Low End Mac Archive for February 6

February 6 in Apple and Low End Mac History

1958: Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for a solid state integrated circuit.
1997: Motorola previews the PowerPC G3, which will debut in Apple computers in November.

Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for a solid state integrated circuit, ancestor of the modern silicon chip.

Motorola previews the PowerPC G3, which will debut in Apple computers in November.

Pentium II: Escargot?, Dan Knight, Mac Musings. "If you've seen the snail, you love the snail. Apple's incredible new ad pulls no punches, bragging to the world that a Power Mac G3 is up to twice as fast as Pentium II."

Distributed Apple, Steve Sarrica, My Turn. What if Apple found a way to harness spare computing cycles on Macs around the world?
Transformed by a taste of fruit, Keary Ortiz, My First Mac. "'Why do we need so much fruit?' It was an honest question when the young boy pointed to the huge box his father brought home that day."
TiBook Report #5, Dan Knight, The 'Book Page. Heat reduction with CoolPad, burning CDs, DVD tips, and more.
California goes Mac, Anne Onymus, Rumor Mill. If you can believe this, the State of California has announced a moratorium on Pentiums during the energy crunch.
LEM boycotts Cnet links, Dan Knight, Mac Musings. We've stopped linking to a good news source to protest "mega-ads" that overwhelm content.

Piracy, value, and unrippable CDs, Jody Dugan, My Turn. Cost vs. value - why we copy our music.
Apple gaining respect of the press, Stephen Van Esch, Mac Scope. Time, Fortune, Business Week, ZDNet, and others are singing Apple's praises.
Dumping Dr. Evil's junk, Eric Schwarz, The Power of Mac. Living without Microsoft, one application at a time.

Pixels and points, screens and paper, Dan Knight, Online Tech Journal. What you see on the screen corresponds to what you get on the printed page. A brief history of points, pixels, and the changing face of Mac displays.
A user's comparison of the 12" iBook and 15" TiBook, Jeff Adkins, Mac Lab Report. Each model has its advantages and disadvantages in comparison to the other. The question is which best meets your needs.
Digital photography and the 68K Mac: Time for a PCI Power Mac, Dan Knight, Mac Daniel. Sorry, but there's no way to use today's USB digicams, photo printers, and scanners without a Mac that supports USB.
Why Apple can't use IBM's PowerPC 970, Patrick Pietrasz, My Turn. "The sad truth of the matter is that Apple can not and will not use IBM's PowerPC 970 64-bit chip in any of its systems anytime in the foreseeable future."

iBook G4 benchmarks, 7 best 'Books, Pismo G4 upgrade progress, $99 PPC PowerBook, and more, The 'Book Review. A roll-up keyboard, SpyMac cases, USB 2.0 problems, new power adapters, making a better 'Book, bargain 'Books from $99 to $2,099, and more.

Pismo up in smoke, Macintel ends virus-free Macs?, G3 iBook a risk with logic board problems?, and more, Charles W Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings. Also the great value of a refurbished 20" iMac, booting OS X on WallStreet with an external CD drive, and ramblings about the MacBook name, the usefulness of old Macs, and working with Windows Mobile.
New tech parallels and perils: PowerBook 5300 and MacBook Pro, Paul Brierley, The 'Book Beat. Ten years ago, Apple's PowerBook 5300 was known for flaming batteries, sluggish performance, and underperforming emulation. Has Apple learned their lesson, or will the MacBook Pro repeat history?

How does Vista compare with Mac OS X and Windows XP?, Andrew J Fishkin, Best Tools for the Job. Vista easily beats Windows XP, but for the most part Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" is the better operating system.

The top 11 reasons to choose Macs over PCs, Frank Fox, My Turn. The 11 most important reasons for choosing a Mac over a Windows PC.
Is the MacBook Air too lightweight for serious users?, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac. Apple's slim, ultralight notebook incites lust, but with so many compromises it may not be your ideal field computer.
3 ways to better YouTube viewing on older Macs, Dan Knight, Low End Mac Mailbag. Watching YouTube videos in your browser on G3 Macs can be painfully slow, but there are several ways to improve your YouTube viewing experience.

Unlike iPhone, netbooks having minimal impact on Internet usage, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz. Linux is growing slowly and Windows XP is declining. What are people doing with those netbooks?
OS X has 10.4% market share, retail decline, new iMac in wings, Macs at RAND, and more, Mac News Review. Also next Mac Pro could come in April, Seagate firmware fix, USB cassette tape deck, software magnifying glass, and more.
Tech journalist a switcher, Hackintosh netbook vs. iBook G4, Obama skins for MacBooks, and more, The 'Book Review. Also 17" MacBook Pro delayed, MacBook demand declining?, battery tips for PowerBook and Newtons, obsolete computers at work, bargain 'Books from $170 to $2,299, and more.

15 Years Ago Motorola Unveiled the PowerPC G3, Low End Mac Round Table. The G3 processor was optimized for real world Mac software and made a big leap forward in efficiency.
Don't Kill Caps Lock, Learning to Love the iOS Keyboard, and an Adaptive iPad Keyboard, Charles Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings. The Caps Lock key has a useful function, the iPad's keyboard really is useful, and checking out an adaptive keyboard for the iPad.