The one thing I lamented about the Apple II Plus (vs. the original with Integer BASIC) was that to make room for autostart, they had to rip out the mini-assembler in the Monitor ROM. That was the closest thing I ever saw to an assembly-language REPL before this. At least they were able to keep the disassembler.
There was another downside, that the Applesoft BASIC license gave Microsoft a hostage which they later used to kill <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBASIC" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBASIC. Hard to tell how much it mattered that the Mac came with no user programmability, which had been expected for PCs till then.
Wow, somehow I didn't know about this. Now I'm angry, bundling an official Macintosh BASIC on every computer would have been huuuge for young-me.
flyinghamster · · focus · HN ↗
abecedarius · · focus · HN ↗
There was another downside, that the Applesoft BASIC license gave Microsoft a hostage which they later used to kill <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBASIC" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBASIC. Hard to tell how much it mattered that the Mac came with no user programmability, which had been expected for PCs till then.
Gracana · · focus · HN ↗