that appreciate the work, though.
Let the last two empty posts do not embarrass you, I wrote from the phone, I thought about what to write - put a sad emoticon and all. But this site apparently does not support emoticons, an error occurred, I tried again and went to bed. And in the morning I saw these two empty posts.
I think it's everything else.
https://www.ebay.de/itm/294133258788.
That's the reprints from scans I did. Although they are on excellent paper, and have really great production value, they will be NOTHING compared to the set I am preparing now.
Hi folks:
a few days ago I received the complete set of these Apple-1 manuals in my mailbox. Despite they came all over the big pond (they come from Germany) there arrived intact without any gouged corners and not being bent ! They were very well packed !
I must say I was absolutely stunned about the quality and attention to detail in these reproductions. They are real prints and no photocopies. The paper is thick and very slighly yellowish so they really look like 45 years old, but in pristine condition, of course.
They look and feel so real that they literally sent shivers down my spine - I was holding history in my hands ! Very exciting !
On the manual there even is the "Byte Shop" address stamp in red which looks like a real rubber stamp. Perfect !
I would strongly recommend any owner of an original Apple-1 or a clone to get one of these manual sets before they are out of stock. You have invested so much time , effort and money into buying that original or building a clone (the latter is somewhat cheaper, I know) that adding these very authentic reproductions of the manuals won't matter anymore (money wise) and then you have a truly complete Apple-1 system which you can hand down to your heirs and they can pass them on to their offspring. An Apple-1, even if it's a clone, is exceedingly rare and it's a piece of history.
In other words, no Apple-1 is complete without these manuals.
I was a bit disappointed that they are so difficult to find on Armin's website, as I did not find a direct way to click myself to them, but the search function did help: if you go to
www.retroplace.com
and then enter "Apple-1" in the search box, it gives you a scroll down box, at the end of it is "Apple-1 Manuals (complete set)" which you can choose and click, and then a matchbox size picture will appear and if you click (yet another click !) on the link below the picture you are there:
https://www.retroplace.com/en/games/190060--apple-1-manuals-complete-set
It's not as easy as buying Apples at the grocery store buy it can be done !
Thanks Armin for this great work ! It's a tremendous value to the Apple-1 user community and worth every penny !
The only other item we are still missing now is a good reproduction of the "BYTE SHOP" case, but as far as I'm concerned I would want a much, much better quality of workmanship than these terrible original "BYTE SHOP" cases exhibit. They look like if they were made by an amateur in his garage or on his kitchen table with only crude hand tools, and this amateur possibly having been drunk or stoned during the "work". Ah, the glorious 1970s ! (I do understand that this type of ugly "authenticity" is worth up to a million US$ for some, but I'd rather buy myself a (used) private jet for that kind money, and if I pay for an Apple-1 case kit, I want quality and perfect workmanship, period). If you have followed the appropriate thread, "MajorMar" is currently working on the design of such a "BYTE SHOP" style case.
Then we will have all parts we need: Apple-1 motherboards that work (my "reliability mods"), accurate reproductions of all the manuals (this thread), and a good wooden case. Perfect ! The Apple-1 being resurrected ! And nothing is missing anymore ! And everything works ! 45 years later ! Amazing !
Hello everybody,
Thanks so much, Bernie, for this amazing feedback (I swear I did not pay Bernie :-D). BTW: That Byte Logo logo stamp looks like a real stamp because it is a real stamp, recreated with the permission of Paul Terrell himself!
I have meanwhile created a website that allows me to be more flexible in pricing and that does not add any marketplace-related fees. What's more I am able to offer promo codes and this exactly what I have done to say "Thank you" to all the support I got from the community:
If you are interested in getting your copy of any of the manuals (or a set of them), please head over to apple-1-manuals.com.
If you use the discount code APPLEFRITTER during checkout, you benefit from a 25 percent discount on every purchase (this discount is also valid for bulk orders which adds to the savings even more!).
Thanks again for all your support, this has been a crazy journey already!
Best
Armin
PS: Did you know? The "Deutsches Museum" (the world's largest museum for science and technology) and other museums worldwide have added the replicas to their collections – what a great appreciation, I am so happy.
I have to admit, I didn't really like Armin's business model so far.But I have to admit, he really did a very good job. I would probably never choose the "big" package yet, but the main guide looks really perfect.And with the Apple fritter discount, it's an honest thing.In particular, the yellowish paper and the good circuit diagram (hopefully without errors ;) looks great.Many thanksMikel
apple1_manual.JPG
These manuals are magic! I didn't have them yet, and I didn't really want them, but when I got them I realized that they were a must-have, I couldn't do without them. I've never seen such attention to detail in my life.
Thank you Armin!
IMG_20210901_120556.jpg
Micha guess you missed that, the Schemtics is NOT error free!
4. NO corrections have been done to the schematics. This version is true to the original. There might one coming where corrections are made, but this is not it.
OK. great ..
the errors of WOZ should of course stay inside ..
. probably the Apple1 won't work without them in the end ;)
Thanks Micha for your feedback. I totally understand that some people have issues with me having attached a business model to the recreations. I wanted to create something that would kick the sellers of shabby laser printed scans (for 50 USD+ calling them "super rare") out of the water for good. I would believe that I kinda achieved that … :)
But, more importantly, I am very happy that you like what you have purchased!
Best
Armin
Thanks so much for the great feedback. Very happy you like them!