All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For
price quotes and advertising information, please contact
at BackBeat Media
(646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.
Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer
5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We
recommend Firefox
for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more
secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox
than any other browser.
Ever wonder what kind of bedtime stories Mac fanatics tell their
kids at bedtime? I'm sure you've spent many sleepless nights, like I
have, pondering the answer to this fundamental question. Well, Gentle
Reader, put your mind at ease, because you're about to hear one of
those long-forgotten childhood stories we here at the Lite Side
call
The Little Mac That Could
Once upon a time, in a building far, far away, there was a little
computer called Mac. He only had a nine-inch black and white screen
and sported a boxy little mouse. Years ago, he had been brand-new and
exciting. He did many important and interesting jobs. He published
articles in newspapers, printed flyers for yard sales, and made funny
noises when little pictures on the screen were clicked.
Everyone thought he was cute. For the most part, though, he was
pretty lonely, because there were no other computers like him in the
building.
As the years passed, newer and bigger computers were brought into
the building. Some had shinier parts, others had plastic doors on the
front to hold shiny new CD-ROMS, which the little computer could not
read.
Gradually, all of the things the little computer could do were
taken away by bigger, faster computers, and eventually the little
computer's only job was to print multipart forms on an old printer
that was not compatible with any other computer in the building.
One day, the printer broke, and the kindly Engineer who had kept
the little computer running for so many years could not find a
replacement part to fix it. The Big Boss commanded the Engineer to
retire the little computer and move on, since better printers were
available and multipart forms were being phased out in favor of
Web-based documentation.
"Now I'll just fade away, forgotten," thought the little computer.
But the Engineer had fond memories of the little computer, so he set
the little computer in a corner of his office, where he would
occasionally boot it up and play a game or show young workers what
computers used to be like.
One day the Engineer did not come back to work for a long time.
The little computer heard coworkers talking about the Engineer, who
had been "downsized." Now there was no one to pay attention to the
little computer.
Several days later he was removed from his beloved office and put
into storage. For the longest time he sat in a box, collecting dust.
His hard drive slowly degraded from cosmic rays causing random data
fluctuations in his platters. Particles of air leaked into his vacuum
tube, a few at a time. He knew if he ever booted again, the picture
wouldn't be quite as crisp as it was when he was new.
Then, one day, he heard some people talking in the storeroom.
"That virus has shut us down completely," said one.
"Too bad we don't use Macs any more. We could finish that document
the boss wanted done today."
"I thought there was an old Mac around here somewhere..." said the
first.
The little computer heard rustling noises and suddenly saw light
for the first time in many years.
"There is is," said the first voice. It belonged to another
Engineer!
Soon after the little computer felt electricity shoot through its
circuits. It struggled to boot up, but its hard drive was stiff with
age and didn't spin as fast as it should.
"Go, little guy, go," said the new Engineer.
"I think I can," said the little computer to itself. "If I think I
can, then I will. I think I can, I think I can."
Soon the little computer's hard drive was spinning and the
operating system was running. Even though the building's network was
not supposed to be compatible with the little computer's networking
protocols, the young Engineer found an old Farallon
LocalTalk-to-Ethernet adapter in the storeroom and got the computer
online.
Fortunately, there was an old printer on the network that was
still Postscript compatible, and so the little computer was soon
printing out view-graphs in black and white, just in time for the Big
Boss's presentation.
Now the little computer sits proudly on a shelf in the young
Engineer's office, and visitors often hear the tale of how the little
computer saved the company from losing an important contract when all
of the other computers were broken because of a virus.
The young engineer always ends the story the same way, too.
"Just because it's old, doesn't mean it isn't useful. Newer isn't
always better."
iPods that never passed beta or focus groups, 09.13.
"What most Apple fans don't realize is that there were a few iPod variants that never made it out of beta testing and the focus group stage."
Mac of the Day: 15" iMac G4/800 MHz, Jan. 2002 - The iMac is redesigned with a flat panel display and G4 CPU.
Group of the Day: G4 List is for those using Power Mac G4s or G4 upgrades.
January 7 in LEM history: 97: Mac OS 7.6 - 99: What color iMac do you want? - 00: S900 chronicles - 02: Who let the iMac out? - Expo keynote - iMac G4 - 14" iBook 600 - iCab fastest low-end browser - Addressing battery problems - 03: 12" PowerBook G4 - 17" PowerBook G4 - Changes in Jaguar - 04: Waiting for the tipping point - 05: Headless Mac an upgrade path for low end users - 08: Could OS X DRM drive users to Linux? - Netscape dead, but its children live on
Recent Content on Low End Mac
The 17" Unibody MacBook Pro Value Equation, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 01.07.
The new model is a bit faster, a bit smaller, a bit lighter, and has an incredible 8-hour battery life.
How Netbooks Impact Microsoft and Apple, Tim Nash, Taking Back the Market, 01.07.
Netbooks are keeping Windows XP alive, which may slow adoption of Windows 7, and perceived value keeps the Mac market share growing at the expense of Windows.
The Ill-Fated Apple III, Jason Walsh, Apple Before the Mac, 01.07.
"...not only was the Apple III mind crunchingly expensive, it was made with none of the passion of the Apple II or Macintosh."
Apple III Chaos: Apple's First Failure, Joshua Coventry, Cortland, 01.07.
Apple had known nothing but success with its Apple II product line, but when it tried to enter the business world with the Apple III, the learned the cost of failure.
2 Apple Failures: Apple III and Lisa, Tom Hormby, Orchard, 01.07.
Apple's two not-so-great product lines between the Apple II line and the Macintosh.
17" Unibody MacBook Pro, 01.06.
Thinner and lighter than ever, the unibody model tops out with 8 GB of RAM and a 2.93 GHz clock speed.
Apple's Half-Baked Support for DisplayPort, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 01.06.
The DisplayPort specification supports audio, so why does Apple use USB to route sound to the LED Cinema Display?
No, an Overgrown iPod touch Is Not a Netbook, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 01.06.
BlackBerry pretends its Storm is a netbook, but a netbook needs to be big enough for a typable keyboard.
Apple IIe Nostalgia: A Reunion 15 Years in the Making, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 01.06.
Sometimes nostalgia is all you remembered, like when you get to recreate your first computing experience from the Apple II era.
VisiCalc and the Rise of the Apple II, Tom Hormby, Orchard, 01.06.
"VisiCalc was first released for the Apple II, which quickly became an invaluable tool for businesspeople - at least until IBM moved into the 'personal computing' market in 1981."
Apples from Other Orchards: Apple II Clones, Joshua Coventry, Cortland, 01.06.
Before the IBM PC spawned compatibles, companies around the world cloned the Apple II - some with more success than others.
Origin of the Apple I and Apple II Computers, Tom Hormby, Orchard, 01.05.
From the first behemoth computers to the Apple II+, the computer that drove the personal computer revolution.
Apple Has Always Been a Niche Player, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 01.05.
"Despite the myths, Apple has never been a dominant player in the personal computer industry."
Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 01.06.
Used 1.83 GHz, $900; 2.16, $1,090; 2.33, $1,295; new 2.4 Penryn, $1,350 after rebate; 2.5, $1,485 a/r; 2.6, $1,649; new 2.4 Unibody, $1,824 a/r.
Best Mac OS X 10.5 'Leopard' Deals, 01.06.
Mac OS X 10.5, single user, $104 shipped; 5 users, $148 shipped; 10.5 Server, 10 users, $363 shipped; unlimited users, $752 shipped.