mdj wrote:
> 
> I love this idea too. The only thing 'better' would be a CarteBlanche
> motherboard, which replaces an existing IIe board. In this case, the
> slots that it implements can be dedicated purely to supporting
> original hardware, and all new "CarteBlanche" cards can be implemented
> virtually.

This describes perfectly the NanoBoard with PB10 - plug-in board with 
Apple slot connectors. The "motherboard" is my FPGApple implemented on 
NB. There are 2 issues:
1. Cost. NB is rather expensive but this might change.
2. Several 6502 cores exist but not a single (free) core is accurate 
enough to boot ProDOS without errors. One implementation uses a real 
65C02 and the Xilinx FPGA is almost empty.

It would not be difficult to create a motherboard with a real 65C02,
128K of a (static) memory and logic to connect a PS2 keyboard plus a
smallest and cheapest FPGA for glue logic, say S3AN - 50. Plus the most 
expensive part - the slot connectors.

One reason not to do it is the fact that A2e is worth about $20 on e-bay 
and there is no shortage yet.

> 
> I admit though, that the cost of this project makes it somewhat
> prohibitive compared to the card.

IMHO the great thing about the card is the possibility to implement 
things that either do not exist or are very rare. Like a VGA interface. 
Re-implementing the standard Apple 2 is definitely fun - I did it 3 
times now - but doesn't look like a "product" to me.

-Alex.
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