Has the Mac Magic Faded?
From Brian in response to Major League Baseball and
the Macintosh: Has the Magic Faded?:
Charles,
I'm with you on this one. Sitting and pondering this one, I think
there are a number of reasons why the magic has faded for me a little
bit:
- Apple no longer has to get by on wit and pluck. Back when Steve
Jobs took back over, it was "Apple against the world" again, or so it
seemed. They were in deep trouble, and, even though they had always
been the underdog, they had a (returning) leader with the vision to set
the company straight, giving that underdog status the positive life it
needed. Now that Apple is successful in many different fronts, that
status has dropped a bit. No longer is Apple quite the underdog it used
to be. Success seems to soothe that spirit, and Apple isn't the only
company whose image now suffers from this.
- Apple is no longer just a computer company. Its success is due to a
diverse array of products. When they were just a struggling computer
company, it was easier to cheer them from the sidelines. But as
computers have become a commodity item, Apple had to diversify to stay
competitive. Hence, the makings of a new consumer electronics company
and the dropping of "computer" from Apple's corporate name. The Apple
Stores are also a part of this equation.
- The design magic has cooled. Each of Apple's product lines, with
the exception of the iPhone, iPod touch, and MacBook Air, has
maintained its design form factor for a few years now. Most of Apple's
computer lines need a serious design overhaul, as they're all getting
long in the tooth. I do understand that Apple has put much of their
energy towards new products. But at one time, when they were still
fighting for relevance, each new announcement and/or keynote brought
with it some amazing design magic, with the dramatic introductions
Steve Jobs is known for. Now he can just pull the new product from his
pocket, or from an envelope. Not as cool; to me, anyway.
To sum this up, Apple is an aging and successful company now. And as
it ages and grows more successful, it loses some of its luster, its
drive, and its cool image. I'm still a devotee, as you are, and will
continue to be based on my history with Macs. But the days of the
fighting Apple are all but over, and its a tad bittersweet. That's
where the majority of the magic is gone for me.
Great article!
Take care,
Brian
Hi Brian,
Thanks for the comment and kind words. I agree with
your analysis.
Interestingly, while I'm not a particular fan of the
MacBook Air from the standpoint of its compromised functionality, I see
it as the first really imaginative Apple computer product in some time,
and proof that the think different spark is still there.
Charles
Fading Fun at Apple
From Otto:
Hi Charles.
Your article struck a chord with me, because I was at Apple from
1996 to 2001, and the fun factor definitely diminished during that
time. When I first arrived at Infinite Loop, the place was like a
geek's version of Haight-Asbury, with colorful characters and goofy
goings-on.
Starting with the reign of Gil Amelio, however, the
effects of adult supervision began to become apparent, and this trend
accelerated with the Return
of Steve. One major milestone was the disappearance of the Icon Garden; another was the sealing
off of the design center (prior to that, an employee badge would get
you into pretty much every building on campus). Now I'm not claiming
that this change was evil - it was necessary to turn the company
around. But it definitely made it less fun and a lot more like working
for other companies.
Hi Otto,
Thanks for the insider's perspective.
Indeed, with Apple's obsession with secrecy and
leak-plumbing, having unrestricted employee access to the design
department would be a nightmare for Steve.
I agree that the tighter ship is not unreasonable, or
even unnecessary in respect of contemporary reality (although they do
seem to take it to unwarranted extremes sometimes), but, as you say, it
can't be nearly as much fun for anyone, except the stockholders I
suppose.
Charles
Baseball Numbers Rebounding
From Jesse:
Charles:
I have to disagree with you on one point. Baseball attendance is up
significantly since the season before the strike, perhaps due to the
gimmicks you cite, and also great stories like Cal Ripken in 1995 and
the Red Sox in 2004. Also, TV raw number audiences are up slightly,
even though their share is way down, largely due to competition from
other sports.
Clearly, it is not the golden age of baseball anymore.
Best,
Jesse-Douglas
Hi Jesse,
Thanks for the information. I stand corrected. Living
in the past a bit, I guess.
There was a sharp drop-off in attendance after the
strike (here in Canada, the Montreal Expos never recovered from it, and
the Blue Jays are also still down from their days of guaranteed sellout
attendance in the early 90s), but that's getting to be ancient history
for a lot of fans, and I'm glad to hear that the ballparks are filling
up again. I notice in today's newspaper that Spring Training attendance
hit an all-time record this year as well.
Charles
iMac Won't Boot from CD
From Péter:
Hello!
I am writing to you, because it seems that I have nowhere else to
turn but to ask help from Low End Mac. I have searched many forums and
found people with similar problems but never was it quite the problem
that affected my iMac.
Recently I got a 400 MHz
iMac running OS 9.2.2. I have expanded the RAM to the 1 GB
that is supported, and OS 9 even recognized it. I was doing that
so I could install Panther, which I recently got just for this purpose.
The problem, I found out, was that it didn't want to boot from a CD.
Yes, I know I have to hold down the C key to make it do that, and I
even tried the boot menu and resetting the computer via the firmware
prompt. It recognizes the OS X CD as bootable but refuses to boot
from it.
Not only that, it refuses to boot from the OS 9 CD that came with
the computer! When I hold down the C key, the drive starts working, it
displays a white screen, then a gray, then the flashing "?", and a
flashing Mac smiley is intervalled on a folder icon and eventually it
continues to boot from the hard drive.
The funny thing is, inside the Mac OS, the CD drive seems to work
normally! I have installed software with it, played audio CDs with it,
etc. In the "startup disk" control panel, it also shows all the CDs
that it refuses to boot from as bootable!
What I would like to know is how to be able to boot up from CD. Do I
need to replace the drive? Or worse, is there more severe hardware
damage? The CD works, except that it won't boot from it....
Hope that you can help me with this matter, because I really would
like to use the Mac as a computer for Internet and school work.
Thank you on beforehand!
Peter
Hi Peter,
Panther should install just fine on your iMac.
I see two most likely possibilities.
- Defective CD-ROM drive.
- Corrupted Panther install disks (they're getting a bit long in the
tooth, and I've even heard of Tiger install DVDs beginning to go
bad).
The best diagnostic would be to try booting another
Mac from Disk 1. If it works, it's indication that your drive has
problems.
One other long shot. You said you have recently
installed a RAM upgrade. OS X can be pickier about RAM
compatibility than OS 9 is. You could try removing the RAM upgrade
module and try booting from the install disk. If it works, that
probably means your RAM is not compatible with OS X.
Charles
Hello,
Thank you for your help. It has opened my eyes a bit, and now I am
going to replace the drive. (Upon disassembling the iMac, it came clear
that the previous owner had loved to use his screwdriver to bend out
stuck CDs! The drive was in awful state, so I am going to put in a
SuperDrive instead....)
Thank you again!
Peter
Hi Péter,
My pleasure. Glad I was able to help a bit.
It does sound like the condition of the drive is
likely the problem.
Charles
USB 2.0 and G3 PowerBooks
From Michel following up on Pismo
Processors Burning Out:
Hi Charles,
Thermal paste was the issue. My Pismos have been running nicely and
intensely for over a month now.
I was now considering upgrading the USB after spending 15 minutes
copying files off my 2 GB USB stick. I've been reading a little,
and it seems the Pismo's PCMCIA can't do USB 2.0. Is that true? What
card should I buy?
Thanks,
Mike
Hi Mike,
Glad to hear that you got things sorted out. The trick
with thermal paste is to use enough, but not too much, i.e.: an even
coating for good thermal transfer, but not a too-thick coating, which
has a contrary effect.
As for the Pismo and USB 2.0 adapter cards, there is
some ambiguity in that the Mac OS Classic won't support USB 2.0
(although some say even that's possible), but reportedly OS X 10.2
and up does, with these caveats:
- With 10.2.0 through 10.2.6, any USB 2.0 card must have compatible
third-party drivers.
- With 10.2.8 through 10.4.11, Apple has added native support for USB
2.0 PC cards but not all cards will work due to different USB
2.0 chipsets used.
For example, the Adaptec USB2connect AUA-1420A card is
advertised as cross-platform, but the fine print notes that you only
get USB 1.1 speeds on the PowerBook G3 machines. Users have also
reported problems with the Belkin Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Notebook Card (#
F5U222). Also reportedly, the Adstech USB 2.0 card works fine, but only
when the machine is powered by an external AC adapter. Still others
have reported success with dirt-cheap generic USB 2.0 PCMCIA cards
costing as little as $10.
Sorry I can't be more definitive, but evidently is is
possible to get USB 2.0 to work on the Pismo if you get a compatible
card.
Charles
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