The Mac introduction

If you’ve followed every Macworld Expo keynote QuickTime stream since, well, since Apple’s been offering them, and you wonder what it would have been like to be able to watch the introduction of the original Macintosh, now you can. Recorded in January 1984 by Scott Knaster, and digitized by TextLab. Link from Tom.

MacInTouch on the Mac Mini

Ric Ford, the original Macintosh blogger, has a review of the Mac Mini.

Looking ahead to the G5 Mini

So looking around a bit at the Mac web this weekend, it appears the PowerBook G5 rumors are about to start gaining steam. Supposedly the current PowerBook G4 line is about to be EOL’ed. EOL is retail/manufacturing talk for End of Life, as in, we’re not making this any more, and when we’ve sold what’s out there, that’s all there is.
I won’t dignify the rumor-mongers with links, but I do have a couple of thoughts.
First, if we see a PowerBook G5, I’m not sure we’ll see a PowerBook G5 12-inch right away. I would like to be wrong, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a G5 available in only the 17- and 15-inch PowerBooks to start with. It all boils down to how well Apple and IBM have managed to work around the heating issues with the G5 in the smaller spaces.
Second, if Apple solves its heat issues and wedges the G5 in to the PowerBook form factors, it’s not a stretch to then dump the G5 in to the Mac Mini. Not that this would occur any time in the near future after a PowerBook G5 release, but one could reasonably surmise when it will be coming, because it will eventually happen.
If you look at the six product lines of Apple’s computers, two are already on the G5: the Power Macintosh towers, and the iMac. Next up for the new processor is the PowerBook line, which would leave the iBook, the eMac, and the just-released Mac Mini.
Those same rumors hinted at above also say that the eMac is about to be EOL’ed as well. Should that prove true, then this means Apple is pushing the Mac Mini in to the education market, and schools will have to buy cheap third-party monitors, because they sure as hell aren’t buying 20-inch Apple flat-panel displays that cost twice as much as the baseline Mac Mini. Seeing as how these schools never purchased displays from Apple before, Apple’s not losing revenue there, though one can theorize their margins on Mac Mini sales will be lower than on eMacs. As John Gruber has observed, Apple looks to make up for reduced margins with volume. So if the eMac is indeed dead in the near future, Apple’s computer product line falls from six to five, and after the PowerBook G5 is released, only the iBook and Mac Mini will be on the G4.
The G4 is just about tapped out in Apple’s product line. The 1.5 GHz processor is the highest speed being offered, but third-party upgrade vendors are offering faster G4 processors. Apple may bump up the G4’s speed in its product line one more time, but it all depends on how aggressive they want to be with the G5.
I can see Apple bringing out the PowerBook G5 some time in the first half of the year, before or after the release of Tiger. At some point within the following six months, the speeds of the Power Macintosh G5 will be increased. At Macworld Expo next year, you’ll see increased speeds for the iMac G5, and by mid-year, faster PowerBook G5s. This would open the door to then add the G5 to the iBook line, and maybe at the same time the Mac Mini line, though Apple is known for only refreshing one line at a time, for the most part. Earliest time for a G5 Mini? I’m betting on Macworld Expo in January 2007. It all hinges on IBM’s G5 fabrication, however, so it’s not all up to Jobs and the Apple brain trust. And hell, I was way wrong on the flash-based iPod and the iCheap, aka the Mac Mini, so what do I know? This has all been stream-of-consciousness blogging any way.

Introducing the rotary cell phone

As you hearken back to yesteryear, longing for those good ol’ Luddite days, please note that you too can build a rotary cell phone.
[Via Lawson via Slashdot.]

LSU goes Xserve

MacMinute reports that my alma mater has put online a 24-Xserve G5 cluster named Nemeaux. So I guess this proves that Tigers eat Apples…or something.

SE T616 anyone?

So my wife decided to take the plunge, switched her phone service to the new Crackberry her employer purchased for her, and we now have a SIM card-less, Cingular-branded, Sony Ericsson T616 that no one is using. I realize it’s an old phone, but will entertain offers before deciding to either donate it or keep it around as a spare to mine.

Thought shuffle

So according to Apple, one of the big reasons for bringing out the iPod Shuffle is the shuffle “phenomenon with iPod users – the ‘shuffle songs’ playback mode that randomizes either portions or the entirety of your music library.”
I’m just wondering if I’m alone in iPod-dom in that I rarely, if ever, use the shuffle songs mode. Anyone else of similar mind?

The price of being a Mac user

Michael opines on the increased software value of an iWork-loaded Mac Mini, when compared to purchasing iLife ’05, iWork, and an OS upgrade separately.
ATPM founder Danny Novo has a similar analysis, including .Mac. The Mac Mini looks better and better when you factor in all four of these software prices. Maybe a Mac Mini will be in the phisch bowl’s future, later this year, after Tiger is released and iWork comes loaded. Maybe around the time my own .Mac registration is due for renewal. However, I don’t think I’ll wait too long to purchase iLife ’05, as I’ve decided to begin using iPhoto for my digital photo management needs, and I’d like to do so starting with the new version.

Can corporate IT mirror the Navy?

Frank Hayes:

…[T]he new Navy policy shows signs of being a remarkably sane model for what users should do with IT, at least the way it’s described by Robert J. Carey, the Navy’s deputy CIO for policy and integration.

The main principle is that if it interferes with Navy operations, users shouldn’t do it.

And if it’s illegal or a violation of regulations or contract requirements, users shouldn’t do it.

Otherwise, it’s probably OK.

Bet your appropriate-use policy can’t be summarized that simply, can it?

Here’s another key feature of the Navy’s policy: According to Carey, personal use of Navy IT equipment is good for morale. Sending personal e-mail, surfing the Web and shopping online during breaks are all fine — as long as they don’t hog bandwidth or otherwise interfere with Navy operations.

So if the sailors, Marines and civilians who use Navy-issued IT gear make sure the Navy’s work gets done, personal use isn’t just OK — it’s actually a good thing.

That’s a truly elegant core policy. Sure, by the time it’s officially issued it will probably be spun out into endless pages of milspec jargon. But because it’s clear and simple at its core, this appropriate-use policy will likely work anyway.

That’s fine for the Navy. But can you treat your users like sailors?

Answer: Maybe.

Another Mac master

Michael Crichton:

Q: Describe the perfect writing environment.
A: Small room. Shades down. No daylight. No disturbances. Macintosh with a big screen. Plenty of coffee. Quiet.