ROKR iTunes Phone Definitely Not an Apple Product

In addition to Apple introducing the iPod nano last week, the first iTunes-compatible cell phone was also introduced to the market last week. No, this wasn’t the long-rumored Apple iPhone. Instead, it was a new model from Motorola, dubbed ROKR and only available in the US to Cingular Wireless customers.

Apple Sued for Providing Integrated Music Solution

2005 – In a legal system with more than enough stupid lawsuits, Thomas Slattery’s suit against Apple is one of the dumbest. For those who haven’t been paying attention or believed this had to be from of The Onion or Weekly World News, the truth is that Slattery has initiated a class action suit against Apple, […]

Apple Selling Intel-Based Macs? Don’t Count on It

Update: Just hours before Apple announced it would switch Macs to Intel x86 CPUs, we argued that it would make no sense for Apple to do so. Thanks to dual-core technology and a great PowerPC emulator, Apple was able to make the transition far more smoothly than we would have believed. Would you expect less […]

Why You Want DVI on Your Flat Panel Display

Buying the best display for your Mac has never been easy, unless you wanted to pay for Apple-branded products. In the old days, Mac video ports were different from those used in the PC world, and today you need to research whether the display you’re interested in has VGA or DVI input.

The New Standard Keyboard: What Were They Thinking?

If you know anything at all about the history of keyboards, you probably know that the QWERTY design – so named after the first six alphabetical keys – was deliberately designed to avoid jamming typewriters. Ideal or not, it’s been the standard keyboard layout in the English-speaking world for 130 years.

The ‘Overpriced’ Mac in 1984

There are a number of myths surrounding the Macintosh: It’s only for artists. There aren’t enough programs. It’s slow compared to Windows PCs. It’s terrible for gaming. And it’s always been overpriced.

G3 Daughter Cards for PCI Power Macs and Clones

One of the best things Apple ever did for Power Mac users was design the CPU daughter card introduced with the Power Mac 9500. Apple, Power Computing, and SuperMac all used it in their PCI models running PowerPC 601 and 604 CPUs.

eMac a Worst Buy? I Don’t Think So

PC Magazine’s Jim Louderback calls the eMac one of the ten worst products of the year. You know, the computer Mac site after site calls Apple’s best computing value ever. The machine we use at Low End Mac.

Use a PC Keyboard with Your OS X Mac via uControl

Have you ever wanted to plug a low-cost PC keyboard into your Mac’s USB port, only to find that a few minutes of trying to type is driving you crazy? Or have you ever wanted to pick up an inexpensive USB keyboard for your ‘Book so you can have all those extra keys or be […]

A Cult Classic: The Colour Classic II

2003 – The Color Classic, introduced in February 1993, was one of the earliest Macs to merit the Road Apple label. Road Apples are defined as Macs that were less than they should have been, models crippled for the sake of marketing or to keep costs down.

FujiFilm FinePix S5000 or Minolta Dimage Z1?

2003: No sooner did I decide that the Fujifilm FinePix S5000 would be the perfect next digicam for me (see Going Mostly Digital) than Minolta upped the ante by announcing the Dimage Z1. It offers 3.2 MP, 10x optical zoom, and a $100 lower price.

Going Mostly Digital

2003: My first digicam, a 1999 Canon PowerShot A50, was a reasonable choice as a snapshot camera and first digicam four years ago, but it’s been very much left behind. The worst problem is shutter lag, which has cost me more pictures than I care to remember. Sometimes it just doesn’t want to shoot – until […]

The Decline and Fall of the iTunes Music Store?

To hear Slyck tell it (iTunes Sales Continue to Fall, 2003.07.30), the iTunes Music Store (iTMS) is in big trouble. After a hugely successful launch of 200,000+ tunes, sales have dropped to about 50,000 per day during the past month. Worse yet, there seems to be no end in site for this decline.

Fujifilm FinePix S5000 and S7000 Promise Great Value

2003: Bang for the buck, the Fujifilm FinePix S602 has been one of the better choices for a serious photographer going digital for under US$1,000. The 35-210 equivalent zoom doesn’t go quite as wide as the recently discontinued Minolta Dimage 7i (28-200) or as long as the Nikon Coolpix 5700 (35-280), but the S602 sells […]

Does Four Thirds Stand a Chance?

2003: In my previous column, The Digital SLR: Affordable or Overpriced?, we looked at the drawbacks of using 35mm lenses with digital SLRs that have image sensors smaller than a 35mm frame. Dealing with the “conversion factor” is frustrating, and it only seems reasonable that we’ll eventually see digital SLRs that take 35mm lenses and produce […]

The Digital SLR: Affordable or Overpriced?

2003: Nothing has more typified the advanced amateur photographer in recent decades than a good SLR camera. That was true when I got started in photography 30 years ago, and it remains true today.

Is Digital Better than Film?

2003: In the May 2003 issue of Popular Photography & Imaging, editor-in-chief Jason Schneider declares that digital has achieved the quality of film. More specifically, the Kodak DCS Pro14n digital SLR matches the resolution of Kodak Max Versatility 400 color print film in a 35mm camera.