r/VintageApple

August 1996 was the month that changed the Mac forever. The much delayed Copland (check out the graphic with the timeline) was supposed to have an important developer release in the summer of 1996. Originally planed for the WWDC developer conference in April, Apple delayed the developer release to August. When August came, Apple cancelled the developer release and instead, showed a barely functional version to select developers at the MacWorld Boston trade show. It was a disaster, and despite the NDAs developers had to sign, the state of Copland quickly became the talk of the show. (It really was. I was there as just a nobody and heard about it)

Shortly afterwards, Copland was cancelled and Apple began a frantic search for a new Mac operating system. For quite a while the smart money was on Apple buying Be. But as we all know, they eventually ended up with NeXT and NeXTStep became the basis for Mac OS X.

Copland was not a complete loss however. Many of the technologies that were slated for Copland eventually made it into Mac OS 8 and 9, but the writing was on the wall. Classic Mac OS was on borrowed time, and the future was somewhere else.

You can follow this story in all its gory detail on Internet Archive's collection of MacWEEK magazine. I've been scanning issues from 1996 and uploading them exactly 30 years after their publication date. We've just gotten to the demise of Copland and will be getting to the negotiations to buy Be in the next two months. Going through 1996 week by week is very educational, and I recommend at least looking at the headlines. But it's a very bumpy ride, and kind of shocking that Apple survived at all.

So I have these ADB Apple keyboards that are incompatible and used in the SE period rather than the earlier Mac’s. Are there any adapters or solutions to this?

Fixing up this adjustable keyboard, it was not pivoting properly. And going to give it a Retrobright. Released in 1993 at the same time as the short-lived Centris 610.
Not looking forward to putting this back together. Missing the palm rests

I finally got around to adding a 17 inch PowerBook G4 to my collection, I never had one before or never seen one in person. But I got it from eBay at a good price. Overall it is in good cosmetic shape. But the Battery holds little charge, but it was to be expected, but I’m going to upgrade the ram and add an SSD to it, as it’s pretty slow at installing software and updates.

i was wondering how might one use this display i know that it uses dual link dvi and it might need its 150 watt power adapter along with a dual link to thunderbolt, i dont got that cash for a 119 dollar power adapter nor do i have the 150 power adapter. i know i might need to get them anyway but i was wondering if anyone new a work around.

Apple badly needed a hit, and another beige box with slightly better specs wasn't going to change anything.

Steve Jobs and Jony Ive took a much bigger swing. The iMac was rounded, translucent and Bondi Blue. You could recognize it from across a room, which was unusual at a time when most computers looked like office equipment.

The handle on top was especially clever. The iMac was a heavy desktop machine, so the handle was never really about portability. It made the computer feel approachable. People understood immediately where to touch it and how to engage with it.

That friendly exterior took serious work behind the scenes. Apple had to rethink plastics, colors, tooling and manufacturing. Because the case was translucent, even the internal parts had to look orderly. The design team wasn't brought in at the end to make the machine prettier. Design shaped how the entire product got built.

The choices inside were just as bold. The floppy drive was gone, familiar ports disappeared and USB became the standard. Plenty of critics predicted disaster. Instead, Apple sold around 800,000 iMacs by the end of 1998, cemented its comeback and kicked off a run of products that reshaped the company.

Anyone building a physical product can take something from this. Good design isn't a coat of paint applied at the end. It reaches into engineering, manufacturing, usability, marketing and the feeling someone gets when they pick up the finished object.

A lot of today's products are beautifully made and strangely forgettable. Phones are nearly identical glass slabs. Laptops are silver rectangles. Cars are becoming large touchscreens surrounded by bodywork. Appliances have shed their buttons, their character and in some cases their basic ease of use.

The iMac proved people will form a real attachment to a well-designed piece of technology. Nearly three decades later, physical products could use a little more of that courage and a little less gray. The hockey-puck mouse, though, can stay in 1998.

#TechHistory #ProductDesign #IndustrialDesign

The screen is now mounted back and all the wiring is run and functional. Now it's back to working on the base system

Machine has been chugging along just fine until I came home and the screen saver wasn’t moving. Reposted and got this. Thoughts?

Slightly modified.

Recently purchased a Mac mini M4 (before the price hikes, luckily) as a family computer. I really wanted to have a "matching" keyboard to go with it, and having something like a full layout was preferable for my wife and kids. So I tried to emulate the looks of Apple's M2452 and M7803 keyboards from the late '90s and early '00s. I don't think the photo really does the translucent case justice; it looks great in person.

For the switches, I replaced the stock Logitech Marbles with Gateron Lanes, since one of my absolute favorite typing experiences is Alps Orange on the Apple M0116. These aren't a perfect substitute, but they're close enough and they sound great in this case with the gasket.

Now I just need to figure out what to do with the stock Logitech keycaps and the Marble switches!

The RAM seems fine, but unsure bout the floppy drive since it doesn't wanna boot my DOS 3.3 disk. The whole system just locks up when starting with it inserted. Hopefully an easy fix!

I have several vintage apple computers and must make room; I love this setup but wondering if there would be any interest if I decided to let it go. Complete system, works perfectly, original keyboard & monitor, one of the last off the line (dated October 24, 1997). Can anyone offer any insight? Should I hold onto it, and if not, where is the best place to post for sale? I have collected way too much stuff over the years - just a diehard Apple lover here.