Apple II Bits

Creativity in one discipline does not necessarily lend itself to others. My tenures at Computerworld and Juiced.GS have developed my imagination such that I have no trouble pulling ideas for feature stories from thin air. But one area in which I have always gone strictly by the book, doing exactly what I’m told without deviation or desire for variance — is Legos. The lethally edged gouging objects taught me to follow step-by-step instructions, a skill that, as an adult, has proven handy in the kitchen. But it was always the picture on the box, not in my mind, that I was driving to make a reality.

So I’m all the more impressed by Chiukeung (CK Tsang), who used the Lego building blocks to create a model Apple II.

Just like Woz intended, you can even open the machine for direct access to its motherboard and expansion slots.

CPU, lid, keyboard, floppy drive, monitor — this machine has it all! Everything except for scale, actually — there’s nothing to compare its size to, though I suspect it’s smaller than Steve Weyhrich’s virtual Minecraft Apple.

The Apple II is not the first computer CK has rendered in blocks. Check out his model Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), aka the Famicom, which coincidentally also uses a 6502 chip.

(Hat tip to Kelly Hodgkins)