On the history of a.p.p.l.e.

I was going to try to write a history of a.p.p.l.e. when I got sidetracked by a theft of my intellectual property a bit over four years ago.  Now, a doctoral student from Lithuania has asked to interview me about the origin story.  I'm going to post my thoughts here, as I send them to him. Please give me your corrections, as I'm having trouble locating source material and my memory grows foggy.