‘The Mac Is a Toy’

Oh, the Mac over there? Macs are only good for graphics.   – an Intel rep, overheard at CompUSA The Mac is a toy. They’re only good for games. – the average PC user, overheard at CompUSA

New Years Rant

1999 started out on a real high note for me. I had a finally achieved the rank of MIS director, and with doing that I had finally reached my goal to be considered a serious player in the computer industry.

Should I Buy a SCSI or IDE Hard Drive?

1999 – I have a Performa 6400 and am looking to upgrade my hard drive. I do not want to buy an external drive. Should I upgrade the IDE hard drive or add a SCSI drive to the bay above the CD-ROM?

Why Macs Don’t Look Generic

New PCs from manufacturers like Compaq, Sony, and Gateway have gained some stylish design elements. Even the horrid eOne, with its copycat design and limited upgradeability (limited by how big a sledgehammer you have), looks better than a beige metal box.

ViaVoice for Macintosh

1999: One of the greatest programs developed for the Windows platform is Voice Dictation. Voice Dictation is a program that types what you’re saying when you talk into a microphone attached to your computer. There were many programs on the market that do this: Dragon Naturally Speaking, ViaVoice, and many others. However, none of these […]

Pismo and Thin PowerBooks

1999: Dan Knight has already weighed in on this issue with The Next PowerBooks. I guess great minds think alike. I enjoyed reading Dan’s article, and I agree with most of what he said, finding his speculation about a possible thin and compact “MyBook” Apple portable (personally, I prefer the name “eBook” – for “executive” […]

A Mini-Tour of My Mac

1999 – Early last Monday, the teacher across the hall poked her head into my classroom and said, “Last Monday to teach of this millennium,” and closed the door before I could begin chuckling. We get two weeks off for Christmas vacation. There are some advantages to being an educator.

Apple’s USB Mouse Is Not an Ergonomic Dud

The Apple USB Mouse has been criticized for its diminutive size and hockey-puck shape. Numerous reviewers have rated the pointing device unfavorably stating to the tune of: “it is too small to be comfortable” or “it’s too easy to unknowingly turn it sideways.” However, I believe that the Apple design team did an excellent job.

Macs and Y2K

1999: The latest news from Microsoft headquarters is that they will be delaying the final release of Windows 2000 (Win2K) until the later half of 1900. Nope, this isn’t true; it’s just a joke (in fact, I didn’t even make it up). But, this joke does have some truth.* Many Windows users will be hit […]

SuperMac C500 Benchmarks

The Umax SuperMac C500 and C600 were the first “Power Macs” to have their CPU in a ZIF socket, making upgrades very easy. Having a C500/200 at work and finding an incredible garage sale special on upgrades from Small Dog Electronics, I decided to test the 240 MHz upgrade and the CacheDoubler.

A Roll-Your-Own Spelling Program

1999 – In the dark days when we had practically no budget and seemingly unlimited kids in our special education classroom, we saw the need for a “sure thing” self-image builder to get the kids to believe in themselves again and give us a good effort. Most of our students had extremely limited reading skills […]

New PowerBook in January

1999 – What better way to launch a new rumor site than with the scoop on the long-anticipated next (and maybe final) retooling of the PowerBook G3 expected at Macworld Expo in January.

Cat-lovers, Dog-lovers, and Computer Platforms

1999: A topic of enduring fascination for me is trying to analyze why people form polarized opinions and affinities about things. Why are some people liberals and others conservative? Why do some people like Chevies and others prefer Fords? Why do some like the toilet paper to unroll from the top while others adamantly insist […]

Watching DVDs on the Mac

1999: I watched my first DVD, Blade Runner: Director’s Cut, on a 300 MHz Blue and White Power Mac G3 with a 20″ monitor. It worked, but I get a smoother picture with my DVD player and TV at home.

Decisions

1999: In my previous article I stated that I would use a Macintosh full time for my day-to-day tasks. One thing that is preventing me from doing so is that my Quadra 605 just doesn’t give me the power that I need.