Always a Market for Excellence, Sick WallStreet, ATI VersaVision and New PowerBooks, and More

• Always a Market for Excellence
• Sick WallStreet
• ColorIt
• Battery for Pismo
• ATI VersaVision on New PowerBook
• I Agree with Linus
• Oxford 911 vs. Prolific Chip
• EasyWatch ElGato DVB-T PCMCIA Module
• Re: PowerBook Tech

Always a Market for Excellence

From Andrew Main

engadget.com's Peter Rojas asks: "So how does Apple avoid what happened to the Mac?"

Haven't read the article - don't have time - but this one sentence makes it plain where this typical computer writer is coming from, i.e. that "what happened to the Mac" is some kind of fate worse that death that must be avoided if at all possible.

What happened to the Mac? Yes, the Mac didn't become the worldwide 95%+ standard computing platform, and I for one am thankful. Apple is arrogant enough now and probably would be very like Micro$oft if it occupied Micro$oft's "niche." However, though the herd animals may be mystified, the Mac didn't cease to exist either.

What happened to the Mac is pretty much what happens to all truly excellent products in a world where mediocrity (or less) is good enough for most. What, after all, happened to Rolls Royce? BMW?

These companies are not considered failures (certainly not by themselves, their stockholders, or their customers) because they sell only a tiny fraction of the numbers sold by Ford, GM, and other purveyors of barely-good-enough, quickly-obsolescent, forgettable junk.

As for the iPod, even if - as seems likely, assuming Apple continues its policy of keeping close control over its products instead of licensing them so the world can mess them over - its market share declines down to 20%, 10%, or less (like the Mac), it will continue to serve the market of those who appreciate quality.

We may be a minority, but we will always be here. The bulge at the middle of the bell curve may be all the myopic can see, but it's not all there is, and so long as there is anything approximating a free market, there will always be a market for excellence.

Andrew Main

Hi Andrew,

I agree with your analysis.

Charles

Sick WallStreet

From Adrian Carter

Hi Charles,

I was wondering if you could help me with a problem I have encountered on a WallStreet 266 MHz PowerBook.

Basically a while ago the machine sheared it's screen hinges and as a result tore the left hand ribbon cable from the logic board to the screen itself. I replaced the hinges and the ribbon cable but that didn't solve the problem. The 'Book powered up, but there was no display.

I wondered if perhaps the cable getting broken had damaged the screen, so I replaced it with a known working WallStreet screen I had in stock. Again the machine powered up but the display didn't work.

One thing worth mentioning with this machine is it is running OS X 10.3.8 courtesy of XPostFacto, when I connect it to an external monitor, the external display functions when booted into OS 9 but not when booted into OS X.

Is there anything you could suggest that I might want to try to resolve this issue?

Thanks

Hi Adrian,

Since the external video works, at least in OS 9, it seems that your video circuitry is still functional.

I'm wondering if your replacement ribbon cable might be defective.

Were I troubleshooting this myself, I would concentrate first in getting things working in OS 9 and then tackling OS X.

It's a tough problem to diagnose hands-off (or probably on in this case).

Hope this helps a little.

Charles

From Adrian Carter

Hi Charles,

Thanks for the reply.

The cable itself looks fine and appeared to be new old stock when I got it. Unfortunately these days WallStreet parts are pretty expensive and very thin on the ground (nonexistent in the UK), so I have no other cable to try. As I think I mentioned before, I have a gut feeling the logic board might have took damage when the original cable sheared (it was switched on at the time). I've had partial logic board failures on other Macs in the past, and I don't think this is beyond the realms of possibility.

Another thing I'm going to try is another hard drive in the machine, essentially one with a plain vanilla OS 9 installation, just to put my mind at rest that XPostFacto isn't involved.

In the meantime I intend to put the Mac into cryogenic suspension and simply wait around for WallStreet bits and pieces to come available at decent prices. I could be waiting for a long time, but I like this machine too much too even think about stripping it for bits - it was my first proper laptop, and the amount of times it has bailed me out of tricky situations means I'll keep it if only to show my grandkids the machine that got me through my adult education degree :)

Thanks again & all the best
Adrian Carter

Hi Adrian,

Yes, I'm no expert on these matters, but it seems entirely plausible that there could be circuit damage that could affect the output to the LCD while the external VGA output still worked.

Charles

ColorIt

From: Chris Smolyk

Charles...

I was rereading the emails that come up on my name in Google and saw your mention of ColorIt. Is that still available somewhere?

chris s

Hi Chris,

It sure is.

Color It! 4.0.x works great in System 7.x through OS X Classic Mode and is faster than any native OS X graphics application that I'm aware of, but it does require that you keep Classic mode up and running in OS X.

Color It! 4.5, a Carbon application that supports both OS 9 and OS X natively, is almost ready for prime time. It is definitely no longer vaporware. I have a beta copy on my hard drive that I've been using for several months.

The full price for new users of Color It! 4.0 is $49.95 (Electronic Delivery - CD $5 extra for shipping).

For more information, visit <
http://www.microfrontier.com/products/colorit40/>.

To receive an email notification when the OS X version of Color It! will be available, click here: http://www.microfrontier.com/general/whats_new/form.html

Charles

Battery for Pismo

From Michael

Hi Charles,

I've read your article [Lombard/Pismo Battery Replacement, Webmail Problems with OS X, OS X on an iBook 300, and More], and you mention the Newer Tech replacement batteries for Lombard/Pismo PowerBooks - but do you have information on where to buy these? Through the online store at OWC, but is it available in US stores?

Hope you can help me. Thanx!

All the best,
Michael

Hi Michael,

To the best of my knowledge, these batteries are only available through Other World Computing's online store.

Charles

ATI VersaVision on New PowerBook

From Michael DeJong re: ATI VersaVision on New PowerBook

Howdy

I just want to confirm, I am eyeing up a PowerBook 15" with the 128 meg 9700 mobility chip. I have the new HP 2335 23" monitor which will do landscape and portrait mode. Will the ATI update with VersaVision work, or do I have to stick to buying a G5 tower with the proper ATI card?

Thanks

Hi Michael,

I don't know.

I would suggest contacting ATI at 905-882-8440 or through this link: <https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894>

Charles

I Agree with Linus

From Peter da Silva in response to Linux Creator Switches to Macintosh:

If it doesn't run Mac OS, it's not a Mac.

Hi Peter,

But is a Macintosh brand computer not still a Macintosh when it's running Linux? If not, what would it be?

Charles

Oxford 911 vs. Prolific Chip

From Peter da Silva

When you review combo (FW + USB) enclosures, you should make a note of whether they use the Oxford 911 chipset or not. I've bought two enclosures with the Prolific chipset and sent one back and relegated the other to the PC world. The Oxford chipset works, reliably, and so do older Prolific products that use the Oxford 911 chip, but the current generation of PL chips are junk.

Hi Peter,

I haven't reviewed an enclosure for quite some time, although I frequently post news releases on various products.

I'll keep your suggestion in mind.

Charles

EasyWatch ElGato DVB-T PCMCIA Module

From Jacques De Witte

Hi

Wouldn't you have any other comments or feedback about this module please?

Cheers

Jacques

Hi Jacques,

I'm sorry; I don't. I haven't used it. Perhaps some of our readers have.

Charles

Re: PowerBook Tech

From Steven Hunter re: PowerBook Tech Follow Up:

Mr. Rocek should contact his credit card company as soon as possible.

---

Letters sent may be published at our discretion. Email addresses will not be published unless requested. If you prefer that your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.

Go to the Miscellaneous Ramblings Mailbag index.