1998 – I’ve received a lot of feedback to The iMac: Not for Me. Several readers applauded my honesty in admitting that the iMac isn’t for everyone.
1998 – Boy, was I ever wrong! Back in April, I wrote No $500 PC This Year. I didn’t see how anyone could combine a decent motherboard, hard drive, CD-ROM, case, power supply, floppy drive, keyboard, mouse, and a copy of Windows for under $500.
Sept. 1998: It’s a bit embarrassing to admit it, especially since I run one of the more successful iMac sites, but I don’t own an iMac, haven’t ordered an iMac, and doubt I’ll buy an iMac.
code name: WallStreet There were two different sets of WallStreet PowerBooks. Series I was introduced in May 1998; Series II (also known as “PDQ”) replaced it that September. These were Apple’s first notebook computers that didn’t automatically ship with a floppy drive, although it was a popular option. These were the first PowerBooks to offer […]
This PowerBook G3 Series II, code named PDQ, was announced Sept. 1, 1998. Changes from the earlier G3 Series include a 66 MHz motherboard for all versions and standard 14.1″ screen. The 1024 x 768 screen will also automatically scale, allowing users to emulate 640 x 480 and 800 x 600 resolutions.
A big screen will absolutely spoil you.
1998: Did you ever buy a computer, only to have them introduce a faster, more powerful model within months – sometimes at an even lower price? Better yet, did you ever have it not happen?
1998: I couldn’t believe the headline. The Clinton administration is asking the United States Postal Service to devise a system of permanent email addresses. The great benefit of a permanent email address is that, once you have it, you can use it forever, even if you change Internet service providers. How forward-looking!
1998.08: Don Crabb wrote today about Apple’s backorder problems (Supply and Demand, MacCentral, no longer online). Almost all dealers are out of iMacs, PowerBooks are back ordered, and Power Macs are hard to get. The price of success?
Hello (again). Do you remember the first Mac, the one that didn’t even have a model number? The amazing 8 MHz 68000 CPU, crystal clear 9″ b&w screen, huge 400 KB floppy drive, and radical mouse?
August 1998: In iMac-ulate Conception: How Apple Made a Miracle Out of a Mere PC on ZDNet, Robert Lemos disparages the iMac as featuring “very little new technology and . . . missing some standard features found in other computers, such as a floppy drive and built-in printer connectivity.”
August 1998: The iMac is Apple’s most important product roll-out since the original Macintosh. A column by Jim Davis on Cnet (The iMac’s Ancestors) reminded me how like and unlike the two computers are. Here’s a comparison of features.
August 1998: “This sounds like Apple trying to make it back with a last ditch effort, and I feel that this iMac will only resolve to be a slightly faster, showy machine with fewer capabilities than a GameBoy with a modem. Macs have always proven to be the slower, clunkier machines in a world that […]
August 1999: Last November I said that Macs needed parallel ports. I got a lot of letters on that, some saying I made a lot of sense. Others said parallel ports would soon be obsolete, replaced with the Universal Serial Bus (USB) and FireWire.
August 1998: I’ve been looking forward to the latest issue of PC Magazine, the one that looks at sub-$1,000 (sub-$1K) Windows systems. So many “experts” are chiding Apple for releasing a $1,300 computer when (they say) buyers really want sub-$1K PCs.
August 1998: Way back when, Apple invented a business version of the Apple II. The Apple /// was an incompatible bust in both its original 128 KB incarnation and the later 192 KB version. It didn’t quite kill Apple.
1998: Once upon a time there were no computers. We’ve come a long way, baby! The first computers were pretty primitive by any standard. There was no software – you had to wire the computer for its intended task. Then came neat things like software on punch cards, paper tape, and eventually hard drives.
August 1998: The iMac is an impressive computing value: performance, expansion, and the world’s greatest OS. But it’s not designed for everyone.
1998: On August 15, Apple Computer will launch a revolutionary new personal computer – the iMac. “It looks like it came from another planet – a good planet, one with great industrial designers!” quips Steven Jobs, Apple’s interim CEO.
August 1998: Three months ago it looked like a risky move: The iMac would use the universal serial bus (USB), but not ADB, SCSI, or a standard Mac serial port. Although Microsoft and Intel have promoted USB, and the vast army of clone makers have been building USB into their computers, I don’t know of […]
There’s a lot to like about the iMac: styling, size, price, value, and a willingness to venture into new territory. Face it: No Wintel company has completely abandoned their traditional ports to go exclusively USB.
August 1998: Every month PC World lists the 20 best selling computer systems – and USA Today publishes the 10 best sellers. The USA Today list from 8 July 1998 includes:
The iMac Group is a group for all iMac G3, G4, and G5 and eMac users. We have launched a separate group for Intel-based iMacs. Group begun 1998.07.29.
1998: When you’re responsible for dozens of computers on a network, you try to plan ahead while choosing the most cost-effective hardware to meet your needs. Since 1994, that has meant buying PowerPC Macs.
1998 – I’ve looked at the theory of using an older, slower Mac as a server on a 10Base-T ethernet network in SCSI Throughput vs. Network Throughput – now on to the testing.
1998 – Scott L. Barber does something I didn’t understand for a long time: he recommends using a Mac Plus or Mac SE – or whatever your slowest Mac is – as a file server!
July 1998: Apple has introduced the most appealing educational computer since it introduced the Macintosh LC in 1990.
July 1998: Don Crabb was the first to speculate in public that the iMac wouldn’t stand alone for long (The iMac Line, Don Crabb, MacCentral, 9 June 1998). I have to agree with him. The iMac is as revolutionary as the original Macintosh – without breaking software compatibility (see The iMac: truly revolutionary). And just […]
June 1998 – The Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) appear to be standardizing on Windows, if their current $795,000 purchase of Windows-based computer systems is any indication. This may mean they will phase out millions of dollars worth of Macintosh equipment (estimated at 2,000 computers), some of it installed as recently as the 1997-98 school […]
1998: For years the loyalty of Mac users was the envy of the PC industry. Report after report showed that when Mac owners bought another computer, it was almost always an Apple Macintosh. But things changed.
June 1998: How quickly we forget how revolutionary personal computers are! The first PCs were kits for electronic hobbyists. The Apple 1 came as a kit; users had to add their own keyboard, case, and power supply. The real revolution came in 1977 with the TRS-80, the Commodore PET, and the Apple II – computers […]
June 1998 – As a Mac user and proponent, a taxpayer, and the father of four children enrolled in the Grand Rapids (MI) Public Schools, these news tidbits about our school system migrating to Windows got my attention.
SuperMacs is a forum for users of Umax SuperMac computers. This group doesn’t cover SuperMac video cards, monitors, or any other products with the SuperMac brand name – only SuperMac computers produced by Umax.
Vintage Macs is a forum for users of 68000, 68020, 68030, and 68040-based Macintosh computers (a.k.a. 680×0 Macs and 68K Macs). This includes compact Macs, the Mac II series, LCs, Quadras, and others.
June 1998: I received an interesting email from Mark Sutherland the other day. He swore he’d seen a picture of the iMac with a VGA port. I quickly grabbed Macworld and looked closely at the pictures (no longer online). No sign of a monitor port. Just audio, USB, ethernet, and modem ports. I asked Mark […]
