Wouldn't it be nice if the Apple IIGS had a built-in printer, plotter, monitor, modem, 3.5-inch disk drive, 5.25-inch disk drive, hard disk drive, joystick, hand controls, graphics tablet, digitizer, and assorted home control devices? Wouldn't it be nice if you had a desk big enough to hold such a machine?

Even if size and cost weren't factors, the problem with built-in peripheral devices is that different users have different needs. The plotter that is indispensable to the landscape architect preparing a presentation is useless to the writer. With the Apple IIGS, there's no limit to what you can attach, and no reason to attach anything you don't want or need.

There are two ways of connecting peripheral devices to the

Apple IIGS: by using the ports on the back or by using the slots on the main circuit board inside the case. (See Figure 6-13 The advantage of using ports is that it's easy: you just run a cable from the device to the computer. The advantage of using slots is that you can connect a wide variety of devices to the computer; you aren't limited to the devices for which there are ports.

Figure 6-1
Ports and slots

94

Chapter 6: Peripheral devices