Though the center of David Finnigan’s hobby is an obsolete piece of technology, he still felt it was necessary and rewarding to publish an 800-page manual concerning his beloved computer.

Finnigan’s book, titled “The New Apple II User’s Guide,” was published in June 2012 and is a comprehensive manual of the Apple II, a home computer produced between 1977 and 1993.

The Apple II was one of the first successfully mass-produced home computers, Finnigan explained. However, few people own or use Apple II’s today, he said.

Finnigan, 22, did not grow up using an Apple II. His first exposure to the computer came in 2005 while playing at a friend’s house. Finnigan said the friend’s family owned an Apple II, but they had little use for the computer. The parents saw Finnigan’s interest in the Apple II and gave it to him for free.

Ever since then, Finnigan has immersed himself in the hardware and software that still exists for Apple II. He now owns four of the six models of Apple II and has acquired manuals, games and other products for the computer through family, friends and eBay.

“What keeps me using (the Apple II) today is that I like fiddling around with computer systems and programming them and playing the old games,” Finnigan said.

Finnigan is not alone in his love for everything Apple II, he said. While the Apple II is little-used today, Finnigan said there is still a small yet strong band of hobbyists who continue to write programs and design software for the computer.

“I’d say it is probably out of loyalty and nostalgia that keeps people using it today,” he said.

Because there is still interest in the Apple II and because hobbyists are still writing programs and designing software for the computer, Finnigan decided in Summer 2010 to write his own manual detailing how to use and alter the Apple II.

Originally, Finnigan only set a goal of 300 to 400 pages for the manual.

“I found that I was passing those milestones, and I still hadn’t covered all the material,” he said.

When he first began writing the manual, Finnigan did not tell his family or friends about his project because he was not sure he would finish the manual.

“I started writing it, and I really kept in under-the-table,” he said.

However, working on the manual over breaks between semesters and on holidays, Finnigan eventually reached 200 pages in the manual and decided to tell his family and friends about his project.

The most challenging part of constructing the manual was the amount of research it took to detail all aspects of the Apple II hardware and software, Finnigan said.

“A huge amount of research went into writing this book,” he said. “I had to do a lot of cross-checking and research and verification.”

In some instances, Finnigan found inconsistencies between various manuals and even found errors in official Apple manuals.

Another challenge Finnigan ran into while writing the manual was detailing how the Apple II can still be used today in the era of the Internet.

“All this stuff about networking and going online and email and so on, it didn’t exist when the Apple II was a mainstream computer,” he said. “It’s all very new material that I had to do research on.”

Finnigan said the Apple II can be adapted to access limited online content and perform basic online functions, such as a Google or Wikipedia search. However, such websites as Facebook and Youtube would not be accessible with the limited capabilities of the computer, he said.

With nearly 250 copies sold, The New Apple II User’s Guide is the only manual still in publication for the Apple II, Finnigan said.

“I have a monopoly on the Apple II book market right now,” he said.

Finnigan will host a book signing of “The New Apple II User’s Guide” from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday in the Marvin Foyer in Booth Library. Students can also check out a copy of the manual from Booth Library.

Tim Deters can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].