The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) http://www.tuaw.com The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) http://www.tuaw.com/media/feedlogo.gif The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) http://www.tuaw.com en-us Copyright 2008 Blogsmith, LLC. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Found Footage: Understanding technology's pasthttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/05/09/found-footage-understanding-technologys-past/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/05/09/found-footage-understanding-technologys-past/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/05/09/found-footage-understanding-technologys-past/#commentsFiled under: , ,

When I think about a computer, I usually don't think about a 5-ton assembly of brass gears, cams, and steel rods. Yet in 1847 - 1849, Charles Babbage first created his design for the Difference Engine No. 2, a large mechanical computer that used these non-electronic components.

Nathan Myrhvold, former Chief Technical Officer of Microsoft, commissioned the building of a Difference Engine No. 2 based on Babbage's design. It's on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA, and will soon grace the living room of Myrhvold's home.

What does this have to do with Apple? In this MarketWatch video, it's mentioned that Babbage had problems getting funding for a device that was considered to be ahead of its time. It kind of reminds me of Apple's Newton MessagePad. It was the progenitor of all PDAs and smartphones, but failed in the marketplace because of its price and the fact that few people understood what it was good for.

The video also highlights Daniel Janisch, PowerBook Guy, who upgrades and sells antique PowerBooks (8-year old "Pismo" PowerBooks, for example). You can run Tiger on the Pismos, but they're often abandoned for the new kids on the block.

Thanks to Jomo for the link!
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]]>appledifference-enginedifferenceenginefound-footagenewtonSteven Sande2008-05-09T16:00:00+00:00Welcome to Macintosh, 24 years ago todayhttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/01/24/welcome-to-macintosh-24-years-ago-today/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/01/24/welcome-to-macintosh-24-years-ago-today/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/01/24/welcome-to-macintosh-24-years-ago-today/#commentsFiled under: , ,

24 years ago today the public could, for the first time, buy themselves a Macintosh computer. This little computer, which cost $2500, changed the way people interact with machines on a very real level. It is also the reason that TUAW exists. Without the Macintosh 128k there would be no TUAW, no Mac, and (most likely) no Apple.

Sound off in the comments if you bought one of those first Macs and share your story of how it impacted your life.

Thanks to everyone who reminded us about this.
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]]>128kapplemacintoshScott McNulty2008-01-24T22:00:00+00:00Apple II: Put the Zoid back in Zoidberghttp://www.tuaw.com/2007/12/20/apple-ii-put-the-zoid-back-in-zoidberg/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/12/20/apple-ii-put-the-zoid-back-in-zoidberg/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/12/20/apple-ii-put-the-zoid-back-in-zoidberg/#commentsFiled under: ,

Dr. John Zoidberg is my TV Boyfriend. My husband knows, accepts, and understands. So imagine my surprise when TV Squad's Richard Keller posted about how Futurama's Zoidberg got his name. Sure, yadi yadi background stuff and then...Apple II assembly language? Wow cool!

Futurama creator David X Cohen wrote Zoid back in the rocking '80s, when Brøderbund was a gaming force to be reckoned with--although it never actually was released to market. Instead they passed on the software and Cohen was forced to entertain us with cryogenics and one-eyed mutants and, well, you know the rest of the story. "Zoid" inspired the name for my darling Zoidberg, the Dr. McCoy with a mail order medical degree.

Now here's where it gets interesting and TUAW-ish. Cohen still actually has his original Zoid game on a 5.25-inch floppy disk and, according to TV Squad, wants to find someone capable of ripping it for use on an Apple II emulator. Any volunteers? We at TUAW have no idea how to get in touch with Cohen but, hey, we thought we'd throw this one out there and see if we can make Internet magic happen!

Now open your mouth, and lets have a look at that brain!

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]]>Apple IIAppleIiGood news everyoneGoodNewsEveryoneZoidbergErica Sadun2007-12-20T14:00:00+00:00Classic mini jukeboxhttp://www.tuaw.com/2007/10/17/classic-mini-jukebox/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/10/17/classic-mini-jukebox/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/10/17/classic-mini-jukebox/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Here's an awesome project from over at 123Macmini-- James Colby hollowed out a Classic Mac, and stuck a ripped apart mini in there along with a new LCD, took Finder out of the interface and sent it straight to Front Row, and bingo-- a Classic mini jukebox. And I especially like that the Classic was named Morris and the (10 minute old) mini was named Frank, so together, they're Frankenmorris. Cute.

It's a tight fit to get all that stuff in there and working, but it's even more amazing that he was able to get everything out of there-- as he said, he had to cut the front off of the CRT. The front also looks nice considering he made a few cuts there, to let the floppy take in a DVD, and another hold for the IR receiver.

But the end product looks great. One more reason why the mini, despite recent rumors, should stay right where it is.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
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]]>classic-maccrtdvdfrankenmorrishacksminiMike Schramm2007-10-17T20:00:00+00:00Mac II couchhttp://www.tuaw.com/2007/10/17/mac-ii-couch/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/10/17/mac-ii-couch/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/10/17/mac-ii-couch/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


I love this. From my old hometown of Maryland Heights, MO (although Google says there is no Mac Store in town there-- maybe it's that old computer store that used to be on Dorsett just east of 270), it's the Mac II couch, made completely out of old Macintosh IIs held together with drywall screws. I can't imagine that it would actually be comfortable (although it's probably as comfy as any park bench), but I do like how there is actually a little bit of design to it-- instead of just building a solid block, those armrests and that base look great.

See, that's the problem with today's computers. Sure, MacBook Pros are super thin, and iPhones are slim little devices that have many times over the power of the old Mac II, but can you build a couch out of them? I think not!

[ via Neatorama ]
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]]>comfydesignget-off-my-lawnmac-ii-couchmacintosh-IIsmaryland-heightsMike Schramm2007-10-17T13:00:00+00:00Found Footage: Original iPod promotional videohttp://www.tuaw.com/2007/10/12/found-footage-original-ipod-promotional-video/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/10/12/found-footage-original-ipod-promotional-video/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/10/12/found-footage-original-ipod-promotional-video/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Who doesn't enjoy walking down memory lane? Picture it: October 23, 2001 Apple changes the world again but no one realizes it. That's the day Apple introduced the first iPod ever, and produced the above video letting people know what the heck an iPod was.

The original iPod had some things I miss on the newer iPods: FireWire support and a physical scroll wheel (oh, how I miss the physical scroll wheel!).

Here's a fun question, how may folks out there had one of the original iPods? You know, before our PC using friends could get in on the party and everyone from the Queen of England to the Pope could be counted amongst iPod users.

[via Chris Pirillo]
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]]>ipodScott McNulty2007-10-12T12:00:00+00:00Connecting the Newton as a serial terminalhttp://www.tuaw.com/2007/09/12/connecting-the-newton-as-a-serial-terminal/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/09/12/connecting-the-newton-as-a-serial-terminal/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/09/12/connecting-the-newton-as-a-serial-terminal/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

A little while back we linked to ByteCellar's Apple //c terminal, and now he's gone and put a Newton online. You can check out the whole setup in the gallery, but the short story seems to be that he hooked up the eMate 300 to a serial-to-USB terminal, and then ran it through his Mini. Pretty easy, he says, since he'd already done it with the Apple //c, and apparently it's just an experiment-- while he could easily keep it around for IRC, he says the eMate is bound to its eFate as a paperWate.

And if getting the Newton hooked up as a terminal revs your engine, I was surprised to find out that TUAW houses the original Newton serial connector. Very impressive-- even in 1993, Sadun was doing stuff with Apple hardware that makes my head spin. Figgles, apparently, is her Newton.

And finally, if you don't have the knowhow or the patience to hook your Newton up to a serial internet connection, you could always just pull an Ihnatko and fake it. How long has he had that sticker sitting around? If you're not up for actually stickering your iPhone, Jer Wood's wallpaper might be more your speed.

[ via MacBytes ]
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]]>andy-ihnatkoerica-saduniphonenewtonserial-terminalSerialTerminalstickerwallpaperMike Schramm2007-09-12T22:00:00+00:00Retro Mac themes for RapidWeaverhttp://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/21/retro-mac-themes-for-rapidweaver/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/21/retro-mac-themes-for-rapidweaver/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/21/retro-mac-themes-for-rapidweaver/#commentsFiled under: , ,



It would seem that today is retro theme day on TUAW, at least for me that is. Jordan saw my last post about the System 6 theme for Wordpress and he let me know about his retro themes for RapidWeaver. You can pick from System 7, System 8 (my first Mac ran 8.6, ahh the memories), or even Be (which isn't an Apple OS, but it was created by an Apple guy, so it counts).

Each theme costs $4, though there is a System Bundle that'll get your both System 8 and 7 themes for $7.50.
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]]>rapidweaverretro themesRetroThemessystem 7system 8System7System8Scott McNulty2007-08-21T16:00:00+00:00Vintage Apple books and softwarehttp://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/21/vintage-apple-books-and-software/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/21/vintage-apple-books-and-software/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/21/vintage-apple-books-and-software/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

vintage apple books and software galleryMad props to my parents for keeping our basement an Apple museum! Aside from a pristine Apple //c (with monochrome monitor), vintage Apple ][ ,and Mac SE/30 (with a color monitor card) they kept most if not all of our Mac and Apple programming books from my youth. A few games even survived, although my addiction to Wasteland forced my dad to ship several of the more fun games to my French cousins. So I took some quick pics and made a vintage Apple books and software gallery. Enjoy the trip down memory lane-- and if any of the authors of these books are around, let us know in the comments.

Some of my favorites:

For some reason my copy of Racter is MIA.

%Gallery-6187%
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]]>apple 2apple ][Apple2Apple][electronic artsElectronicArtshypercardvintageVictor Agreda, Jr.2007-08-21T11:30:00+00:00Retro MacOS Wordpress Themehttp://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/21/retro-macos-wordpress-theme/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/21/retro-macos-wordpress-theme/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/21/retro-macos-wordpress-theme/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



We don't usually cover Wordpress theme on TUAW, but I think we can make an exception for the Retro MacOS Wordpress Theme. Wordpress, in case you aren't familiar with it, is a very successful blogging engine which allows users to apply various themes to change the look of their blogs. Stuart Brown decided to try his hand at creating one, and he used System 6 as his inspiration. The result is a Wordpress theme that'll bring a smile to any Mac user's Finder (Ha! See what I did there?).

You can see the theme in action here.
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]]>bloggingsystem 6System6wordpressScott McNulty2007-08-21T07:00:00+00:00Save the Open Apple key (or should we?)http://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/16/save-the-open-apple-key-or-should-we/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/16/save-the-open-apple-key-or-should-we/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/16/save-the-open-apple-key-or-should-we/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Thomas from the German site Rettet die sent us this English version of his petition to save the Open Apple key-- that little Apple icon on the Command key that's missing from the new Apple Keyboards. Already, he's received 1600 German comments in favor of keeping the Apple key, and he asked us to bring the petition to America and join the fight to save the Apple key.

But is it a fight we want to join or not? Sure, the Open Apple key is a tradition by now-- ever since I was a kid, I've learned to use the Open Apple key instead of the Ctrl key on Windows keyboards, and even when Microsoft trotted out their "Windows key" in Windows 95, it was just a copy of the classic-- their flag didn't come close to the icon design of the bitten apple.

But Apple has to have a good reason for taking the key off, don't they? So far, all I've heard is that they did it from a design standpoint-- they didn't want Apple logos all over the place, and the Command key is (and works) exactly the same anyway.

For me, that's not a good enough reason. Having a logo on the Command key is a uniquely Apple standard, and no one said that it cluttered up the keyboard before now. Of course, Apple is Apple, and they'll do what they want-- even 16,000 petition signatures probably won't get them to change their product. But that doesn't change the fact that they're wrong to kill the Open Apple.
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]]>commandkeyboardopenappletraditionwindows95windowskeyMike Schramm2007-08-16T20:15:00+00:00NeXT collection on eBayhttp://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/16/next-collection-on-ebay/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/16/next-collection-on-ebay/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/16/next-collection-on-ebay/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Combining two of our little trends lately, retroware and eBay vintage, here's the motherload for any NeXT fan-- a complete (and boy do I mean complete) set of NeXT computer cube stuff on eBay.

Holy cow that's a lot of stuff-- he's a matching grayscale (!) display and speakers, all the cables, a spare motherboard, all the books and discs, and even the original sticker sheet. Who keeps the sticker sheet?!? The thing even still runs Omniweb (inside NeXTSTEP 3.3 patch 2), and he's got a screenshot of Google up and working.

So how much will it run you? Currently, the auction is at $710 with a business week left to go even higher, but seriously now-- how much is it worth to you to get a little piece (or in this case, a lot of pieces) of non-Apple Jobs?

Thanks, Richard! (who saw it on Boing Boing)
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]]>ebaynextnextstepomniwebretrosalestevejobsvintageMike Schramm2007-08-16T06:00:00+00:00Apple flag for sale on eBayhttp://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/14/apple-flag-for-sale-on-ebay/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/14/apple-flag-for-sale-on-ebay/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/14/apple-flag-for-sale-on-ebay/#commentsFiled under: , ,


After we posted that neon Apple sign a little while back, reader Franco thought we'd get a kick out of this Apple flag for sale on eBay, and he was right. The best news is that right now, it's sitting pretty at only $10 (reserve not yet met, though) flying upwards-- what are you TUAW readers, rich?-- so you could own a little piece of Apple history for cheap.

As for dating it, the page says the 80s. No mention of Macintosh might put it before 1984, but that's just a guess-- Apple IIs were known as the first "personal computers" and those were made all the way up until the early 1990s. I really love those fonts, though, and of course the rainbow logo is a classic.
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]]>appleebayflagfontslogopersonalcomputersretrosalevintageMike Schramm2007-08-14T14:00:00+00:00BlueFlash: Bluetooth for the Apple IIhttp://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/13/blueflash-bluetooth-for-the-apple-ii/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/13/blueflash-bluetooth-for-the-apple-ii/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/13/blueflash-bluetooth-for-the-apple-ii/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Never say die to the old Apple II. A hacker named Vinchysky has melded a Disk ][ controller card with a Xilinx FPGA, which in normal-person-speak means he's enabled you to plug a Bluetooth dongle into an Apple II.

The hookup itself is basically just a USB connection, so you could conceivably transfer in any files you wanted from either a USB drive or a Bluetooth connection to any PC (or any Mac, or any iPhone... or anything with Bluetooth at all... Mind boggled yet?). The writeup of how Vinchysky created it is interesting, while a little on the technical side. Then again, the guy is working technical magic, so we'll let him have his jargon.

And the best part is that we're told this thing will be offered for sale-- he's planning to send them out at a tidy $160, within the next few weeks. If you've got an Apple II sitting around that you're just jonesing to get hooked up to a Bluetooth device, this is what you've been waiting for.

[via MacBytes]
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]]>appleiiappleiicardblueflashbluetoothdisk ii controller cardDiskIiControllerCarddiskimagedonglewozxilinxMike Schramm2007-08-13T21:00:00+00:00Apple IIc as a serial terminal to a Mac Minihttp://www.tuaw.com/2007/07/25/apple-iic-as-a-serial-terminal-to-a-mac-mini/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/07/25/apple-iic-as-a-serial-terminal-to-a-mac-mini/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/07/25/apple-iic-as-a-serial-terminal-to-a-mac-mini/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

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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]]>appleIIcbytecellarhackirclinuxmacminimodemMGRretroterminalMike Schramm2007-07-25T16:00:00+00:00Turn your Apple IIe into a Linux terminalhttp://www.tuaw.com/2007/07/15/turn-your-apple-iie-into-a-linux-terminal/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/07/15/turn-your-apple-iie-into-a-linux-terminal/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/07/15/turn-your-apple-iie-into-a-linux-terminal/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

As he even points out, this isn't the first time this has been done, but Quag7 has written up a very detailed, simple, and often hilarious (I feel the same way about Michael Bay!) guide for converting that old Apple ][e you've got sitting around into a Linux serial terminal. In this case, he runs a serial connection between a modern (everything is relative here) Gentoo distro and the ][e using ADTPro as a go-between. Hook up ADTPro on both, get the serial hooked up and running on both, install a term program on the ][e and then make sure everything can talk to each other (at 9600 baud-- remember baud? Oh those were the days), and voila, you've got an Apple ][e that can run a Linux distro. Why would you want to do this? No idea.

But why else do we do this kind of crazy stuff (like hook an Apple ][e up to a game machine, or even an actual Mac)? We do this, my friends, because we can.

[via Waxy]
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]]>adtproappleIIebaudfunnygentooguidehmorhumorlinuxretroMike Schramm2007-07-15T20:00:00+00:002007 Worldwide Newton Conference to be held in Tokyohttp://www.tuaw.com/2007/06/07/2007-worldwide-newton-conference-to-be-held-in-tokyo/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/06/07/2007-worldwide-newton-conference-to-be-held-in-tokyo/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/06/07/2007-worldwide-newton-conference-to-be-held-in-tokyo/#commentsFiled under: , ,

WWDC isn't the only Apple-centric conference taking place this summer. The third annual World Wide Newton Conference will take place at the Salon de G in Tokyo, Japan on July 7th and 8th. While the programs are still being finalized, developers Paul Guyot (who ported the Newton OS to a Zaurus handheld) and GNUE are scheduled to talk.

Registration is now open for ¥3500 (this includes a 2-day passport to the conference, lunch and drinks). While you're waiting, check out these highlights from previous years' conferences.

Someday I'll attend one of these. But for this year...Tokyo is quite a ways away.
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]]>newtonworld wide newton conferenceWorldWideNewtonConferenceDave Caolo2007-06-07T17:00:00+00:00Do your planning with a Newtonhttp://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/21/do-your-planning-with-a-newton/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/21/do-your-planning-with-a-newton/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/21/do-your-planning-with-a-newton/#commentsFiled under: ,

I'm a huge fan of the Apple Newton, and I've written about it several times here at TUAW. I've also spent time playing with a hipster PDA and the D*I*Y templates.

Today I noticed a bit of convergence as dougj at D*I*Y Planner has picked up a Newton 2100 of his own, and is loving it.

I won't go into all of the great Newt functionality that I enjoy in this post (look here for some of that), but I do agree with dougj when he says, "The address book and calendar/to-do lists are more than adequate...and the Assistant that correctly interprets 'Remind me to take out the garbage' or 'Lunch with Mary at the club' allows me to manage my time and tasks no matter where I am in any program."

Welcome to the club, dougj! I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay.
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]]>apple newtonAppleNewtondiy plannerDiyPlannerhipster pdaHipsterPdaDave Caolo2007-05-21T13:00:00+00:00Blast from the Past: What the new iPods ain't gothttp://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/07/blast-from-the-past-what-the-new-ipods-aint-got/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/07/blast-from-the-past-what-the-new-ipods-aint-got/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/07/blast-from-the-past-what-the-new-ipods-aint-got/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Newer isn't always better. Ask any wine connoisseur or violin player. I recently googled across this article over at the Apple Blog on why new iPods aren't quite as good as old iPods. Sure there are a lot of great reasons to buy new. It was iPod video support that finally convinced me to buy. Eddie Hargreaves writes that early iPods had a lot going for them too, with features recently phased out such as A/C power adapters included in the box, FireWire support, and carrying cases, among others.

I personally prefer having my modern batteries and video capability (currently about 80% of my iPod's tiny 30GB hard drive is used for video) and I long ago picked up a cheap A/C-USB power adapter. Still, an included wired remote would have been nice and I wouldn't have minded playing around with the original extra feedback click settings.

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]]>1GiPodRetro MacRetroMacErica Sadun2007-05-07T17:30:00+00:00Blast from the Past: Under Siege 2http://www.tuaw.com/2007/04/23/blast-from-the-past-under-siege-2/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/04/23/blast-from-the-past-under-siege-2/http://www.tuaw.com/2007/04/23/blast-from-the-past-under-siege-2/#commentsFiled under: ,

Casey Ryback, Steven Segal's character in Under Siege, never had it easy but he had great toys. Sure, he was "just the cook" but apparently SEAL cooks have access to some amazing gadgets. Like special communicators, explosives and Miss July. Under Siege was so successful, the filmmakers decided to create a sequel, Under Siege 2, which takes place on a train with his niece (that actress from Roswell and Grey's Anatomy) and a Newton. No, really! Not kidding here. Behold the glory that is Newton in Under Siege 2.

Update: My bad. This seems to be a repeat of a post from before my time here at TUAW. If you have a great (but non-repeat!) idea for Blast from the Past, drop us a note via our Tip form.

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]]>Blast from the PastBlastFromThePastNewtonSteven SegalStevenSegalUnder SiegeUnderSiegeErica Sadun2007-04-23T14:00:00+00:00