G4 Insignificantly Superior to G3

I’ve said it before; I’ll say it again. The G4 is insignificantly superior to the G3 unless you are running AltiVec-enabled software. It’s not a claim I make lightly, since Apple is hyping the G4 as the greatest thing since, well, the G3. Truth is, the G4 is little more than a G3 with a […]

DSL Lines and Cupertino Apples

2000: This week my DSL line is being put in. It has been a very long wait for me to get high-speed Internet service at home. This couldn’t be happening at a better time because when I quit my MIS Director’s job I gave up my T1 exploitation rights.

Apple to Get Toasted in Processor Speedstakes?

2000: Last week a reader named Mike Donahue asked if I would do an in-depth investigation into Apple’s CPU processor plans. I don’t know about in-depth – I don’t think I’m qualified – but this is a topic that I’m concerned about as well, so here is an overview at least. Others have been writing […]

Web Design, Part 2: Site Organization

2000 – Let’s start with a note on include files (the topic of the previous article). If you include a “/” in your reference as in <A HREF=”/news/index.shtml”> instead of <A HREF=”news/index.shtml”>, then it will not matter where the file is located – it will always relative to the root directory. In other words, it […]

Getting a Modem for an Older Power Mac

2000 – I recently got a Power Mac from a friend (it’s a 1994 model PowerPC). It was apparently on the network before I received it. It says it has an internal modem, but all I see is a modem port on the back of the computer without the RJ-11 (phone line) connector. How can […]

A Rescued Fat Mac

2000: Jonathan Wise shares: I found my first Mac in the garbage. It was a Mac 512K (Fat Mac) and had been the office computer at my church for about 5 years. It had developed the vertical line disease (for those of you who don’t know old Macs, when they get too hot, the insides […]

A Rescued Fat Mac

I found my first Mac in the garbage. It was a Mac 512K (Fat Mac) and had been the office computer at my church for about five years. It had developed the vertical line disease (for those of you who don’t know old Macs, when they get too hot, the insides start to melt a little […]

G4 Debacle Not All Apple’s Fault

2000: Sean Terrill says that the G4 debacle is all Apple’s fault. He makes some interesting arguments in his article on Mac Junkie, The Great G4 Debacle: Why It Is Apple’s Fault (no longer online).

Sonnet Presto Plus Unleashes the Color Classic

Yesterday I received my eagerly-awaited Presto Plus from Sonnet; I promptly canceled my other plans for the evening and started playing with it in my Color Classic. To make a long story short: “Oh BABY!”

A Boy and His Macs

My first Apple was not a Macintosh. It was an Apple IIe with a green screen and an external floppy. It worked; it wasn’t glamorous. I just used it. I did not upgrade or tinker.

Macs Play MP3

2000: MP3s are the latest fad in the computer world. Many people use this file format to play their favorite songs. However, there have been many shortcomings to this new file format. With today’s tips, you’ll be able to get up and running with MP3s faster and easier than you’d ever thought possible.

Praises, Complaints, News, and More

2000: I left off last time blasting CompUSA for their antics, and I received a lot of interesting emails (mostly from CompUSA store owners) commenting about how my remarks were “unprofessional” and “insulting.”

Getting Online with a Performa 636

2000 – I’d like to get on the Internet with my Macintosh Performa 636. Is that possible? Can I buy a modem for it, or would it be useless? What kind of modem? What do I need to get online?

From Pencil to PowerBook: One Writer’s Mac Odyssey

2000: With the proper wired infrastructure in place, there is no reason why e-businesses can’t operate virtually anywhere in the world. My own experience is a case in point. I live in an unlikely spot – the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada, which is the extreme boonies even in a rural Nova Scotian context. […]

Apple’s Retail Problem: Why PC People Tend to Leave Out Macs

2000: Apple’s computers and other products have been grossly underrepresented by PC reviewers since before PCs were called “IBM compatibles” (remember that?). When they do get around to discussing or reviewing Apple products, they barely mention the products – or the article seems like a report from Mac Bash Fest 2000.

Apple Abandons Motorola, IBM

2/16/2K: Frustrated at Motorola’s inability to deliver 500 MHz G4 processors and the infighting between IBM and Motorola over the G4 design, Apple has unilaterally pulled out of the AIM consortium.

iBook SE (366 MHz)

The iBook has been the best selling portable computer since it began shipping in late September 1999. It’s also been picked on for having too little memory, too small a hard drive, and garish (some say “girlie”) colors.

Are Extended Computer Warranties Worth the Cost?

2000: Apple Computer has revamped and enhanced it’s AppleCare Protection Plan extended warranty, which now provides two extra years of service and support for your Mac at a flat rate price, including telephone support, bundled third-party diagnostic tools, Apple-certified repairs, and 24-hour-a-day Internet support. But are extended warranties like AppleCare worth what they cost?

Raising the Dead, Part 2

2000 – Welcome back to the surreal. Over the past few weeks, I have been visiting the library and the local Radio Shack seeking out parts and information that would help revive my comatose 1988 vintage Mac II. According to the book Macintosh II Repair and Upgrades Secrets, there are two lithium cells that should be […]

Surfing the iNet

2000: You do everything with your Mac: You do your banking, talk to your friends, do your shopping. You do almost everything – well, now you can even send Mac-oriented cards to your friends! Apple has unveiled it’s free service to any computer users (not just us people with superior computers). This service is called […]

Pismo PowerBook

a.k.a. PowerBook (FireWire), PowerBook (2000), PowerBook (Pismo) The last G3 PowerBook (just PowerBook, no longer PowerBook G3) was announced on February 16, 2000. It’s the same size and weight as the Lombard PowerBook G3, but the new model has FireWire ports instead of SCSI, room for an AirPort Card, and a 100 MHz motherboard.

Applied Engineering AE HD+ Floppy Drive

This article is adapted from a posting by Adam Takessian to the Vintage Macs email list. I would like very much to help other compact Mac users to know more about the AE HD+, because before I bought mine, the information on the Web was extremely limited, scattered across several different pages, sometimes inaccurate, and […]