Tag: Macintosh

Posted on

Macintosh Centris 650 (1993)

The Macintosh Centris 650 has the distinction of being Apple’s Macintosh product with the shortest lifespan (along with the Centris 610). The Centris 650 and 610 were introduced on February 10, 1993, and discontinued on October 21, 1993—a lifespan of only 253 days. The short life resulted from a technicality when Apple made the decision in late 1993 to follow a new naming scheme for all their products: “Quadra” for business, “LC” for education, and “Performa” for home. As a result of the name change, the Macintosh Centris 650 became the Macintosh Quadra 650.

The Centris computers were introduced as Apple’s midrange offerings in 1993 as replacements to the Macintosh IIci and Quadra 700. The Centris 650 used a Motorola 25MHz 68040 or 68LC040 chip and could run System 7.1, up through and including Mac OS 8.1 (without a PowerPC upgrade).

The Centris 650 includes onboard video with VGA support via an adapter, 3 NuBus slots, two ADB ports, two serial ports, an external SCSI connector, and a 5.25-inch drive bay. This was one of the earliest Macintosh computers to be available with an internal CD-ROM drive (an AppleCD 300i model).

According to MacWorld in April 1993, five configurations were available:

  • 25 MHz 68LC040, 4 MB RAM (on board), 512 KB VRAM, 80 MB HDD, no Ethernet
  • 25 MHz 68040, 8 MB RAM (on board), 512 KB VRAM, 80 MB HDD, Ethernet
  • 25 MHz 68040, 8 MB RAM (on board), 512 KB VRAM, 230 MB HDD, Ethernet
  • 25 MHz 68040, 8 MB RAM (on board), 1 MB VRAM, 230 MB HDD, Ethernet, AppleCD 300i and microphone
  • 25 MHz 68040, 24 MB RAM (including 8 MB on board), 1 MB VRAM, 500 MB HDD, Ethernet

Sources: Wikipedia, Low End Mac (naming, specs), MacWorld (via Internet Archive)

Posted on

T-shirt, Happy Birthday, Mac (black, 2014)

This black t-shirt commemorates the 30th birthday of Apple’s Macintosh computer brand.

The front of the shirt features a stylized “30” logo in a thin version of Apple Myriad, but with the “0” replaced by an outline of the Apple logo. The “30” part of the logo is printed in a gradient version of Apple’s classic 6-color logo. Under the “30” is printed “Happy Birthday, Mac.”

The back of the shirt features the words “Celebrating 30 years of making computers people love” printed in Apple Myriad, centered at the top. Apple Myriad was Apple’s corporate font used approximately between 2003–2017.

The shirt is made by American Apparel, a brand “that stands for inclusiveness, equality and empowerment.” The shirt is a Women’s XL size.

Source: Wikipedia, American Apparel

Posted on

The Visual Almanac: An Interactive Multimedia Kit (January 1990)

The Visual Almanac is the earliest Apple Education multimedia product in my collection. According to the kit’s Laser Disc, pictured on the Domesday86 website:

“The Visual Almanac is composed of 3 parts: the Visual Almanac Videodisc, the Visual Almanac software, and the Visual Almanac Companion (a book). This two-sided videodisc contains an Introduction, over 7000 images and 2 channels of sound organized into 12 collections. It is designed to be used under control of a Macintosh computer.”

The printed materials include a guide (First Steps in the Visual Almanac) and a spiral-bound book. Media includes three 3.5-inch disks: HyperCard 1.2.2; Visual Almanac Home (home HyperCard stack; Collections Directory (pre-made collections), and a CD-ROM. The kit also includes a cable.

The cable is described as a “LaserDisc Player Serial Lead,” designed to “connect a Pioneer player (with a 15 pin D-Sub connector) to the Apple Macintosh mini-DIN serial port.”

The box containing all the items in the kit measures 12.75 inches square and is 1.5 inches deep. The accompanying spiral-bound book is titled The Visual Almanac: An Interactive Multimedia Kit Companion, measures 11 x 8.5 inches, and contains 216 pages, printed in full color.

The Preface of the book contains a welcome message that states the resource’s intent:

“Welcome to The Visual Almanac! We designed the The Visual Almanac to give everyone a glimpse of potential computer-centered futures and have tried to show how current multimedia technologies might be used to do something new. We tried to make something that could be used now, but would also provoke the development of methodologies, technologies and pedagogies for the future. It is an interactive multimedia kit aimed at children and all their teachers—in schools, in homes and in various public environments—as well as business people, researchers and developers who make educational and other materials for our youth.”

Although the full package is dated January 1990, the accompanying CD-ROM is dated 1989 and the CD (as well as the Laser Disc) specifies that it was “Produced by the Apple Multimedia Lab.”

The box in my collection is missing the accompanying 2-sided LaserDisc that contains the primary content in 78 “collections” for the kit:

Side A Collections
Animals and Plants
Earth View
Everyday Physics
Solar System
Sounds Side A

Side B Collections
American History
Around the World
History of Daily Life
Everyday Objects
Historical Portraits
Sounds Side B
Studies in Time

Special thanks to the Domesday86 website for providing an excellent, detailed entry about this kit that allowed me to better describe this early educational multimedia example.

Source: Apple, Domesday86

Posted on

The Apple Catalog (Spring 1993)

The Apple Catalog opens with the description:

“In this catalog, you’ll read about a lot of tremendously useful products. Products that could change your life. You’ll also read about the way some people really did change their lives—and a lot of other peoples’ lives—in significant ways.”

The Table of Contents includes:

  • Color Classic—Introducing the Macintosh Color Classic computer
  • Color made easy—Scan it, display it, and print it—all in color
  • PowerBook computers—Macintosh power in a notebook size
  • PowerBook accessories—Carrying cases, batteries, rechargers, and more
  • Printers—StyleWriter and ImageWriter printers and accessories
  • Laser printers—Personal LaserWriter NTR and LS printers and accessories
  • Desktop publishing—New tools for the black-and-white publisher
  • Multimedia—Bring full-color video, sound, and animation to your Macintosh screen
  • Disability solutions—Tools for people with disabilities
  • Software—Word processing, drawing, page layout, presentations, and more
  • Learning and communicating—Self-paced training, technical support, and communications software
  • Networks—Networking software and cables
  • Compatibility—How Macintosh works with other systems: AUX, SNA•ps, and MacX
  • Macintosh security—Anti-glare filters, security kits, and system savers
  • Macintosh add-ons—Keyboards, mice, and disk holders
  • Desk accessories—Accents for the well-appointed office
  • Apple wear—Apple clothing and accessories
  • Apple II, too—Products and accessories for Apple II computers
  • The Apple II on Macintosh—Plus a library of useful manuals

The Apple Catalog from Spring 1993 measures 9.125 x 11 inches and is printed in full color on a matte finish paper.

Source: Apple

Posted on

Macintosh solutions for math and science, Apple TV Broadcast Number 57, VHS tape (March 19, 1992)

With many thanks to the online records of Stanford University’s Green Library, I was able to locate an excellent description of this VHS tape in my collection that is also in their “Guide to the Apple Computer, Inc. Records M1007” collection in the Department of Special Collections and University Archives.

Stanford describes the segments of this 60-minute video:

  • Segment 1: Introduction with Tricia Kellison and Jim Pyle
  • Segment 2: University of California at Berkeley – Human Powered Vehicle case study
  • Segment 3: Alabama School of Fine Arts/Math and Science Division
  • Segment 4: University of California at Berkeley – Physiology Lab
  • Segment 5: Boston Technical High School – Algebra/Advanced Math
  • Segment 6: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – Engineering in the “real world”
  • Segment 7: Johns Hopkins University – Astrophysics
  • Segment 8: Math & Science Curriculum Integration demo / Michael Jay
  • Segment 9: Question and answer

This video tape is in a plastic VHS case.

Source: Stanford University

Posted on

Why Macintosh? complete box set (1997)

One of my Apple collection entries includes a set of books I titled the “Macintosh Advantage Collection (1996)” that contains the following materials:

  • 50 Macintosh Advantages book (1996)
  • Why do People Prefer Macintosh? brochure (1996)
  • Why Macintosh? brochure (1996)

I recently acquired a brown cardboard shipping box measuring 11.5 x 8.75 x 6.5 inches, complete with its original shipping label to its original recipient—a former Apple sales rep. Apparently, the three items I cataloged above are a part of a larger collection for potential Apple customers that was used in late 1990s.

The shipping label refers to this box as Apple part 52241, and based upon the part numbers that follow, this box contains all its original contents. I have listed the part numbers below and matched them to their items. At the end of each part number an asterisk is followed by a number, likely indicating the quantity of each item (all quantities are “1” in this box, except for the 5 Apple logo window clings).

Curiously, two of the VHS video tapes in the box include both the NTSC and PAL formats—an odd choice since, generally, only NTSC was used in the United States.

Part number list and box contents:

  • 52241—Part number for entire box
  • L02206A—6-color Apple logo sticker set
  • L02270A—Apple’s Operating System Strategy, March 1997, VHS tape (NTSC format) L02270APAL—Apple’s Operating System Strategy, March 1997, VHS tape (PAL format)
  • L02222A—Apple and NeXT: Combining unparalleled ease of use with industrial-strength performance, Information About Apple’s OS Strategy, January 1997, 8.5 x 11-inch whitepaper, 4 pages
  • L02181A—Apple Technology Update—Mac OS 7.6, January 1997 VHS tape (NTSC format)
  • L02177A—The 1997 Apple MacAdvocate CD-ROM. (Spring 1997)
  • L01760A—Macintosh or Windows? Spring 1996 VHS tape (NTSC format)
  • L01760APAL—Macintosh or Windows? Spring 1996 VHS tape (PAL format)
  • L01856A—Personal Computer Satisfaction: An Independent Study of People Who use Both Macintosh and Windows 95 Computers (Evans Research Associates) (1996)
  • L01973B—Go figure: A Quick Look at Some Important Apple Facts, 1.97 10-panel, full-color brochure (1997)
  • L01970A—Apple logo window clings (quantity 5)
  • L01667A—Why Macintosh? booklet (1996)
  • L00440C—50 Macintosh Advantages, Why Macintosh computers are better than PCs running Windows 95. 1996, 8.5 x 11-inch booklet
  • L01749A—Why do People Prefer Macintosh? (Why people think Macintosh computers are better than PCs running Windows, in their own words.) April 1996, 8.5 x 11-inch booklet
  • Not listed on box, likely sent with Mac OS 7.6 VHS tape: L02182A—Mac OS 7.6 At a glance tri-fold brochure (2-color)

While the above books are detailed in my previous post, a fascinating new addition to my collection is the seemingly innocuous Apple and NeXT whitepaper. The 4-page document is the first printed source I have seen that describes Apple’s plan to proceed after their acquisition of NeXT. The whitepaper describes the “Rhapsody” project—the operating system that eventually becomes Mac OS X—the basis for the macOS we use today, over 25 years later. The whitepaper includes this description:

“Rhapsody is the code name of the first system software effort planned from the prospective union of Apple and NeXT. Its intent is to extend the existing strengths of both companies to provide a computing environment that is both stronger and more flexible—and, ultimately, better able to meet the needs of our customers.”

This Why Macintosh? complete box set is a fascinating glimpse into Apple’s pre-Internet communications plan with customers at a pivotal time in their history—just after Steve Jobs returned to the company.

Source: Apple

Posted on

Macintosh Resource Guide, Vocational Education (1992)

This Apple Resource Guide booklet focused upon K–12 Vocational Education. The book opens with Apple’s case for using “Technology to Change Vocational Education:”

“As the SCANS Report notes, the personal computer ‘has reconfigured the world of work as has perhaps no other invention since electricity or the assembly line.’ The nature of work is changing as is the ‘foundation needed to find and hold a good job.’ Technology holds a promise, not only of new kinds of work, but also of the means of attaining the skills and capabilities that will permit our work force to accomplish those tasks.”

Released in 1991, “The Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) examined the demands of the workplace and whether young people were capable of meeting those demands. Specifically, SCANS determined the level of skills required to enter employment” (United States Department of Labor).

In the next section of Apple’s booklet, the section titled “Why use the Macintosh computer?” lays out a use case for Macintosh in Vocational Programs. Three reasons include: “The software is easy to learn,” “It’s idea for graphics,” and “It helps build the foundations—and more.”

The book is primarily comprised of six case studies about vocational education programs across the United States that use Macintosh. Schools that are profiled include:

  • Delta County School District—District Planning Provides Computers and Opportunitites at All Schools
  • Auburn High School—Industrial Technology Benefits from Computer Technology
  • Butler Middle School—Learning the Engineering Behind the Magic of Technology
  • Walter Biddle Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences—Computer Links Agriculture and Business in Philadelphia School
  • Tulsa County Area Vocational-Technical School District #18—Educational Enhancement Center Serves All Students with Technology
  • Burkburnett High School—Business Class Keeps Curriculum and Technology Current

The booklet concludes with a series of Resources for Using Technology in Vocational Education.

The booklet measures 8.5 x 11 inches and is printed in black.

Source: Apple, United States Department of Labor

Posted on

Macintosh Resource Guide, K–12 Business Education booklet (1992)

This Apple Resource Guide booklet focused upon K–12 Business Education. The book opens with Apple’s case for using Macintosh in Business Education programs for “Meeting the Challenges with Technology.” It reads:

“In today’s competitive global economy, business education is more important than ever before. The need for trained, skilled workers is growing rapidly, but nearly half of all students who complete high school still do not continue on with their education. These students need—and want—preparation in the skills that will enable them to earn a living right out of high school.”

The next section, Why use the Macintosh computer?, lays out a use case for Macintosh in business education.

“A growing number of business education teachers have selected the Apple Macintosh as the standard microcomputer for their classrooms. For them, the choice was clear… The software is easy to learn… It’s powerful and easy to use.”

The book is primarily comprised of six case studies about business education programs across the United States that use Macintosh. Schools that are profiled include:

  • Abilene High School—New Technology Tools Transform a Business Department
  • Enterprise Village—The Enterprise Village Experience
  • Marcos De Niza High School—Student Entrepreneurs Develop Business Plans
  • Steel Valley Senior High School—Macintosh Moves Steel Valley High Into Office of the Future
  • Trinity High School—Making Connections in Business Law
  • Yarmouth High School—A Small Department Manages Big Innovations

The booklet concludes with a series of Resources for Using Technology in Business Education.

The booklet measures 8.5 x 11 inches and is printed in black.

Source: Apple