Filed under: Hacks, Odds and ends, Internet Tools, Mac mini, Retro Mac
Apple IIc as a serial terminal to a Mac Mini
Hot on the heels of the Apple IIe-into-a-Linux-terminal tutorial we posted the other day, here's another mix of retro and modern-- Byte Cellar has hooked up an old Apple IIc (or //c if you spin that way) to work as a terminal to a Mac Mini. It's pretty neat-- sounds like they frankensteined the IIc's serial port to a USB connection, put ModemMGR on the IIc (which is three whole floppies), and now are using the old "luggable" as an IRC client, which is a perfect use for it, and, as Blake says, makes it feel "great to twiddle the //c's keys in a meaningful way every workday."There's also a photo gallery of the whole setup, which shows the spliced cable, as well as the whole setup in all its glory (yeah the XP box mars it a bit, but no one's perfect). Very cool. Makes me wish I still had one of those old clunky Apple IIs, if only to run IRC as it's mean to be run-- with nothing but green text on a black screen.
[via Digg]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Simon Arch said 4:16PM on 7-25-2007
Hey, the 2c was anything but clunky. It was a very sweet little machine. I wish I had one myself, but I don't have any of my old Apple floppies anymore (dumped 'em all about six years ago after my parents "accidentally" got rid of my 2e) so it doesn't much matter.
This is a neat hack. It's great to see how durable those old Apples really are.
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artifex said 5:09PM on 7-25-2007
It's neat, but how much electricity does it cost to run the extra box and extra monitor? The issue of practicality is what's keeping me from doing anything with my old equipment.
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south said 5:59PM on 7-25-2007
the //c is one of the sexiest beige computers ever built (after the original Mac of course). i wouldn't mind having one just to sit on my shelf, even if i never turned it on.
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Michael L. said 7:45PM on 7-25-2007
Sigh: my first computer, and still the best keyboard I've ever used.
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Reg Muffet said 9:41PM on 7-25-2007
If anyone is interested in seeing a IIc on the big (DVD) screen, the film "2010: The Year We Make Contact" features an Apple IIc on a beach, complete with a (for the day) very high-tech and very expensive LCD flat panel.
http://apple2history.org/museum/computers/a2clcd.html
BTW, following the 2001 theme, ever notice how much the proportions of a black 5th gen iPod match the black monolith...
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blakespot said 10:01AM on 7-26-2007
"south", the //c is "Snow White," not beige.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_White_design_language
It's the first Apple product to follow the Snow White design language, as a matter of fact.
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