November 24th, 2008
Boy, do I feel like a goober. A commenter on my “DVD-ROM doom and gloom” post, Seele, pointed me to a how-to article on switching the optical drive in a blue and white Power Macintosh G3. Here I had been having issues getting the drive tray out from the inside of my PowerMac G4; it turns out I was going about it all wrong.
My objective was to switch out the CD-ROM drive in the PowerMac with a DVD-ROM drive I picked up on eBay. Looking back at the original post, you can see where it all went wrong:
Early on, though, I found several obstacles – including ill-placed screws holding the CD-ROM drive (one placed behind the drive, facing the other side of the PowerMac, which is impossible to get to) and power supply in place. The power supply’s screw was put in such a spot that one would need an L-shaped screwdriver of some sort, while the CD-ROM’s hidden screw requires the abilities of Plastic Man.
In other words, I was trying to unscrew screws that couldn’t be unscrewed. What commenter Seele pointed out to me was I needed to start in the front of the PowerMac G4 by taking off the plastic drive covers.
A quick Google search brought me to this classic Quicktime video from Apple about how to get it done. Watching that, I couldn’t believe my own foolishness. Why hadn’t I just did some research before plowing into this project?
More… »
Posted by davelawrence8 at 6:00 am on November 24th, 2008. Categories: DIY, lowend, macs. Tags: apple, cd, comment, DIY, drive, dvd, g4, install, powermac, project, quicktime, rom, screw, video. Subscribe via RSS.
February 1st, 2008
Screw you, Wired.com:
Arguably the most famous Apple flop of all, the Newton (which was actually the name of the OS and not the device) started out as a top-secret project with a lofty goal: to reinvent personal computing. During its development, the Newton took on many forms, such as the tabletlike “Cadillac” prototype, before its eventual release in 1993 as a smaller and considerably less revolutionary PDA. Although the Newton was available for six years (longer than most other Apple flops), it was a prime example of an idea that was simply ahead of its time, and sales never lived up to Apple’s expectations. When Steve Jobs resumed his stewardship of Apple in 1997, one of the first things he did was to axe the subsidiary Newton Systems Group. By the following February, the Newton was dead.
From their “Learning from Failure: Apple’s Most Notorious Flops” lineup.
Posted by davelawrence8 at 6:07 pm on February 1st, 2008. Categories: newton history. Tags: apple, cadillac, fail, flops, messagepad, newton, PDA, screw, wired, wired.com. Subscribe via RSS.
December 20th, 2007
Still no word on my broken MessagePad 110.
I tried replacing the batteries last night, but it still didn’t turn on. Also discovered the “RESET” button on the back, under the battery cover, and that didn’t work either.
Next stop? Newton forums.
Posted by davelawrence8 at 7:36 am on December 20th, 2007. Categories: newton. Tags: 110, apple, broke, drill, fix, idiot, messagepad, newton, screw, windows. Subscribe via RSS.