Newton Poetry

Dan Knight at Low End Mac makes a bold statement:

With the G5 iMac, Apple got things just right. The optical drive and USB ports are right there with the monitor, and it’s a design we can expect Apple to stick with as long as there are desktop PCs.

As much as I love the iMac G4, I’m inclined to believe him: the G5 and beyond iMac design is one that’s built to last. Even today’s aluminum iMacs are basically the G5 fancied up.

The one thing I wouldn’t mind changing is the layout of the ports on the back. It is kind of a pain to reach around and pull USB dongles out. Maybe put them under the chin? Or on the side? I don’t know, but putting the ports on the back is clumsy.

But the G5 design is simplicity at its best. People talk about the iPad being a “window” into the Internet world; I feel the same way about my iMac. The screen, the Apple logo underneath – and that’s it.

Low End Mac’s Dan Knight on whether to go with a new iMac or 15″ MacBook Pro:

Now that Apple has an “antiglare” option for the 15″ MacBook Pro, I think it could be the perfect production machine for me at some point in the future. The size and weight aren’t an issue, and even the entry-level 2.53 GHz dual-core model has vastly more power than the 1.6 GHz dual G4 upgraded Power Mac I work with…The perfect desktop computer would take the current iMac design, move some ports for easier access, and offer an antiglare option.

It’s a decision I’m going to make in the next few weeks as well. I’ve been working on a new MacBook Pro for a few weeks now (I’ll post something here soon), and it really is the perfect laptop. I can’t imagine one any bigger or smaller.

However, I’m a consumer Mac guy, and the new iMacs offer tremendous appeal. I always said, once Snow Leopard comes out, I’m finally going to spring for a new Mac.

And while I assumed I would get a new iMac, the new MacBook Pro has me questioning my original assumption.

Dan Knight at Low End Mac:

It’s a good life writing about the Mac and working with other writers with the same passion, but it’s had its ups and downs. I left my full-time job do publish Low End Mac full-time eight years ago, just as the dot-com collapse was shredding ad income. Things bottomed-out in 2002 at less than 1/10 of a cent per page view in ad income while site traffic grew by nearly 25%.

Now, he says, times are getting tougher. One of the scary realities of leaving a “real world” job for one running a web site is the swing of the market, and Dan and company seem to be affected like everyone else.

I visit Low End Mac daily because it offers a historical view of the Mac platform, something that has interested me since I picked up my first Mac and Newton a few years ago. It’s a damn fine, fun site, with tons of great insight into keeping your classic Macs running in tip-top shape.

And speaking of “tip,” Dan encourages readers to donate to the site’s Tip Jars at the end of each post. I’ll be sure to give him some of my support.

“Through October, income seemed to hold steady, and then came the crash.,” Dan writes. “We don’t know what February holds (checks usually arrive the last week of the month), but we’re looking at our options.”

What’s worse is Dan lives in Michigan, the same state I live in (a bit north of me near Grand Rapids), which means a “real life” job isn’t easy to come by. I wish Dan all the luck in the world.

Dan Knight over at Low End Mac took my little idea and ran with it. There’s now a Google Group you can join, and volunteers are lining up from all across the country.

My first contribution: a strawberry iMac G3 that I gave as a gift a few Christmases ago. Now that friend has upgraded to a MacBook Pro, and is giving back the G3. It’ll make a great word processing, Internet, and gaming machine for some kid who couldn’t otherwise afford a computer.

If you’d like to help, please join the Google Group and use it as a homebase of sorts. We can swap ideas, parts, software, and hardware, and get cranking on (a) saving the environment from e-waste and (b) getting Macs to kids who can use them.

A big thanks to Dan for jumping on this thing, and to all the folks who want to make a difference – even if it’s a small one.

I’ve read Low End Mac as long as I’ve been a Mac user. Their Mac Profiles section just can’t be beat to look up old hardware specs (especially when I grab something out of the blue), and they post tons of helpful how-tos if you’re a classic Mac user.

So a big, hearty “thanks” to them for featuring our “11 ways Newton is still better than iPhone” post. The Newton officially qualifies as a low-end Apple product, even if the site mainly caters to Macintosh PCs.

Joe Rivera, serving in Iraq, over at Low End Mac:

I have both my PowerBook G4 and my black MacBook, but what I carry on me as part of my gear is my MessagePad 120. This is my second deployment with it, and I have it custom painted tan to match my old desert camouflage uniform.

Now that’s hardcore. Read the rest of Joe’s story, and why he doesn’t plan on springing for a new iPhone any time soon.