Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Old Vs. New

I started this blog to gather people from all walks of life in an effort to prolong the working life of our beloved G-Series Macs. I haunt more than a few Mac forums, looking for insights into the best possible way to solve this conundrum. One of the most broached topics is the Old Mac Vs. New Mac debate. On the one side, you have a bunch of well to do people and folks who were given shiny new Intel Macs. However they got them is a moot point. They have them, we don't. That group of haves tend to be rather unsympathetic to the plight of the rest of us....the have not's. Let's make something perfectly clear, I don't want a Mac Mini.

I'm not saying Minis are bad machines, far from it. They just lack a key element I consider a must have in any computer I own....expandability. Oh, sure you can have Apple load one from the factory with a 2.26GHz Intel Core Duo processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB HD, but that will set you back $1,049.00....and that doesn't include mouse, keyboard, or really over-priced Apple monitor. Ouch. I don't know about anyone else, but that's a bit of a stretch on the old budget at my house. That's why I came up with the idea to retrofit old Macs with mother boards that had Intel processors. For the price of, say, a base Mini ($599) Apple could sell a 2GHz Dual Core set-up with four memory slots and an equal number of PCI slots to fit the many G-series units currently gracing the desktops of homes throughout the world and turn a hefty profit at it. People say Apple isn't a hardware company. Well, somebody sure makes mother boards for them.

If old Macs were given this new lease on life, the so-called Hackintosh market would soon be non-existent. Barring the release of an $800.00 expandable tower, (I can hear the powers that be at Apple rolling around hysterically on the floor, laughing their guts out) I really don't see another option.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Viva La Retrolution!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Hi. I'm a Mac. If you're reading this, most likely, you are, too. Like many a Mac user, I proudly own an older Macintosh work horse due to the fact I cannot afford to upgrade to a newer, Intel driven model. Don't get me wrong; I can afford a Mini, but why would I want to? I am a proud papa to a Power Mac G4 Gigabit Ethernet and have all but maxed it out. I could still slap another 512Mb of RAM in that baby, but it's a moot point now. Apple has decided to practice a little tough love and render our noble machines truly obsolete. A lot of software developers, such as my beloved VLC, have followed suit. Now, we owners of aging G-series computers are being left in the dust, watching enviously as newer Macs continue to amaze the world with their ever evolving capabilities. What I want to know is, Why?

Why hast thou abandoned thy faithful, O' Cupertino? Why did you replace my highly adaptable, and more pleasingly aesthetic machine with cold steel and Intel processors and leave me without means to keep up? Do you think I am the only one lamenting this decision? Well, that's why I've created this blog: To share my pain, and the pain of so many others, with you. We, the tried and true Mac users, are tired of being outcasts. We are rising up and giving voice to our desires. We want Intel for OUR machines!

Welcome to the "Retro"-lution. We want Intel processors on mother boards to retrofit our older G-series computers. You, Apple, no longer make a computer that fulfills our need: That of an upgradable, economically priced tower. Minis and iMacs don't fit the bill. Mac Pros are WAY too expensive. Give us what we need! We aren't asking for equal footing with the Mac Pro....... 2GHz Dual Core processors are fine for a start, but give us some real RAM...at least 8GB! We'd like to see what we could do with some of the advanced video cards that are out there, too, so we'll be wanting more PCI slots and more USB and Firewire ports. Also, we'd like to be able to incorporate more hard drives without resorting to externals. My G4 could easily hold four. That leaves us with the issue of optical drives.....Can you say Blu Ray? I knew you could! Give us Blu Ray!

We are not the misinformed miscreants some think us to be. We are concerned with the environment, as YOU claim to be, Apple. If you are so green, why have you condemned so many of our machines to a date with the landfill? Oh, I've read the articles on how to make your old Mac into a jukebox....a video scrapbook.....a home entertainment center...blah, blah, blah. News flash! IT'S A COMPUTER!!! You don't junk a classic car when it gets old, you restore it. This idea will only create a new capital stream for you and give you great PR as you prove beyond doubt you truly do care about the environment. It'll also boost resale value on all Macs and shoot your stock margins up. Let us help you envision your green dream. Give us the parts we need to do it. We will be petitioning you for them.

Those of you who are reading this, that are affected by Apple's decisions as I am, join with me in our Retrolution. Post your Mac's specs, dream specs for your retro mods, and voice your displeasure with the rest of us. Help us win over Cupertino.