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The Usefulness Equation
Purposeful Reincarnation for Old Macs
- 2008.08.26 - Tip Jar
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del.icio.usIf I may quote The Matrix Reloaded for a moment: "It is purpose that connects us, that pulls us, that guides us. It is purpose that defines us."
Purpose is one of the larger struggles in bringing old dinosaurs back into operation. Most people lack purpose for these old 'puters. The trick is finding something for them to mull over or do nothing at all (I'll explain the latter later on).
Extending the life of an old machine can sometimes require the user to jump through certain hoops during preparation. As I outlined in Calculating the Usefulness Equation, there is an easy way to figure out a machine's destiny.
( Final Power / Cost of Preparation ) ² Final Usefulness
As far as Old World Macs (pre-G3 models) go, I highly recommend hot rodding, which does add to the cost of preparation for use. There are G3 and G4 upgrades for almost every PCI Power Mac in existence, not to mention '040 upgrades for 68030 models.
My favorite task to allocate to an older machine is running a tiny version of Linux along with a web server. It's the ultimate proof of concept for repurposing a machine. It proves that the machine can still be used in this day and age.
There is also a great purpose for Old World Macs that have ethernet and LocalTalk: a LocalTalk bridge for your non-ethernet Macs. This is a particular purpose that can be run in the background on more powerful Macs, or in the foreground on not-so-powerful ones.
You should avoid any Old World Mac that will cost more to get running then it's final product will be worth. If you're spending $400 to get a 40 MHz Mac IIfx machine in running condition, you had better have a good reason.
For example, hot rodding my Power Mac 8600 only cost me $125. It's running a 400 MHz G3 upgrade ($20), 512 MB of RAM ($25), dual 10 GB SCSI drives ($50), and the computer itself cost $20 at a garage sale. It is a great web server (not to mention almost full featured) and mention a powerful OS 9 machine. The equation is definitely balanced.
This brings me
to my next point: The exception to the Cost to Purpose calculation is
Mac museums and collections. In the Old World category, there are many
rare and awesome machines that may not have any true power behind them,
but they look great on display because of their rarity or interesting
design. The Twentieth
Anniversary Mac and Macintosh
TV are good examples.
My personal preference when searching for Old World project computers is to focus on expandability. The more I can put into it to improve function, the happier I will be with the finished product. This will vary from person to person, depending on the final goal of the project.
My best advice: if you see a dump-bound Mac, take a gander inside and give it another chance. You might just be surprised.
Next time we'll visit hardware and upgrade compatibility concepts
you should keep in mind. 
Recent Columns by Phil Herlihy
- Max Miller, Solo Musician, 08.21. An interview with Max Miller, solo musician and Mac user.
- Lombard PowerBook: Almost a Pismo for Less, 06.18. Although Pismo has the huge following, Lombard provides comparable performance of often sells for quite a bit less.
- 12" G4 iBooks and PowerBooks Are Mac Netbooks: Cheap and Powerful Enough, 02.05. Recent tests comparing a 1.33 GHz G4 iBook and a 1.6 GHz Atom-based netbook show the old Mac holds its own. It also has some advantages.
- Heat Management for 'Books and the Last Mac to Run OS 9.1, 01.08. Tips on keeping a first-gen MacBook Air from throttling back with CoolBook, using G4FanControl with a G4 PowerBook, and the fastest Mac that can boot Mac OS 9.1.
- More in the The Usefulness Equation index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: Power Mac G5 Quad, Oct. 2005 - With two 2.5 GHz dual-core G5 CPUs, the G5 Quad was the most powerful PowerPC Mac ever and introduced PCI Express.
- Group of the Day: Mac Network deals with all aspects of Mac networking.
- November 20 in LEM history: 85: Windows 1.0 - 00: Mac dreams - 01: Stop the upgrade insanity - Good people, good software, good business - The digital lifestyle: Text - 06: To AppleCare or not? - One year with my 'free' Mac mini - 07: Why you want to avoid integrated graphics - Problem with Leopard on a MDD
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Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Apple's Tablet an End Run Beyond Netbooks, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 11.20. Whatever Apple has planned will leverage existing technologies while going beyond what its competitors can offer.
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- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
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- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.17. Used 400 MHz, $50; 933 MHz, $80; 500 dual, $60; 867 dual, $90; 1 GHz dual, $150; 1.25 GHz dual, $225; 1.42 GHz, $499.
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- Best Mac mini Deals, 11.16. Used 1.42 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.66 GHz Core Solo, $419; 2.0 Core 2, $450; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $769; Server, $990.
- Best iBook G4 Deals, 11.16. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $210; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz, $479; SuperDrive, $498.
- Best iPod shuffle Deals, 11.16. Used 1 GB, $35; 4 GB, $65; refurb 1 GB, $39; 2 GB, $59; new 2 GB, $55, 4 GB, $75. New and refurb prices include shipping.
- More deals in our archive.
