AirPort Works!
Ignore all of my insults, Apple
March 8, 2000 - Rodney O. Lain
"It takes a deaf man to hear."
&
- ;- Thomas Edison
Low End Mac Reader Specials
Memory To Go Special: New 2008 iMac 2GB $42 / iMac Intel Core2 DUO & MacBook Pro 2GB $36 - 1GB $20. MacPro 8 Core Memory 8GB kit $286 / 4GB kit $143 / 2GB kit $93 -- Free shipping available. LIfetime warranty.
Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com
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: Burn DVDs, DVD-DL, CDs, DVD-Ram - FAST! Superdrive upgrades from OWC starting from $31.99 with options for nearly every Mac. Models with Lightscribe, Blu-Ray too!
Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.
Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.
Before Macworld San Francisco, I'd given up all hope of being able to have a wireless AirPort connection with anything less than an iMac, iBook, or Power Mac. You see, I have a "Wall Street" PowerBook G3. No AirPort functionality, in other words.
Then, while at Macworld, I had the good
fortune of acquiring a WaveLAN PC card that allowed me to surf the
'Net sans wires.
Love is too weak of a word to describe my elation.
Distance made my heart grow fonder of the world of wireless web weaving, when I made it home, relegated back to my 56k connection.
In a fit of withdrawal, I bought an AirPort base station,
assuming I could easily get back to the future of internet
connectivity - after all, it was an Apple product, right?
Wrong.
I never got that thing to work. I reset the firmware in the base station. I did it again. And again. And yet again.
I tossed the base station under my desk and fired off one of two columns about my displeasure with Apple and its product, such as AirPort 1.1: Maybe it'll work this time at The iMac.
Then, Apple released version 1.1 of the AirPort software. I installed it - nothing happened. It still didn't work.
At first, I thought it was my WaveLAN card. But I was able to surf the 'Net at work, via our company's AirPort base station.
Hopeful, once more, I went to CompUSA, and the red shirts were kind enough to let me exchange my base station for another one. I brought it home, monkey-see-monkey-do'd the instructions and . . . Viola! We're wireless, babyyyyy!
Now, I'm ready to see if US West can get their act together and give my suburb DSL connectivity. Hey, US West: Media One (our cable company) is running a special on cable modem access and installation!
Meanwhile, I'd like to take back every nasty thing that I'd ever said about Apple during the last few weeks.
Now, if only the folks at Cupertino keep their collective noses clean (namely, by not shipping products before they're ready for prime time!), preventing me from having to open up a can of you-know-what within the constraints of this column.
Good going on the AirPort upgrade, guys.
Now, if only you can market this thing the way you should and
sell a few million of them. 
Rodney O. Lain called himself a fashion victim: He liked wearing socks with his sandals. When he wasn't dispensing fashion advice, Rodney wrote for Low End Mac, The Mac Observer, Applelinks, and many other websites. Rodney lived in Minnesota. His site was iBrotha.com, and we have collected as much of his writing that has disappeared from the Web as possible in The Rodney O. Lain Archive.
The most widely read Things Macintosh columns
- Apple is a company, 10/4/1999
- The main difference between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, 1/17/2000
- The $600 iMac, 12/24/1999
- Apple will rule the computer world, 11/17/1999
- I'm not paying $20 for my OS X upgrade, 2001.07.25.
- A Mac is like Prozac, 10/13/1999
- I'm a drop the funk bomb on ya: Milking the Macintosh for all it's worth, 2001.03.20.
- More links and links to memorial articles in the Things Macintosh index.
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- $19,800 Bentley Ego Laptop Remarkably Similar to 1999 Clamshell iBook, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 10.06. Granted, Apple's iBook didn't have white gold trim, a padded leather exterior, or come in colors to match your Bentley automobile.
- Use Your FileMaker Pro Databases on Your iPhone, Adam Rosen, Adam's Apple, 10.06. Although there's no version of FileMaker Pro for the iPhone, FMTouch will let you use your data and layouts on it.
- The Cost of Moving to Small Business Server vs. Moving to Leopard Server., Andrew J Fishkin, Best Tools for the Job, 10.06. Upgrading the existing SBS 2003 Server would cost less, the the server will run up against hardware limitations long before a Mac Pro does.
- Mac Netbook Coming?, $179 64 GB SSD, Apple Owns 20% of US Notebook Market, and More, The 'Book Review, 10.03. Also head of Norton AntiVirus team uses a Mac, Toshiba demos new battery technology, 1 TB notebook drives due in 2010, bargain 'Books from $150 to $2,699, and more.
- Getting the Most from Your G3 Mac, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 10.03. Most G3 Macs can be upgraded so they can run Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger' quite nicely. Here's how.
- Apple Drops iPhone NDA, Defecting to Android, Auto Performance Apps for the iPhone, and More, iNews Review, 10.03. Also more research needed on cellphone cancer link, file sharing app for the iPhone, three new power accessories from Macally, several new iPhone apps, and more.
- OS X and Safari Shares Grow in September, Toxic Mac Pro?, Green Hard Drives, and More, Mac News Review, 10.03. Also Vista terrible as Mac market grows, CrossOver Mac Pro reviewed, SimpleTech Pro Drives, and a new toolkit for working on computers.
Latest Deals on Low End Mac
- Best eMac Deals, 10.06. Used 700 MHz CD, $110; CD-RW, $130; Combo, $170; 800 CD, $170; 1 GHz Combo, $250; SuperDrive, $280; 1.25 Combo, $290; SD, $360; 1.42 Combo, $359.
- Best MacBook Air Deals, 10.06. Used 1.6 HD, $1,299; refurb, $1,499; new, $1,669 after rebate; 1.8, $1,919 a/r; 1.6 SSD, $2,294 a/r; used 1.8 SSD, $1,997; refurb, $2,299; new, $2,349 a/r.
- Best iPod shuffle Deals, 10.06. Refurb 3G/1 GB, $39; 2 GB, $59; new 1 GB (3G or 4G), $47; 2 GB (3G or 4G), $67. Prices include ground shipping.
- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 10.03. Used 450 MHz, $75; 500, $99; 733, $150; 800, $199; 1.25 GHz, C$349; 867 MHz dual, $225; 1 GHz, $349; 1.25, $499; 1.42, $600.
- Best iBook G3 Deals, 10.03. Used 300 MHz clamshell, $150; 366, $199; 500 CD, $149; 800, $190; 600 CD-RW, $240; 800 Combo, $300; 900, $399; 14" 600, $360; 900, $469.
- Best Mac OS X 10.0-10.3 Deals, 10.03. Mac OS X 10.0.3, $30; 10.1, $20; 10.2, $60; 10.3 CD, DVD, $100; CD, $119; 10.1 Server, unlimited users, $65; 10.3 Server, unlimited, $150.
- More links in our archive.
About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts
Have a question?
Ask an expert!
Navigation
Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Best Used Macs
Video Cards
Email Lists
InfoMac's Low
End Mac Forum
Favorite Sites
MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System
6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
Mac FAQ
Abandonware
Petition
Mac vs. PC Info
Affiliates
The Apple
Store
Mac
Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
MacResQ
ExperCom
Crucial
Memory
batteries.com
Advertise
