Just as the development of Lee's next-generation computer, the Oranges II, was progressing in an orderly manner, a fax came from the other side of the Pacific to Hong Kong, and the Apple III was launched. At the same time, several Apple III computers that had just been released were also sent.

When Li Yixuan came to the company's technical department, it turned out that several Apple third-generation machines were being tested, the main chassis was all opened, the circuit boards inside were exposed to the air, and the room was full of smoke.

"Are you testing computers, are you burning down houses? Why is this chaotic?" Li Yixuan asked loudly.

Chang Feng opened the window, walked up to Li Yixuan and explained: "Xuan Shao, here's the thing, after we received the newly launched Apple III, we started to do the test. As a result, we found that the heat dissipation of these computers was too poor, and often the program crashed after more than half of the program was running. When we opened the case, there was a big burst of smoke coming out of it, and everyone thought it was on fire, so it became like this. ”

There is still such a situation, Li Yixuan only knows that Apple has launched Apple III in history, and it quickly withdrew from the market due to dismal sales.

He didn't know what the reason for the poor sales, you must know that the IBM-PC was not on the market at that time, and it stands to reason that Apple did not have competitors at that time, so this should not happen.

It's a pity that Li Yixuan couldn't find any information about Apple III in later generations, and Apple had a deep attitude towards this computer, including the autobiography of Qiao Gangster after his death, and did not mention this machine.

When the smoke in the room almost dissipated, looking at the Apple III on the table, Li Yixuan looked at it for a while and asked: "The voltage standards in the United States and Hong Kong are different, Hong Kong uses the British 240V standard voltage, and the United States uses 110V.

"How is it possible? Xuan Shao, how can we not pay attention. Look. The engineer said, pointing to the power adapter next to him.

Li Yixuan checked it and there was no problem with the connection. I touched the power adapter with my hand, and it was not hot.

"Look at a different power adapter. Li Yixuan commanded.

As a result, it is still the case after changing three power adapters in a row.

At this time, Chang Feng said: "Xuan Shao, I don't think the problem is the power adapter, but the problem with this machine." ”

This power adapter is newly bought from the market, and the quality is definitely no problem, it should be a machine problem.

"Ask Xia Jinyong what's going on?"

The fax came back, and Xia Jinyong told him that not only our machine had a problem, but also the Apple III in the US branch, and the machine had just been turned on for a while, and the main engine crashed due to overheating.

When the truth was learned, these employees began to complain, and even worried, "Users will buy such a product?" ”

Li Yixuan smiled, he now knows the reason why the Apple III sales are dismal: it is clear that the quality is not up to par! A computer of such a poor quality is still allowed to go on sale. This already shows how chaotic Apple's internal management is, and it is estimated that the infighting at Apple's top management is already white-hot.

However, this is an internal matter of Apple, and it has nothing to do with Li Yixuan, saying: "Consumers will definitely not buy this kind of unreliable machine." It is believed that it will not be long before Apple will usher in large-scale returns and complaints. On the contrary, we should take this as a warning and not sell substandard products to consumers. We must remember this. ”

The employees nodded their heads and made a look of acceptance.

After everyone dispersed, Li Yixuan picked up the parts in the Apple III chassis and looked at it, followed by a look of disgust.

This Jobs is too tasteless, I thought it was a 16-bit computer, but it turned out to be the same as the Apple II, it was also an 8-bit computer.

It uses an 8-bit CPU - 2MHz6502A made by Synertek, the second supplier of Mostechnology, which is designed for commercial use and will be the successor to the Apple II.

The underlying system software for the Apple III includes an improved operating system, the sophisticatedoperatingsystem, or SOS, which provides a directory-level file system and supports emulating the features of the 48Apple II+, as well as a new Basic compiler, applebusinessbasic, and ucsdpascal for more powerful programming.

Other features include: 80-column uppercase and lowercase letter display support, 9-square grid number keys, real-time date clock support, 6-bit DAC digital to analog conversion audio, and 16-color image display capability.

In terms of peripherals, the Apple III has a built-in 140-type 5.25-inch floppy drive and supports up to 3 external floppy drives.

One of the most important performance indicators, the memory capacity, is 128kb, which can be supported by Bankswitching technology up to 256kb, and even up to 512kb with the help of special technical means.

Truth be told, as an 8-bit microcomputer, the Apple III is excellent. It's a pity that with such quality, the final result can only be a complete failure.

In addition, don't forget, Apple is now the same as Oranges, one of the two leaders in the personal computer industry, its new products will naturally be carefully studied by technology enthusiasts, and even peer competitors under a magnifying glass, the only end of the few sales of computers contributed by Apple is the same as the situation on the table in front of Li Yixuan, being dismantled, eager to make slices to study, maybe the advantages and disadvantages of Apple III, these people have more sober than Apple itself, Deeper awareness.

It is true that two days later, an American computing magazine sprayed the Apple III to the fullest, and at the same time, various opinions are also justified and completely defensible.

Li Yixuan seems that there are so many smart people in the world, and they all complain to the point, for example, the three major problems of Apple III in terms of hardware have been pointed out one by one.

The most obvious point is that the Apple III does not have a cooling fan, which is of course the design of Jobs in order to pursue quiet requirements, and the Apple III can support so many functions, the complexity of the circuit can be imagined, and the large amount of heat generated when it works cannot be transmitted only through the heat sink, and the magazine editor even joked that it can fry eggs on the metal chassis of the Apple III.

Under the influence of this problem, due to Jobs's strict restrictions on the size of the main chassis, the circuit board of the Apple III uses the immature 'fine wire' wiring technology, which began to expose its shortcomings.

Due to the fact that the gaps between the lines are quite narrow. When various chips are "squeezed" onto the circuit board and soldered in large quantities, solder drips between circuits that should not be connected, causing serious short circuits in the high temperature environment created by continuous operation.

In addition, in order to support the new features, the Apple III uses a real-time clock chip made by the National Semiconductor Corporation, but it has repeated problems on some computers, and although it is not a common phenomenon, it has been sprayed harder.

When Li Yixuan saw this, he secretly admired in his heart, this American media is indeed professional enough, and it hits the Apple III on the key point every time.

Compared to these hardware defects, the magazine complained that the Apple III's claimed compatibility with Apple II features is not actually achieved, but rather less glaring.

Sometimes, the power of the media can be terrifying.

In the original time and space, Microsoft's operating system Vista compared with the previous version of XP, has made a lot of improvements, but it is greedy for more than it can chew, not to mention the high requirements for hardware resources, and there are frequent problems, and the result is that the media sang down together, and finally ended in embarrassment.

But in fact, the later versions of the operating system Windows 7 and Windows 8 are not based on Vista, and users also enjoy the convenience brought by Windows 7.

It is estimated that Apple is not aware of this problem at present, and is still blindly optimistic. I hope Jobs will take it easy, don't take too big a step and pull the eggs.

In fact, what Li Yixuan didn't know was that about 14,000 Apple IIIs were sold in another time and space, and in the end, Apple had to replace them for free.

By 1983, when the Apple IIIplus, an improved model with all the defects fixed, was launched, the planned "please allow me to reintroduce myself" campaign could not reverse the decline of the infamous Apple III, and at that time, the 16-bit IBM-PC and compatible computers were in vogue, and the Apple III had lost the need for existence, and was soon stopped by Apple and ended miserably.