Vintage Mac Living

The Sun Has Set on the G4

- 2006.05.23

A week ago, Apple introduced a new line of portable computers for consumers, the MacBooks, discontinuing the last of the remaining PowerPC Macs (except the G5 tower).

This marks the end of an era, because G4-based systems are no longer in production.

The venerable G4 was once called the world's fastest personal computer and the worlds first personal supercomputer. Now some say it's only good for word processing, email, and light Web surfing.

It's strange how fast things move. It seems like only yesterday that the G4 was the hot new thing, but the reality is the G4 really is old technology. But does that mean that it's no longer useful in today's world?

The G4 is still a very good performer for nearly any purpose, whether it be 350 MHz Yikes! G4 or a 1.67 GHz PowerBook G4.

Want to edit your home movies on your G4? Yes, it can be done!
Want to rip, mix, and burn your CD collection? Yes, that can be done, too!
Want to import and edit your entire photo collection on your G4? You bet you can!
Want to run Photoshop on your G4? Sorry, you can't do that (just kidding).

And that's not all you can do with a G4, but I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

It won't be too long before everyone thinks the G4 is too slow to do any of those things, or worse, forget that they can.

I just hope that those of you who are reading this don't forget about the G4s and how they (along with OS X and great software like iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, etc.) brought us into the 21st century.

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Recent Vintage Mac Living articles

What a waste! Some schools would rather store old computers than put them to use, 2007.09.12. Denver Public Schools is one example of a school district so ready to buy new computers that it has tens of thousands of old, usable computers sitting in storage.
My incredible $110 Lombard and Power Mac G4 deal, 2007.07.11. Sometimes pawn shops can be a great source for older Macs, such as turning up a Lombard PowerBook and a very upgraded Power Mac G4 Digital Audio for just $110!
Too stressed to even think about computers, 2007.05.16. "I've been so preoccupied that I haven't been able to think about computers, much less write about them."
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