Most Apple II users, when asked to name one company (besides Apple) that made the Apple II series so great, will immediately think of Applied Engineering. Usually referred to simply as “AE”, the Carrollton, Texas company manufactured an assortment of innovative peripherals that could transform an ordinary Apple II into something better than it was before. Better, stronger, faster sans the bionics, or six-million dollar price tag.

It may even be argued that without AE, the Apple II may have slipped into obsolescence faster than it did. With the release of AppleWorks, Applied Engineering became one of the first companies to patch expanded RAM into the integrated suite’s memory-constrained desktop. This enabled the fledgling and somewhat underpowered AppleWorks to become a serious productivity tool. The symbiosis of AppleWorks and Applied Engineering memory enhancement products spawned a sort of second life for the Apple II, facilitating an industry of AppleWorks tools, utilities and competing copycat products that might not have existed otherwise — all for the lack of a well defined Apple II RAM expansion standard.

The AE legacy lives on today, in the Applied Engineering Repository (created by Brian Wiser and Bill Martens), a site dedicated to exploring and preserving AE’s contributions to the Apple II Community. On the site, you’ll find scans of manuals, device drivers and other miscellaneous, historical information on AE’s line of amazing products.

Brian Wiser’s announcement is attached:

The Applied Engineering Repository, located at ae.applearchives.com, was first unveiled in April 2008. While the site wasn’t well publicized at the time, it has undergone several major revisions and is now as complete as possible.

Created by Brian Wiser and Bill Martens, the site features unique content such as catalogs, manuals, pictures, software and self-created brochures for all known Applied Engineering products. From an Employee Cookbook to an ad for the Transwarp III, lots of interesting items are available. Many hundreds of hours have gone into making this the ultimate resource, as we feel strongly that Applied Engineering was one of the finest computer peripheral companies in history. Please visit the site and use the contact form if you can contribute any resources. Thanks!