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 […]
1998 – On the Mac side of the fence, we all know the processors found in the Power Mac G3, the PowerBook G3, and in G3 upgrades in a host of older Macs are up to twice as fast as Intel’s Pentium II processor. But did you also know that Intel has a long history of […]
Feeling smug about the year 2000, Mac owner? Don’t.
June 1998: The world is trying to tell Apple the iMac is overpriced: “Buyers want a $999 computer.” But the facts speak differently.
With the iMac, Apple is adopting the Universal Serial Bus (USB), replacing the SCSI, serial, and ADB ports Mac users have had for over a decade.
May 1998: The iMac has one flaw: no removable media drive. That’s right, there’s no standard floppy drive, nor is there a SCSI port for adding a Zip drive, optical drive, CD-ROM burner, or other removable media drive.
1998 – Yes, Mac OS 8 takes up more memory than earlier Mac OS versions, but it’s not necessarily what you think. On a machine with 12 MB of memory, OS 8.x takes up less memory than on the same Mac with more memory installed. Here’s how – and Apple’s been doing things like this […]
1998: In his article, Apple Offers Sizzle in Forbes Digital, Michael Noer asks, “Is Apple really back?” Despite claims by Steve Jobs and the fact that Apple Computer is the sweetheart stock of 1998, Noer maintains that Apple is not back. Instead, he claims it is dying.
May 1998: We’ve had over a week to put iMac in perspective – and it’s still a winner.
The article on SCSI Component Order generated some excellent feedback and dialogue. The following comments were written by Keith Bumgarner of MacInformed, the author of the original article.
1998 – I don’t think I’ve been this excited about a computer since I got my own Mac Plus to replace an 8 MHz XT clone.
Per a few private requests, I found enough interest to post a thesis for all to see about the SCSI ID 5 issue.
The PowerBook G3 Series, code named WallStreet, was designed around the same PowerPC 750 (aka G3) processor as the original PowerBook G3 – but don’t confuse it with the original. Although they bear a similar name, this was a whole new computer. Available at three different speeds (233, 250, and 292 MHz) and with three […]
This was posted during a discussion of stripping PowerPC (a.k.a. PPC native) code from the System Folder for use on 680×0-based Macs.
1998 – There is no functional difference between the Power Mac 7100 and the Quadra 650 with the PowerPC upgrade card: They use the same ROM. As for the PPC Toolbox, that appears on all the 68040 Macs I’ve worked with, simply because the PPC Toolbox is 68k code.
Apple launched the Macintosh in 1984 with an 8 MHz 68000 CPU. When this list was published in April 1998, the fastest Mac was the 300 MHz Beige Power Mac G3. Here are Scott Barber’s picks as the best Macs from each CPU family Apple has used to date.
1998 – Okay, kind of a flame, but really specialized. I disagree that Apple should dump the 68k code simply because they want to isolate the 68040 machines from modern use.
1998 – I have this incredible desire to mention a few things about SCSI, seeing the wealth of posts that in some way or another ask whether this drive or that drive will work with this machine or that machine. This isn’t meant to be sarcastic, and it’s very serious – I have clients that […]
All Macintoshes are capable of achieving the 230 kbps (kilobits per second) transfer rate, since this is the speed of LocalTalk. The problem is, unless a device uses the LocalTalk protocol, the port cannot stream that way and is limited to normal serial modes.
