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)

Being released a little over 2 months after the 15/17″ variants of the late 2003 refresh, this was the latest and greatest iMac G4 to-date (as well as the largest). Featuring a brand new 20″ TFT (thin film transistor) active matrix 1680 x 1050 LCD display, the sheer weight of the screen required a heavier […]

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.

iBook G4 (Late 2003)

With the introduction of the G4 iBooks in October 2003, Apple phased out the last Macs with G3 processors, which had been in use since November 1997. Although these G4 iBooks use a G4 CPU, it’s not the same version used in the PowerBook G4 – this version only has a 256 KB level 2 […]

14″ iBook G4 (Late 2003)

With the introduction of the G4 iBooks in October 2003, Apple phased out the last Macs with G3 processors, which had been in use since November 1997 – and brought the iBook past the 1 GHz mark. Although the G4 iBooks use a G4 CPU, it’s not the same version used in the PowerBook G4 – […]

12″ 800 MHz iBook G4 (Late 2003)

With the introduction of the G4 iBooks in October 2003, Apple phased out the last Macs with G3 processors, which had been in use since November 1997. Although the G4 iBooks use a G4 CPU, it’s not the same version used in the PowerBook G4 – this edition has only a 256 KB level 2 […]

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.

12″ PowerBook G4 (Late 2003)

After eight months at 867 MHz, Apple speed bumped the little AlBook to 1 GHz and upgraded video with the Nvidia GeForce FX Go5200 graphics processor. The 12″ PowerBook G4 also catches up with the rest of the line by adding DVI support (with a mini-DVI to DVI adapter) while moving to an optional accessory for S-video […]

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.

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 […]

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.

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 […]

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 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.

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 […]

The Good, the Bad, the Stupid of BuyMusic.com

2003: To absolutely no one’s surprise, a music downloading company is taking a run at the iTunes Music Store. When you’re top dog (or the only dog), people come knocking. Needless to say, yesterday’s announcement by BuyMusic.com to bring music downloading to the Windows masses sparked an interesting round of articles.

Back to the Mac: OS X Is Unix

Over the last several months, the home network has fallen into something of a state of disarray. The OpenBSD file server was rooted with an ssh exploit sometime ago resulting in random outbound IRC connections, and the OpenBSD router forwarded its last packet some weeks ago due to a barrage of software and hardware issues.