> I suspect it was the penetration of the Apple II into education and business that helped make it possible

I don't know how much it moved the needle but it was astonishing how much schools and home users - parents whose kids used the machines at school - were willing to pay for an Apple II well after it was a technically obsolete machine. It definitely helped them to some extent.

(don't get me wrong, I love those machines in my bones, but they were pretty overpriced after a while)