This month in my iMore column:
Turns out smashing a TV into a Mac running System 7 was … less than ideal.
Category: Apple History
1-800-SOS-APPL
I woke up to a fun tweet in my timeline this morning:
@ismh Maybe one of your Macs are eligible? https://t.co/ynjmkC601k
— Nikhil Ravishankar (@knekill) November 19, 2015
I had no idea this existed. In short, some Macs sold between 1992 and 1996 came with free telephone support as long as you owned the machine. In 1997, Apple tried shutting it down, but got hit with a lawsuit.
The best part? The phone number still works.
A trip through iOS 5.1.1
I spent some time yesterday organizing my Apple collection with some new shelves and bins and in the process, fired up my first-generation iPad. It’s running iOS 5.1.1, the last build to support the device. In our post-iOS 7 world, older versions of iOS really do look dated.
Simple Beep #26: Preserving Mac history⇢
Simple Beep is a podcast looking back at the history of Apple and the Mac community. Each episode, Ed and Brian tackle the hardware, software and services that got us to where we are today.
Needless to say, I’m a huge fan, and jumped at the chance to join the guys for their anniversary episode.
We spoke about our first encounters with the Mac, our Apple hardware collections and the importance of archiving technology for the future. Go check it out.
Attack of the (Mac) clones⇢
Christopher Phin:
Imagine if today, you could buy “a Mac” from Sony or Lenovo or Dell that wasn’t just cheaper than what you’d buy from Apple, but faster and more expandable—and still ran El Capitan perfectly. That’s pretty much where we found ourselves in the late ’90s with companies such as UMAX, Akia, Motorola, and of course Power Computing, the first to be granted a licence from Apple.
I admit I haven’t spent a lot of time exploring this chapter of Apple’s history. It’s a prime example of just how screwed up Apple was before Jobs came back. Cancelling this program was one of the first things he did.
On Apple’s fall music event⇢
Autumn used to be a little more colorful for Apple fans.
System 7 in a browser⇢
System 7 is what comes to mind when I think about the classic MacOS, as it does for many. Turns out, you can relive the glory days in the browser today.
Thanks for the link, Brian!
Panic opens a Pippin
Remember the Pippin, Apple’s ill-fated gaming console from the mid 1990s? It looks like the crew over at Panic Software have gotten their hands on one:
One new SCSI CD-ROM drive later, our Apple Pippin Devkit is working! The future of gaming had MacOS 7 buttons! ???? pic.twitter.com/1cvmmUaDAJ
— Panic Inc (@panic) September 30, 2015
Don’t miss the “Usage Guidelines for the Pippin Logo and CD-ROM Packaging” document Cabel Sasser posted, either.
Part Power Mac, part archetype⇢
In my Apple History column at iMore this month, I take a look at a long-time favorite of many Mac users: the Blue and White G3.
10 Games That Defined the Apple Pippin
Thanks to my pal Dan Counsell for this link:
Apple’s ill-fated video game console
With a gaming-focused Apple TV seemingly just a keynote away, today is a good time to remember the company’s earlier attempt at gaming: the Pippin.
All about Clarus the Dogcow
I’m a big fan of a weird little story in Apple’s history called Clarus. What started out as a mark in a font made by Susan Kare grew into somewhat of a cultural phenomenon around the company in the 1980s and 90s. Learn all about it here.