OSNews: http://www.osnews.com/story/21185/25_Years_of_Mac_Classic_Macs_Still_at_Work Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:53:43 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif OSNews.com http://www.osnews.com well... http://osnews.com/thread?354614 http://osnews.com/thread?354614 they just don't build computers like they used to ;) Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (poundsmack) Comments RE: well... http://osnews.com/thread?354625 http://osnews.com/thread?354625 That is for sure. Most machines are designed to last 18 months and then fail, it seems.

I still use my NeXT which was made in 1992, about the same time as these Macs. ;)

The title is a little misleading, these Macs are NOT 25 years old.Edited 2009-03-24 00:05 UTC Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:04:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (helf) Comments i have http://osnews.com/thread?354628 http://osnews.com/thread?354628 Edited 2009-03-24 00:15 UTC Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Mellin) Comments RE: i have http://osnews.com/thread?354630 http://osnews.com/thread?354630 what a brilliant and content-rich comment Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:23:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ebasconp) Comments RE[2]: well... http://osnews.com/thread?354632 http://osnews.com/thread?354632 I love my NEXTstation Mono too! But it just go to show.......IF IT AINT BROKE WHY FIX IT! I still use my Epson QX-10 along with my FAT MAC 512 play with every now and then. Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Accident) Comments RE[2]: i have http://osnews.com/thread?354642 http://osnews.com/thread?354642 better than what some people write here Tue, 24 Mar 2009 02:08:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Mellin) Comments RE[3]: i have http://osnews.com/thread?354650 http://osnews.com/thread?354650 Completely agreed. ;) Tue, 24 Mar 2009 02:55:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ebasconp) Comments Loved my classic II http://osnews.com/thread?354651 http://osnews.com/thread?354651 To this day, one of the best computers I have ever owned (which is why its on my avater here). I got my start in programming after spending hours downloading MacPerl over a 28.8 connection, and then later on codewarrior after scraping together enough money for it.Edited 2009-03-24 03:39 UTC Tue, 24 Mar 2009 03:39:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (google_ninja) Comments LC III... http://osnews.com/thread?354653 http://osnews.com/thread?354653 With a 68040 coprocesor card FTW! Tue, 24 Mar 2009 03:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Devils_Advocate) Comments SYLAR http://osnews.com/thread?354654 http://osnews.com/thread?354654 Quick run it is Sylar and he is there to slice open the head of the II.

http://cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/santa_fe_classic004.jpg

http://cultofmac.com/25-years-of-mac-classic-macs-still-at-work/746... Tue, 24 Mar 2009 03:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (John Blink) Comments The old Apple Web Server Directory http://osnews.com/thread?354687 http://osnews.com/thread?354687 It's also nice to see how some people got 25+ year old macs running as web servers. Take a look at this Apple IIe:

http://www.ld8.org:6502/

Or this Apple Lisa:

http://www.lisa2.com/

It still amazes me to think these machines were introduced such a long time before Tim Berners-Lee laid the grounds for the World Wide Web.

More on the old Apple Web Server Directory here:

http://servers.ld8.org/

:-) Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:01:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Governa) Comments Bundy Computers in Center City Philadelphia http://osnews.com/thread?354694 http://osnews.com/thread?354694 Hi,

One of the last Mac stores around, Bundy Computer, has a classic Mac (I think it is a Quadra 610) with an Imagewriter II printer working as their POS system, and the ImageWriter II printed my receipt.

The cashier indicated they have no intent to change what still works ;) . This was a year or so ago, I don't know if its still there, but it probably is. They do still service them. Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:26:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (mbpark) Comments Power Mc 1992? http://osnews.com/thread?354719 http://osnews.com/thread?354719 I think the mentioned Power Mac can not be from the year 92 ... it came out 3 years later!

also a little bit missleading are "20 megabytes of memory" - this was not RAM but Harddisk! RAM was only 2 megs back than... Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:07:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (cybergorf) Comments even older stuff: http://osnews.com/thread?354722 http://osnews.com/thread?354722 my copyshop still uses an atari 1040 st to control the copiers. Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:39:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (puenktchen) Comments RE: Comment by saroly http://osnews.com/thread?354724 http://osnews.com/thread?354724 The heck is this??? Was that some kind of lame attempt at spam, or am I just being obtuse?

Back on topic ... one of the oldest machines I remember seeing & using in a work environment was this behemoth of a "mini" (HP of some kind, if I recall) that ran FORTRAN to do gas chromatographic analysis. The thing was hooked up to a ginormous hard disk drive the size of a small washing machine ... might've been a Western Digital. You had to go through a very elaborate startup sequence to get the hard drive spooled up to operating speed.

Compared to the IBM370 mainframe that you communicated with via DECWriter teletype terminals or (WOW!!!) black & white Perkin Elmer all-in-one terminals that communicated via acoustic modem (phone handset nestled into rubber holders ;) ) ... can't remember the speed, but it didn't download characters much faster than I could type ... might've been less than 300 baud at the time ... Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:48:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (MissinBeOS) Comments TCO !!! http://osnews.com/thread?354727 http://osnews.com/thread?354727 there are some things that just make me smile

This machine has gone to prove what Mac users tend to say. It is not a disposable machine it is a Mac, and five years in, ten years in heck twenty years in it will still do what it is supposed to do. It is a testament that _some_ people (but by no means all people) will pay a little bit more for quality.

Most of us Mac users have at least one really old box that still feels fun or just refuses to die.

*(Then there is seeing my enemy driven before me and the lamentation of their women... -=- which is the same in my mind as hearing FUD/BS i.e. Macs Suck/ are expensive) Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:53:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kaelodest) Comments in 91 I had an LC http://osnews.com/thread?354733 http://osnews.com/thread?354733 I still have my LC w/68020 that I paid close to $2000 in the end of 1991 (cpu, keyboard, inkjet and 12" monitor). I was a student and between the time I ordered it and received it, the LC II was announced. I was bummed. My LC had 4Mb memory (now at the max 10Mb), and 80Meg HD. For as much money it was, it was a dog. I'm still trying to get my moneys worth out of it :-) Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:07:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (GCrain) Comments RE: TCO !!! http://osnews.com/thread?354751 http://osnews.com/thread?354751
It is a testament that _some_ people (but by no means all people) will pay a little bit more for quality.


Yeah, like those people who bought cheap C64's, Amiga's and ST's back in the day and that are still running today. Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Soulbender) Comments I <3 my C64 http://osnews.com/thread?354758 http://osnews.com/thread?354758 Yeah I loved My Vic 20 then my C64 I did not know at the time the real value of what I was learning in BASIC and all of the Command Line Jive it took to save (&verify) a file on tape... But back to the point Commodore and Atari do not exist -=- Not in any real sense beyond a Logo for Atari and a dream for what was Commodore and is now Amiga. Apple (the Mac) did their 25 and that is cool. Apple the company goes back almost another ten years.

Yes _Some_ people will be an exception to the trend. They will buy a Chevy and get 40, maybe 50 years from it but that is more of a testament to the User taking good care of it (I suppose my c64 still works but that is Schrodingers keyboard) But the road to planned obsolescence is paved with companies who sold a lot more for a few dollars less.

Have you seen the inside of an old 68K Mac? They are built like frickin' tanks. Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:18:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kaelodest) Comments Old computers were made to last http://osnews.com/thread?354860 http://osnews.com/thread?354860 I had my 1987 Amiga 500 on the internet an average of 4 hours/day every single day up until the end of 2008 (when I finally "modernized"). It ran over 20 years without a single hardware failure.

Compare that to modern hardware: at work, 3 of my new notebook computers had to be returned due to failures and the one that worked had to have the hard drive replaced twice. I've seen many new computer parts fail in less than 3 months.

Modern hardware sucks. Tue, 24 Mar 2009 22:00:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (mrAmiga500) Comments RE: in 91 I had an LC http://osnews.com/thread?354914 http://osnews.com/thread?354914 Was never a big fan of the LCs. My least favorite mac line of all time has to be the Performa though. This is the only mac I have ever downright hated http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_performa/stats/mac_perfor... Wed, 25 Mar 2009 05:23:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (google_ninja) Comments Love it http://osnews.com/thread?354943 http://osnews.com/thread?354943 I love seeing old desktop computers still doing their job. How wonderful.

It's not really a testament to "Macs are built better than PCs" as there are still a heap of old x86 machines still running; and I've had Macs die on me before even with good care. Oh, and the tray-load iMac CD-drives were more unreliable than any single component I've ever seen on a PC :-)

But yes, I hope those Classic 2s keep running for years to come! Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (3rdalbum) Comments RE: Love it http://osnews.com/thread?354991 http://osnews.com/thread?354991 Anyone been in Primark (in the UK) recently - the IBM POS systems they use must be about the same vintage. Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (steogede2) Comments RE: in 91 I had an LC http://osnews.com/thread?355268 http://osnews.com/thread?355268 i have one with a network card and external scsi cdrom Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:06:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Mellin) Comments