Since 2010, the KansasFest Committee has recognized members of the Apple II community who have made significant contributions to the Apple II, either in promoting or developing for the platform during its active years, or in helping to advance or preserve the Apple II since its production had been discontinued.
Our keynote speaker was the first 2015 recipient:
- Rebecca Heineman, for her long-standing support of the Apple II and numerous game publications
We also recognized a group of people who created the A2Pi, an interface between the Raspberry Pi computer and the Apple II. The A2Pi project is an outstanding example of collaboration. The project merges old and new technology to bring innovative and useful capabilities to the Apple II.
- David Schmenck, for the original concept, design, and implementation of the A2Pi
- Ivan Drucker, for software support and A2CLOUD
- James Littlejohn, for circuit board design and layout
- Anthony Martino, for turning the A2Pi from a hobby project into a product
- Henry Courbis, for turning the A2Pi from a hobby project into a product
All of these people have accomplishments beyond the A2Pi, too. To name just a few accomplishments of many, David created the PLASMA language and VM02 Java environment. Ivan created Slammer!, A2SERVER, and NuInput. James developed several power supply adapters, slot expander hardware, and a prototyping board. Anthony and Henry are the leaders behind UltimateMicro, including a Transwarp GS clone, scalable oscillator, and various RAM cards.