STREAMING video ON AN APPLE IIC

some of the projects we feature fix a problem. Others just demonstrate that they can be done. We’re guessing that it’s the latter that motivated [Joshua Bell] to write a VNC client for an Apple IIc. To fully appreciate how outrageous this is, have a look at the video below the break.

There’s a lot more than one thing remarkable about this hack. Somehow, [Joshua]’s VNC program runs entirely in the memory of an Apple IIc, as he demonstrates at the beginning of the video by downloading all of the code into the Apple over a serial cable. After the initial bootstrap, he runs the code and you see (in full four-color splendour!) a low-res Windows XP appear on the IIc.

What’s a lot more incredible, but is regrettably not demonstrated in the video, is that he appears to have not just mirrored the PC’s screen on the Apple, but has actually managed to get a one-frame-per-second bi-directional VNC working at 115,200 baud. In this snapshot from his flickr gallery, he appears to be playing Karateka on the IIc and enjoying it on his laptop.

If you’ve got a IIc kicking around, and you want to show it yet a lot more new tricks, don’t disregard this browser written for the Apple IIc. Or if you’ve only got an Apple IIc+ and you’re absolutely ticked off that the beep is different from that of the IIc, you can always go on an epic reverse-engineering quest to “repair” it.

Thanks to [Keith O] for sending in this oldier-but-goodie.