iPods, Import Licenses, and Apple Engineering
Low End Mac Reader Specials
Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com
LA Computer Company: LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, Apple Displays, MacBooks, iMac's, MacBook Pros, Laptop and iPod accessories and more. Apple A/C Adapters for laptops starting at $25.00 Call 1-800-941-7654 or Click Here.
OWC: NewerTech NuPower Batteries for iBook and PowerBooks Designed+Built in USA to run longer, LAST LONGER TOO! Free Battery Recycling Return Label; Quality High-Capacity from $99.95
Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.
Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.
New MacPro Memory 800Mhz With Apple Spec Heat Sink 2GB $104 / 4GB $172 / 8GB $338. Click to Maximize your Macs...
Dirk Pilat - 2002.06.26
Evening all!
Good to see that you're still reading my incoherent ramblings from Kiwiland. At the moment, New Zealand is in a bit of an uproar: The prime-minister (a lady with a rather stern voice and a hairdo like my history teacher!) has called an early election (well, three months early), the politicians are all up in arms about it (as they do), and the rest of the population is not really bothered (which is a pretty international response).
Down here, on the lower end of the south island, things are just as normal as usual: The sheep are apparently due to give birth in six weeks (making the particular spot I live in rather loud: I am surrounded by a rather sedate flock of sheep, but as soon as the little ones arrive, it's gonna be hell), I have been sitting rather more often than usual in front of "Stinker," my OpenBSD box, trying to learn as much as I can about this fascinating OS (which is, of course, rather beneficial for my OS X skills) and, oh yes, I got myself an iPod.
After a rather unusual struggle with the NZ Custom Service (I didn't know that you have to have an import license for items over $400NZ (ca. US$200)), so my express service via DHL was idiotic, as my iPod was lying for five days at Auckland Airport, until I paid 12 percent General Sales Tax and got myself a proper license (nope, I did not plan to sell the little thingie).
So now I have a proper license, and the little iPod is sitting in front of me, looking rather smashing and just like the expensive, incredibly clever engineered little gadget it's supposed to be.
Everything about this thingamajig oozes class: the packaging (which is really quite nice), the glass surface, the display, and the polished steel back. Very, very nice.
I have to admit that this restored a bit of the interest and faith I recently lost in Apple after a series of rather bland but functional releases (eMac, Xserve, OS X 10.1.5). My 5 GB collection of songs was whisked in no time to the iPod via FireWire, and then it just worked! No setup necessary. The controls are just so bleeding ergonomical and intuitive that it just works. I connected it to my car stereo, and again, it worked!
Once again I have found my faith in the engineering and design department of Apple, and I have to admit, I feel a bit cross about some cheap PCs having the possibility now to connect to it, as I think it's the ultimate gadget to lure people to buy a Mac: All day my practice staff (most of them female) wanted to touch, play, and just coo over it.
Of course, I told them that only a Mac will work with this, and
I'm sure that some of them went home to have a good look at that
sad old beige eyesore they have standing at home under their desk.
(No, I don't mean a legacy G3, but a Wintel machine. The best thing
you can do with those things anyway is to put OpenBSD on it. Best
recycling idea ever, I think.)
Recent Down But Not Out Columns
- Thoughts and advice on replacing a two-year-old iBook G4, 02.01. This iBook G4 has taken a beating. Does it make more sense to buy a new iBook G4, wait for the Intel models, or look at the used market?
- iBook on last legs, Mac mini saves marriage, and Macintel meanderings, 01.23. With the iBook G4 "falling apart at the seams", does it make more sense to buy a new G4 iBook or wait for the Intellified next gen iBook?
- First impressions of the 14" iBook G4, 11.13. "Apple has managed to produce a machine that combines everything I want from a portable computer with appropriate processor performance for a competitive price."
- More in the Down But Not Out index.
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Mac Pro overclocking, Windependence with Darwine, Blu-ray for Macs, and more, Mac News Review, 07.04. Also more on running Leopard on non-Apple hardware, Ubuntu on a Mac mini, the first autofocus webcam with Zeiss optics for Macs, and more.
- Wouldn't life be great with an iSlate?, John Hatchett, Recycled Computing, 07.04. PDAs and smartphones are too small for some tasks, full-fledged Tablet PCs are overkill, and ebook readers are too limited. Apple has the tech to own this niche.
- Mac of the Day: Blue & White Power Mac G3, Jan. 1999 - The most colorful Power Mac introduced an innovative 'drawbridge' enclosure.
- List of the Day: SuperMacs is for those using Umax SuperMac clones.
- July 6 in LEM history: 00: 3 user accelerators - 01: SCSI and FireWire Disk Mode - Stick with the Mac - Computers for college - 05: Optimizing OS X performance - Return of the bumper snicker - 06: Can consumer MacBook replace 2 PowerBooks and a ThinkPad? - Vintage Macs with System 6 run circles around 3 GHz Windows PC - Run Windows apps without Windows
- The Macintosh Portable started a notebook revolution, Carl Nygren, Classic Macs in the Intel Age, 07.03. Before Apple introduced the Mac Portable, notebook computers were text-based and ran MS-DOS. Ever since, graphical interfaces have been the norm for laptops.
- More links in our archive.
About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts
Have a question?
Ask an expert!
Navigation
Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Best Used Macs
Video Cards
Email Lists
InfoMac's Low
End Mac Forum
Favorite Sites
MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System
6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
Mac FAQ
Abandonware
Petition
Mac vs. PC Info
Affiliates
The Apple
Store
Mac
Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
MacResQ
ExperCom
Crucial
Memory
batteries.com
Advertise
