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Mac Musings
A Road Not Taken (by Apple)
- April 11, 2000I was just starting out as a reporter back in 1976 and had to have a 35mm camera. The problem was, the Nikons at the little camera store in my town were way too much money.
So I bought a clone. It was, as I recall, an import from Russia. I may be making up this part, but I believe it was called a "Cosmorex."
The Cosmorex was one of the great fruits of the workers' revolution; it weighed about three times what any other 35mm weighed and appeared to be made out of cast iron. I stooped forward when I put it around my neck.
It was missing two or three common shutter speeds. The engineering? You could call it "industrial approximate."
But it was cheap, and it worked, so I was content.
I'm thinking about my Cosmorex these days because of my new clone, a Power Computing PowerCurve 601/120.
I got it with an eye towards replacing the 7200 that is my main machine at work. As everyone who reads LEM knows, the 7200 is not upgradable. The PCurve is, and I want to move up to a 604 or G3.
However, now that I have the machine,
I'm not sure what to make of it - the PCurve is, well, plain. If
you've ever shopped eBay, you'll occasionally see a picture of
someone's warehouse piled high with PC upon PC upon PC. They look
old, dirty, worn out.
The PCurve would fit in that picture.
My copy is scuffed beige - and noisy. Far noisier than any of my Macs. There is a PC-style fan mounted inside that pushes out more air than I have ever felt coming from the rear of a Mac.
Many Macs have a Chinese puzzle fiendishness to them. For instance, I literally could not figure out how to dismantle my 6400 until I got the take-apart manual.
The PCurve's case is PC straightforward; loosen three oversize screws and yank. The metal top pulls off and you're staring down into something that looks like a '386 from 1992. The metal is bare, the edges are sharp, the frills are nonexistent.
Unlike Macs, there's nothing here to make you stop and admire the craftsmanship. I just wanted to get my work done and close it up so I wouldn't have to look at it anymore.
It's now running (loudly) on the desk behind me while I type this on my 7200.
But here's the kicker: I don't feel about the PCurve the way I feel about any of my Macs . . . and I like that.
Macs are beautiful, in the way industrial designers use the word, both inside and out, in hardware and software. If the obsessed among us will admit the truth, that beauty is a distraction: wonderful, but a distraction for the way it pulls you from the job at hand to - what? - pay attention to the machine.
The PCurve is not beautiful. Hell, it's not even attractive by PC standards. And it's not distracting.
We're just beginning our relationship. ("Relationship" meaning, in this case, something like the relationship between a car and owner or a carpenter and his tools.)
With luck, I won't notice the PCurve unless something goes
wrong. What I'll see is the work I need to do; the computer will be
transparent, serving my needs without fuss or muss or . . .
enchantment. It's the road not taken by Apple, and a reminder of
both what we get and give up when we use our Macs. 
Dan Knight has been using Macs since 1986, sold Macs for several years, supported them for many more years, and has been publishing Low End Mac since April 1997. If you find Dan's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.
Recent Mac Musings
- No High Definition iTunes Video for You, 11.19. The October 2008 MacBooks are preventing users from viewing some high-def iTunes content from being viewed on their external displays. Poor form!
- Anticipating Macworld: Nehalem, Snow Tiger, and Updated Desktops, 11.18. Intel's Core i7 CPU has to make it way into the next Mac Pro, nVidia GeForce graphics will drive the iMac and Mac mini, and 'Snow Tiger' will unleash the animal within.
- One Used Mac Can Make a Difference, 11.12. Instead of scrapping out old Macs for raw materials, what if the Mac community worked to restore them and give them away to those with no computers?
- A Brief History of Portable Computing: From Dynabook to Netbooks, 11.06. 40 years ago Alan Kay dreamt of a two pound handheld computer. Portables have made a lot of changes since 1981, but haven't yet matched the Dynabook.
- More in the Mac Musings index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 'Lombard' PowerBook G3, June 1999 - 'bronze keyboard' model is first PowerBook with USB, reaches 400 MHz, trims almost 2 lb.
- Group of the Day: System 6 is the email list for those who choose System 6.
- November 19 in LEM history: 99: Screen size and resolution - 01: Mac OS X: Developers and users - 02: Frequently asked employment questions - 04: iTunes trails SoundJam, WinAmp in some areas - EyeTV for USB 2.0 - 07: Replacing your older iPod - Mac mini value - Classic still useful
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Leopard Runs Very Nicely on PowerPC Macs, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 11.19. Some claim that Mac OS X 10.5 is so optimized for Intel Macs that it runs poorly on PowerPC hardware. That's simply not the case.
- 3 WeatherBug Options for Apple Users, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.19. Have instant access to current local weather conditions with a Dashboard widget, iPhone app, or Firefox plugin.
- Every Working Computer Is Useful to Someone, Allison Payne, The Budget Mac, 11.19. Whether it's a PowerBook 1400, G3 iMac, or Power Mac G4, it could be all the computer someone needs.
- Love My Refurb MacBook Pro, Eudora Forever, and the Lightest AA Batteries, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.18. Also questions about nVidia GeForce 8600 problems in earlier MacBook Pro models and importing Eudora mailboxes into Eudora successors.
- Free Alternatives to Microsoft Office, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 11.17. Microsoft Office is powerful and expensive. OpenOffice provides a full alternative, and Bean and AbiWord are excellent options for word processing.
- Cruz Browser Introduces Useful New Features, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.17. Although only a 0.1 release, this new WebKit-based browser has several clever new features that just might hook you.
- DLO Action Jacket for the SanDisk Sansa, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 11.17. Want to protect your SanDisk Sansa MP3 player on the go? The DLO Action Jacket does a great job.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best iMac G4 Deals, 11.18. Used 15" 700 MHz Combo, $243; 800 MHz, $280; 1 GHz, $380; 17" 1.25 GHz SuperDrive, $400; 20", $549.
- Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.18. New 1.6 80, $1,150 after rebate; 120, $1,744 a/r; 1.8 80, $1,794 a/r; 1.6 128 SSD, $2,150; used 1.8 64 SSD, $1,500; new, $2,200 a/r; 1.86, $2,398 a/r.
- Best Mac OS X 10.0-10.3 Deals, 11.18. Mac OS X 10.0.3, $30; 10.1, $20; 10.2, $60; 10.3 CD, DVD, $100; CD, $119; 10.1 Server, unlimited users, $58; 10.3 Server, unlimited, $150.
- Best iPod nano Deals, 11.17. Refurb 3G/4 GB, $79; new, $114; refurb 8 GB, $99; new, $125; 3G/8 GB, from $134; 16 GB, from $189. Prices include ground shipping.
- Best Titanium PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.17. Used 1 GHz with SuperDrive, $478 plus shipping.
- Best Xserve deals, 11.17. Used G4/1 GHz, $999; G5/2 GHz, $1,288; new 2.0 4-core Xeon, $1,900; refurb 3.0 4-core, $2,599; 2.8 GHz, $2,499; 3.0 8-core, $3,499.
- Best classic iPod Deals, 11.14. Used 30 GB video, $126; 80, $53; refurb 80 classic, $169; new 120 GB, $224; refurb 160 GB, $249; new, $280. New & refurb include shipping.
- Best eMac Deals, 11.14. Used 700 MHz Combo, $120; 800 CD, $170; 1 GHz Combo, $229; SuperDrive, $260; 1.25 Combo, $250; SD, $300; 1.42 Combo, $329.
- Best MacBook Deals, 11.14. Used 1.83 GHz, $595; 2.0 SD, $660; refurb 2.1 GHz, $949; 2.4, $999; black, $1,099; new 2.1, $869 after rebate; 2.4, $1,150 a/r; black, $1,194 a/r; more.
- More deals in our archive.
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