Today, we explore the world of the Performa 520, which was a rebadged version of the LC 520. The two machines were put on sale at the same time, in June 1993. The Performa version was not sold in the United States and came with more bloatware than the LC. (The LC 520 was initially sold only to schools.)
For the sake of this article, I will refer to this pair of machines as the “520,” and unless specifically called out, everything in this column will apply to both machines.
David Roth joins David and Stephen to cover NotePlan, an application that combines tasks, events, and notes in some really interesting ways. They discuss how to be more productive using its unique features, and compare it with some other applications.
Jason Snell noticed something during yesterday’s results call:
Apple’s latest quarterly results were about as boring as you can get while still featuring $21.4 billion in profit and setting an all-time third-quarter record. Most categories were flat, with the exception of a one-time bump in iPad sales (amazing what actually introducing new products can do!) and the continued, relentless increase in Services revenue.
Another quarter, another record-setting total for Apple’s Services line—$24.2 billion in revenue. And yet, the more I looked at that number, the more I started to ask myself some fundamental questions about Apple’s business, today and in the future.
Last time, we took a look at the very first Performa models that rolled off the line. Those machines shipped in the fall of 1992. By 1993, Apple was ready to revise the lineup:
The Performa 200 had been a rebadged Macintosh Classic II, so for the 250, Apple rebadged the Macintosh Color Classic.
The Color Classic would prove to be the last major update to the compact Mac line, and to mark the beginning of the end, Apple got weird.
In September 1992, the first batch of Macintosh Performas were announced. Last time, I wrote about what Apple hoped to achieve with these computers, so it’s now time to discuss the computers themselves.
In the initial press release about the systems, Apple’s Betty Taylor wrote:
All three Performa models use the powerful Motorola 68030 microprocessor, and share the I/O ports and expansion slots that customers expect to find in other Macintosh family members.
Myke has started a gate, Stephen has launched a new series, and John returns with questions about betas. The guys also share their early impressions of Apple Intelligence.
From 1992 to 1997, Apple shipped over 40 Macintosh models wearing a Performa badge. In the years since, the word has become an anathema to many Mac users who were around in that era.1
Throughout August, I will be exploring the world of this computer line in a new series:
And what a confusing world it is!
At its heart, the Performa line is the fruit of badge engineering. This is often found in the car market, perhaps most famously in the Chrysler K-car platform that debuted in 1981. Over 14 years, Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth shipped a dizzying array of front-wheel drive cars, all based on the same platform. Features, options, and prices ranged between them, but under the covers, these were all the same car, more or less.
John Brayton, the developer behind the excellent RSS client Unread, has launched version 4, and with it, macOS support:
Unread for Mac is now available from the Mac App Store. Unread for Mac incorporates every Unread capability that makes sense on Mac including:
- Beautiful typography
- Color themes
- Great search functionality
- Handling of summary-only feeds
- Syncing via Unread Cloud, Feedbin, Feedly, Fever, Inoreader, and NewsBlur
- The Subscribe in Unread share extension
- The Save to Unread share extension (subscription required)
- Widgets
- Handling of link articles
Unread for Mac is a native Mac app. The user interface is built with AppKit and a touch of SwiftUI. There are some ways in which Unread for Mac goes beyond Unread for iPhone and iPad.
On this week’s feedback episode:
David is launching a scholarship program with the Productivity Field Guide, Stephen bought a new e-reader, and they both have spent some time in their Inboxes to bring feedback to the show this week.
Something very special just dropped over at Relay:
Live in London, Myke, Stephen, and Jason host a game of Fortunate Families with a huge group of Relay FM hosts! Additionally, the guys talk about their work with St. Jude and unveil one more thing.
I will write more about Relay’s 10th anniversary soon, but for now, enjoy the show.
A month ago, I wrote about the Inspector in Reminders being different on the Mac from the version found in iOS and iPadOS:
The biggest example in my mind is the ability to move a task to a different list. On the iPhone and iPad, it’s super easy, as there’s a drop-down right in the Inspector. Mac users, however, don’t have that UI, and are left to drag and drop tasks between lists.
Wes Davis, writing at The Verge:
Years after Twitter replaced the pistol emoji with a green-and-orange water gun, X has decided to change it back to a regular handgun. An X employee announced the change in a post last week.
The company hasn’t explained the change, but it feels on-brand for Elon Musk’s social network. Twitter originally switched its emoji to display a water gun in 2018, following others like Google and Facebook. (Apple made the switch in 2016; Microsoft was a brief hold-out.)