Build Your Own Planetarium

As part of our ongoing efforts to build a small classroom planetarium at our school, we have opted not to go with a package deal from a single vendor and instead assemble components from different vendors.

iPod mini a Success Despite Pundits

2004: I generally stay far away from speculating on new products. There are simply too many variables at work for one person to come up with a reasonable prediction. For example, the original iMac was doomed to fail because it didn’t have a floppy drive and wasn’t expandable. PC pundits trashed the little machine, while […]

Apple’s Success and Steve Jobs’ Succession

2004: Few would argue that much of Apple’s success over the past six years can be attributed to Steve Jobs. He gave Apple a strong mandate, pared down the product line, and really helped focus the company on delivering Mac OS X. Without these three things, it’s entirely possible that Apple wouldn’t be in as good […]

Still Waiting for the Tipping Point

2004: By all accounts, the goodies unveiled at Macworld Expo will satisfy most Mac user’s cravings for new and better hardware and software. The new iPod mini should maintain – if not extend – Apple’s dominance of the portable music player market. Updated iLife applications have finally arrived. The G5 Xserve will bring more power […]

Xserve G5 (Early 2004)

Nearly a year after the Xserve G4 hit 1.33 GHz, Apple unveiled the Xserve G5 with single or dual 2.0 GHz G5 CPUs and a 1.0 GHz system bus (vs. 167 MHz on the  G4), providing over 40% more overall processing power.

Macworld Expo: Christmas for Macheads

2003: Everyone is no doubt caught up in the full swing of the holidays. Presents to give and receive, festivities to attend, and delicious meals to digest. But for most Mac fans, the real Christmas season starts with Steve Jobs taking to the stage at Macworld Expo on January 6th.

The Online Music Bubble Is Getting Bigger

2003: Man + dog seem to be getting into the online Music industry. Coca-Cola is the most recent entry in a parade of iTunes Music Store wannabes. Who’ve we got so far? Let’s see. BuyMusic.com, Napster, Puretracks, Dell, and the list goes on. Even the mighty Walmart is apparently getting into the act.

eMac II Brings Apple to the Gates of Dell

2003 – Just when you thought it was safe to recommend an eMac, Apple thows another wrench into the works, the eMac II, or so our anonymous janitor at One Infinite Loop leads us to believe based on reconstructions of shredded documents and late night visits to the design labs while in a drunken stupor.

20″ iMac G4 (Late 2003)

The biggest iMac to date, the 20″ model has a 1680 x 1050 display – and due to the weight of the screen, the base has to be heavier to counterbalance it. At 40.1 pounds, this is the heaviest iMac G4 yet. Except for the screen size and weight, the 20″ iMac G4 is identical […]

First Impressions of the 14″ iBook G4

Dearest readers out there in the digital void! I am sure you actually don’t have the time to read this, as you are probably already hasting through toy stores, lingerie boutiques, and Martha Stewart shops to get your Christmas shopping done (what? on Stansted Airport the Christmas decoration has been up since late September), because […]

Enjoyed the Music Appetizer? Try the OS Main Course

2003: With hell freezing over and all, I’m hoping that Apple will be able to introduce another cold front in the Windows world. Windows users like their iTunes. They really like their iTunes. Really. Some have even toyed with the possibility of buying a Mac just so their whole computing experience can be as simple […]

Apple Shines after a Poorly Timed iBook Order

Bonjour, mes amis! You will remember my usual incoherent rambling about me trying to buy a new portable Apple computer from my last article. Well, after a bout of unsuccessful stints onto the highstreets (the machines I wanted to have were never in stock or only available as demo-models with faults), I fell into a […]

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.

Proteron: Tilting at Windmills

2003: With the recent release of Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, Proteron has made a bit of a stink about the inclusion of an application switcher that is, apparently, a “near pixel duplication” of Proteron’s LiteSwitch X.

Mac OS X 10.3 Panther

Mac OS X 10.3 Panther was released on October 24, 2003 and was last updated on April 15, 2005, when the 10.3.9 update was released.

Microsoft’s Holding Pattern

2003: Is it just me, or is Redmond in a holding pattern? It seems that all the innovation is happening elsewhere in the computer industry these days. Apple is a prime example of this. It continues to update Mac OS X and other software packages at a good clip. OS X 10.3 Panther contains a boatload […]

Winds of Change May Benefit Apple

2003: Recent reports indicate that governments around the world are considering the switch away from Windows to Linux. This has Microsoft worried enough to create a battle Linux slush fund to convince governments to stick with Windows.

Rooting for Microsoft?

2003: Grind you teeth, readers, because I’m going to be asking you to do something you likely haven’t had to do since Microsoft gave Apple a financial hand in 1997. That’s right, it’s time to root for Microsoft.

17″ iMac G4 (Late 2003)

The first iMac to reach 1.25 GHz, the 17″ G4 iMac has a wide aspect ratio “cinema” type screen and displays 1440 x 900 pixels – just perfect for DVDs. Along with the 1.0 GHz 15″ model, it’s the first iMac to support USB 2.0, and it’s also the first to sport GeForce 5200 graphics.

15″ iMac G4 (Late 2003)

The last revision of the 15″ flat panel iMac has a 1 GHz G4 processor, a 32x Combo drive, and 32 MB of video memory. Along with the 1.25 GHz 17″ model, it is the first iMac to support USB 2.0.

Digitize Your Albums and Cassettes with Your Mac

I got a number of responses to How to Digitize Your Old Tapes, LPs, and 45s with Your Mac, my article about converting cassettes and LPs to digital format. Several readers wrote to recommend software and/or hardware if you have more music to convert than I do and don’t want to go through the complex rigmarole […]

Remembering HyperCard

In the endless rush to get the latest Mac that has come off the assembly line, Mac users leave behind a wondrous treasure trove of applications and documents that are of little or no use on the new Mac. The reason for this is simple – the application or document will not run using a […]

The Web Has Left 68k Macs Behind

Low-end classic Mac users, Judgment Day seems to have come for us all. While reviewing July 9th in Low End Mac History for 2001, I came across an account of how one vintage Mac user was having trouble accessing his email using a Triassic Mac running vintage software. It seems that there was a problem related […]

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.