LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.
OWC: OWC Mercury On-The-Go FW400/800/USB2/eSATA Portables High Performance A/V Rated, **Bus Powered** **Up to 500GB in the Palm of your Hand** Macworld Editor's Choice, CNET 'Very Good' - from $75.99!
By now I'm guessing a lot of you have seen the Open
Letter to Apple by Ward W.
Vuillemot. According to one copy posted on the Web, Mr.
Vuillemot emailed his tirade to MacCentral and MacInTouch, as well
as posting to the DealMac Forum, Apple Support Forum, MacNN Forum,
and MacDebate Forum.
I guess >Low End Mac's message boards just don't cut it for
Mr. V. ;-)
Anyhow, Mr. V. is all pissed that the "Apple G3 (gossamer)
desktop" (I have to assume he means the Blue & White Power Macintosh G3
[Yosemite], since it was the only desktop "Apple G3" to offer
DVD drives) he bought in 1999 doesn't work as he wants it to under
Mac OS X version 10.1 (which he refers to as Mac OX
10.1, sigh).
Thanks to feedback from several readers, I've learned that
Gossamer was the code name for the beige
Power Mac G3, which was introduced in November 1997, upgraded
to 300 MHz and a DVD-ROM option added in March 1998, and
discontinued in January 1999. I hadn't been aware DVD-ROM drives,
let alone a hardware decoder card, had been available for this
model. I'll have to contact Dan and have him update the LEM profile
for this model (done - dk). Updates to this article are enclosed in
square brackets. AO, 11/16
I don't usually deal with events in the real world - making up
rumors is much more fun - but the sheer stupidity of this
complaint boggles the mind.
Mr. V. notes, "When I purchased the computer, Apple sold the DVD
drive without a decoder," then made it an optional
build-to-order (BTO) feature in a revision of the Power Mac G3
released one day before he received his computer (but 14 weeks
after he ordered it). After two [or possibly three] years of
badgering Apple, Mr. V. convinced them to install the DVD
decoder in his computer.
Although this card was not a standard feature on the
version of the Power Mac G3 he purchased, Mr. V. now complains that
the Personality Card he insisted Apple provide cannot be used with
"Mac OS 10.1." Duh!
Thanks to his insistence that Apple provide a nonstandard
component to his computer, that component doesn't work with an
OS released two [or possibly three] years later. So sad.
The Power Mac G3 apparently worked perfectly before the
modification Mr. V. insisted on, but now he's all in a
tizzy because his computer has no sound or DVD support - at
least under OS X 10.1. Curiously, Mr. V. doesn't note
whether he has sound with Mac OS 9.2.1. His failure to state this
leads me to believe that there is no problem under Mac OS
9.x. (More on that below!)
Yes Mr. V. makes the ridiculous claim that Apple
broke his computer! Remember, Apple never offered him the
Personality Card; Mr. V. fought them for two [or three] years until
Apple agreed to put it in - probably just to get him off their
back.
Mr. V. goes further to claim that running under Mac OS 9.x is
not an option for him, although he doesn't explain why. This is
especially bizarre since the Yosemite G3 shipped with Mac OS 8.5
and clearly supports Mac OS 9.x.
Based on everything Mr. V. has posted, he believes his computer
was broken from the day he bought it - first, because it
didn't include the DVD decoder card that wasn't even an option when
he ordered it, and second, because now that Apple has installed the
card (after he badgered them for two [or three] years), he finds
the card doesn't work under Mac OS X 10.1.
Mr. V. goes out of his way to avoid telling us that the card
works under Mac OS 9.x or why the classic Mac OS is no longer an
option for him. Instead, he wants Apple to drop everything
and provide OS X drivers for his nonstandard configuration,
replace the card with a card compatible with OS X, or provide
him with a whole new computer that "equals or exceeds the
current system while returning the lost functionality."
Oops, he just admitted that he had that functionality
before installing Mac OS X 10.1, an operating system that
remains incomplete. With patience (either waiting for a future
OS X revision or living with the classic Mac OS), Apple may
eventually support his configuration, but that's not good enough
for him. Instead, he hopes to cobble together a class action
suit against Apple for not supporting the modification to his
hardware that Apple resisted providing for two [or three]
years.
You'd think an engineer would understand these things,
but rather than go back and use what worked (Mac OS 9.x), Mr. V.
has coerced Apple into giving him enough rope to hang
himself. His online rants indicate he's already tied a noose
and put it around his neck.
- Anne Onymus
Further thoughts on 11/16: Andrew W. Hill took a close look at
the specs of Mr. V's machine. The Gestalt ID definitely points to a
beige G3, not the blue & white one. It also notes a clock speed
of 315 MHz, which means Mr. V. has overclocked his CPU (see
Clocking the Power Mac G3 for details)
or OS X misreports clock speed, since there was no 315 MHz
model from Apple. Interesting....
Recent Rumor Mills
New Apple drive supports Blu-ray and HD DVD, 09.11.
Tired of being second-guessed and sometimes outmaneuvered by Microsoft, Apple has embraced both next gen DVD formats with its new SuperDrive Extreme.
California: Beyond 'no light bulbs for you', 02.01.
A Calfiornia assemblyman wants to make incandescent light bulbs illegal - but that's just the beginning. His next target: CRT monitors and TVs.
Sudden impact: Apple's great Asteroid hoax, 06.09.
Truth of the matter is, the Asteroid Project didn't exist to produce a viable product, but as a way to shut down rumor sites.
Mac of the Day: PowerBook 170, Oct. 1991 - At 25 MHz, the PB 170 was at the top of the original PowerBook line.
List of the Day: The iPhone List Low End Mac's forum for discussing and supporting Apple's iPhone.
August 29 in LEM history: 00: My lowest low-end Mac - 01: Uncluttered organization - Microsoft wins over Mac user - 02: Salute to SatireWire - 03: Wireless Internet popping up everywhere - 05: World domination, online or off - A 3-dimensional Dock replacement - 06: Productive at the low end - PowerPC vs. Intel - Secure wireless
Recent Content on Low End Mac
Looking for a Content Management System That's as Easy as Mac, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 08.29.
Low End Mac needs to move to a content management system, but the few we've tried just don't cut it for people used to the simple elegance of the Mac.
Best Power Mac G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.29.
Used 450 MHz AGP, $75; 500, $99; 800 QS, $199; 1.25 GHz MDD, $375; 450 MHz dual, $179; 867 dual, $300; 1 GHz dual, $395; 1.42 dual, $575.
Best iBook G3 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.29.
Used 300 MHz clamshell, $150; 500 CD, $150; 800, $200; 600 CD-RW, $240; 900 Combo, $300; 14" 600, $360; 900, $400.
Best iPod nano Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.29.
Used 2 GB iPod nano, $89; refurb 3G 4 GB, $99; new, $140; refurb 8 GB, $149; new, $179.
10 Mac Browsers Compared, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 08.28.
A look at Internet Explorer, Radon, Opera, Safari, Shiira, iCab, Firefox, Netscape Navigator, Flock, and Camino running in Leopard.
Clone and Boot: Another Advantage of the Mac OS, Kev Kitchens, Kitchens Sync, 08.28.
Unlike Windows, Apple makes it possible to clone a bootable drive (Classic Mac OS or OS X) and use it with another supported Mac.
Best MacBook Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.28.
Used 1.83 GHz, $799; 2.0 black, $875; refurb 2.1 GHz, $899; 2.4, $1,099; black, $1,299; new 2.1, $1,019 after rebate; 22, $1,094; 2.4, $1,219 a/r; black, $1,394 a/r.
Best iMac G5 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.28.
Used 17" 1.6 GHz Combo, $499; 1.8 SuperDrive, $530; 2.0, $600; 1.9 iSight, $625; 20" 1.8 GHz, $580; 2.0, $650; 2.1 iSight, $700.
Best classic Mac OS Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.28.
System 6, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5.1, $4; Mac OS 7.6, $13; 8.0, $13; 8.1, $48; 8.5, $25; 8.6, $20; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $20; more.
CrossOver Strikes Out, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 08.27.
Running Windows apps on a Mac without paying for Windows is great in theory, but actually getting Windows software working is another story.
MacDrought: 4 Months with No New Macs, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 08.27.
The most recent Mac update was over four months ago, and the Mac mini has been unchanged for over a year.
Best Intel iMac Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.27.
Used 17" 1.83 GHz, $625; 20", $599; 2.16, $749; 24", $950; refurb 20" 2.4, $999; 2.66, $1,299; 24" 2.4, $1,299; 2.8, $1,549; new 3.06, $2,094 after rebate; more.
Best 15" PowerBook G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.27.
Used 1.25 GHz Combo, $600; SuperDrive, $650; 1.33 Combo, $640; 1.5, $680; SD, $725; 1.67, $730; hi-res, $800.
Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.27.
500 GB Time Capsule, $294; 1 TB, $468; AirPort Extreme Card, $39; 802.11n Base Station, $166; 802.11g AirPort Express, $60; 802.11n, $98.
Our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For detailed
price quotes and advertising information, please
contactat BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number
is for advertising only.
LINK POLICY: This site allows and
encourages links to any public page, so long as the linked page
does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking the linked
page.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has
not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple
Computer, Inc. Apple and the Apple Logo are trademarks of Apple
Computer, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective holders. If you still think this is serious business,
read About The Rumor Mill.
