> disks have a natural expiration date and it's not long

You really have no idea what you are talking about. It's normal for floppies, especially 3.5" to last decades just sitting on a shelf. I've got 5.25" floppies from 1984, and they boot just fine on my old apple //e.

42 years in my parent's dank midwest basement.

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3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

[deleted]

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stackghost 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Why do you write it as “Apple forward slash forward slash E”?

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jacquesm 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_IIe

Check the logo on the picture on the right.

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stackghost 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I suppose it just seems weird to write “//e” when it’s the “Apple two E” and II is the universally accepted Roman numeral notation for the number two.

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y1n0 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That's how it was named. The bootscreen didn't say Apple IIe. It's Apple //e. with slashes. That's how it was in all the docs and any software and the bootrom.

Call it weird if you want, but that's what the name was.

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otterley 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It’s a cultural tic. Been around for decades. Those same folks also write “Apple ][“ to refer to the original Apple II.

	▲	y1n0 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		It's a cultural tic to refer to something by its name.

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MiroslavPokorny 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

If i remember correctly that Apple //E used that notation itself in its startup message and on various screens in AppleWorks.