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  The Apple II was introduced on June 5, 1977, with a 1 MHz 8-bit processor, the MOS Technology 6502, 4 KB of RAM, and a cassette tape interface for data storage.

  4K memory? Tape data storage?

  No need to doubt it, at that time the memory was indeed only 4K, which is much larger than the first generation of Apple.

  Using tape as a storage device is similar to music tapes, except that music tapes store analog signals while data tapes store digital signals.

  However, the machine in Lin Hong's hands currently stores data not on tape, but uses 5.25-inch floppy disks. This is an improved version from 1978, with an external 5.25-inch floppy drive disk_ii that has replaced the tape recorder, a genius design. The original creator Steve Wozniak designed this thing himself to save money and reduce costs because they were very poor when they started their business, so poor that they couldn't even afford to buy one of their own products.

  "Saving money" was an important design consideration for the Apple II, and Wozniak used many clever tricks and high-tech engineering techniques to achieve this goal. The machine used the fewest and cheapest components possible, and the ones that were most commonly available on the market.

  For example, the text and graphics system of this machine used an outdated connection method at that time. It is said that Wozniak thought it could save a chip, which would be cheaper than adding hardware control with software calculation or scan line addressing. Similarly, in high-resolution image mode, colors are determined by pixel positions, so they can be controlled by software, saving the cost of conversion chips.

  However, after this computer was put on the market, it quickly became popular and became the first personal computer to achieve great commercial success, receiving widespread acclaim and improvement from many computer enthusiasts.

  "The Red Book" was roughly seventy pages and not thick, but Lin Hong read it very slowly and carefully.

  Although he had already memorized a primary English-Chinese dictionary, there were still some words that he didn't recognize. These words were mostly professional terms and abbreviations that have appeared in the past decade or so.

  However, this did not affect him. He came up with some professional vocabulary abbreviations and other words that he could roughly guess from the context.

  This manual is divided into four parts.

  The first part is a basic introduction to this computer, which is the content that most users will see. The er_basic programming language. This language was optimized and redesigned by Wozniak based on a language called tiny_basic, although the syntax is similar, but the calculation speed and functionality have been greatly improved. When designing, Wozniak burned the program of this language directly into the machine's ROM (read-only memory), so even if the system is reinstalled, the basic language will still be inside and won't be lost.

  This part of the language content is very detailed, not only with basic grammar and rules, but also with some program examples, allowing beginners to input the code according to it.

  Many programs at this time required beginners to type in a letter at a time to see the effect. This is where the fun of computer enthusiasts lies, but it's obviously just a niche hobby, and most people don't care about it at all. If they sit in front of the computer for half an hour to input such a large piece of code, and finally only draw a few circles on the display, they will be driven crazy.

  The third and fourth parts detail the firmware and hardware of the Apple II.

  Firmware is a program written into the ROM (read-only memory) of a microcontroller or other programmable computer. In simpler terms, firmware is software that is embedded in the hardware of a device. It is distinct from both regular software and hardware, as it is software that is permanently stored in the internal memory of a device's integrated circuit. For example, the display controller inside a monitor has its own system software that can be programmed to change colors or draw lines on the screen.

  It has to be said that this book covers very detailed content, Lin Hongwan is deeply immersed in it and can't extricate himself.

  All the wireless technologies he had previously come into contact with were physical entities at the circuit level, even if radio waves could not be seen with the naked eye, but they were a real existence that could be detected by instruments.

  But what he came into contact with today was an intangible thing.

  Software is just like language and words, it's a human invention out of nothing.

  What he found most amazing was that the software's operation was based on the hardware foundation.

  Software has become a bridge between humans and machines, if the machine has any problems, it can be "told" to the operator through software, and if people want to operate the machine, they just need to "tell" the software.

  Lin Hong had previously thought about the differences between humans and animals during his free time at night.

  When he was young, under the influence of hearsay, he thought that the soul really existed. However, as he acquired more knowledge and read more miscellaneous books, he gradually came to realize that the soul seemed to be non-existent, at least no one had ever proven its existence.

  Although he had never systematically studied biology, he vaguely realized that language and intelligence are important factors that distinguish humans from other animals. And gradually formed a more vague cognition, he felt that language and intelligence were equivalent to the human soul.

  But today, after he understood the basic principles of software, a similar idea suddenly popped up in his mind - isn't software just the soul of machines?

  The idea was still vague, just a flash of inspiration in his mind, without any theoretical support, it was just his feeling.

  However, this was a small spark that from now on deeply settled in his heart, and grew with him as he matured, eventually forming a prairie fire... Of course, that's a story for later.

  Behind the firmware and hardware, there are many circuit diagrams and basic principles. Lin Hongyi couldn't understand them at all after reading for a while, so he just roughly scanned through them. He's not in a hurry now, and will come back to study them carefully after he has mastered the previous parts.

  He was reading this book when Sun Wu called him halfway, and the two chatted on the phone for a while. When Sun Wu heard that Lin Hong would follow his mother to visit Beijing in the next few days, he strongly requested to go together. His father didn't have time to accompany him to visit Beijing. After they agreed on the time, they hung up the phone.

  Although Lin Hongcai used the phone for the first time, he didn't have any psychological barriers. To him, phones were too simple, considering he made free "international long-distance" calls every day before.

  He glanced at the time and it was almost five o'clock, his mother had not returned from going out to buy vegetables.

  His stomach had been starving for a long time, so he walked into the hall and started eating the apple that was previously placed on the case in big mouthfuls, to fill his stomach first.

  Everything is ready, only waiting for the east wind.

  He walked up to the desk and booted up the Apple II again. After a "beep" sound, the black background with green text screen appeared once more.

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