Apple Collection

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Macintosh SE (1987)

The Macintosh SE is similar to the original Macintosh models that came before it with a new front case design and the addition of either a second 3.5-inch floppy drive or Apple’s first offering of an internal hard drive. The floppy disk drive (or drives) read 800 k disks and the hard drive was available in 20 MB or 40 MB options. The internal RAM available was 1 MB or 2MB. Like the original Macintosh, the Macintosh SE had a 9-inch black and white (monochrome) display made by Sony.

This particular Macintosh SE originally shipped with two 800k floppy drives, but was later upgraded with a hard drive. To accomplish the upgrade, the upper floppy drive was removed and replaced with a Maxtor-brand hard drive.

Also like the original Macintosh, the signatures of the team that developed the original Macintosh were engraved inside the back case. New vents were added to the back of the Macintosh SE, but the signatures were not moved to reflect the placement. Thus, some signatures have been partially obscured. The signature of “Steven Jobs” is visible near the center.

This Macintosh SE was purchased from a family in the town where I live and it exhibited a curious rattle when I picked it up. During the restoration process, I opened the case and found several items inside, likely inserted through the slot left from the removed floppy drive. The rogue items included a comb, a custom metal printing plate, about 20 flash cards on the topic of electronics, a slide rule calculating concrete volume, a metal ruler, a protractor, a handwritten personal note, $1.02 in change (two fifty-cent pieces and 2 pennies), staples, a curtain hook, and a Polaroid photo of two children (perhaps depicting the perpetrator of this minor offense).

Source: EveryMac

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Apple Keyboard (M0116, 1987)

The Apple Keyboard was also referred to as the Apple Standard Keyboard and was offered in addition to the lighter and slimmer Apple Desktop Bus Keyboard. The name Apple Keyboard would later be applied to different Apple keyboard designs, but this was the first use of this name.

This Apple Keyboard used Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) connections. The keyboard offered two ADB connections allowing the user to connect an Apple Desktop Bus Mouse to the keyboard (or directly to the back of the computer). This keyboard was both sold separately and included as an option with the Macintosh II and SE in 1987.

This keyboard also included a power button, a feature that would remain on Apple keyboards until the early 2000s. (The original Apple USB keyboard included with the original iMac was the last Apple keyboard to include a dedicated power button.)

This particular keyboard is damaged in the right side, but its performance is not affected.

Source: Wikipedia

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Newton MessagePad 100 (1993)

The Apple Newton MessagePad 100 was the same as the original Newton, but shipped with a newer version of the Newton operating system (Newton OS 1.2). All available Newton models included the MessagePad (Original MessagePad, OMP), followed by the MessagePad 100, 110, 120, 130, 2000, and 2100. In addition, the eMate 300 also ran the Newton OS.

The Newton MessagePad was the first device referred to as a “Personal Digital Assistant” (PDA). The MessagePad 100 was a handheld device with a 336×240 monochrome display that was touch-sensitive. Users could interact with the display with a stylus that came with the Newton stored in a compartment on the right side. The device used a 20 MHz ARM (Acorn RISC Machine) 610 processor and had a total of 604k of storage, although only 150k was usable. This Newton weighed just under 1 pound at 0.9 pounds.

The Newton MessagePad 100 could be plugged in to a Macintosh or Windows computer using a serial port connection, or data could be “beamed” to and from the device through infrared. It also had a PCMCIA card slot (later called a PC Card) accessed from the top to allow other programs to be run or the memory to be expanded.

The Newton was also among the first devices commercially available to use handwriting recognition as part of the operating system. However, this feature did not work well when first released, leading media and popular culture to ridicule and parody the feature. The Newton’s handwriting capabilities were featured on an episode of The Simpsons (“Lisa on Ice”) and in a week-long story of the Doonesbury comic strip by Garry Trudeau.

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1998, the Newton was one of the projects that was cancelled.

I used this Newton MessagePad 100 for 3 years while serving as a band director. This device allowed me to keep all my notes and contacts and I used it along with my Macintosh PowerBook 160. For the record, I did not experience the handwriting recognition issues with this device that were popular to reference at the time. In fact, I believe the Newton OS 1.2 handwriting recognition from around 1995 has the same, or better, accuracy than the “Scribble” text input on the Apple Watch in 2020.

Sources: EveryMac, Wikipedia

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Apple Watch Nike Sport Loop (44 mm, Summit White, 2019)

Nike Sport Loop Apple Watch bands are designed in partnership between Nike and Apple. The 44 mm Nike Sport Loop in Summit White is described by Apple as:

“Soft, breathable, and lightweight, the Nike Sport Loop is designed for fitness, with summit white color matched to the new line of Nike running shoes. It features a nylon weave with a reflective thread designed to shimmer when light strikes it. A hook-and-loop fastener makes for quick and easy adjustment, and dense loops on the skin side provide soft cushioning while allowing moisture to escape. On the reverse side, the attachment loops are securely anchored for superior durability.”

The Nike Sport Loop fits all 42 mm and 44 mm Apple Watch models, original through Series 5.

Since I tried my first Sport Loop Apple Watch band, I have found this style to be my favorite.

Source: Apple

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Apple TV/Video System (1994)

The Apple TV/Video System was a kit consisting of two hardware components, software, a handheld remote, and user manuals. The system allowed any Apple Power Macintosh, Macintosh Quadra, Macintosh LC, or Macintosh Performa to “Watch TV, capture video images, and create multimedia—all on your Macintosh.”

The specific components in the box included: Apple TV Tuner, Apple Video Player Card, Apple Video Player software, Remote control, and a User’s guide. The box also indicated that “your remote control might look different from the one shown here.” Indeed, the remote pictured on the box is not the one that shipped with any of the systems I have ever seen.

The box also lists the system’s features (in a bulleted list): “Lets you watch TV in a window that appears on the desktop of your Macintosh. Includes a remote control that lets you switch channels, adjust the volume, and control your CD player. Allows you to connect your camcorder or VCR to your Macintosh, and watch the video footage in a window on the display. Lets you capture a single image or a series of images that you can add to reports, letters, and presentations. Features an easy-to-use control panel that gives you one-button image and movie capture. Lets you resize the TV/video window up to the full size of your screen; you can place it anywhere on your desktop.”

Since this system was released before iMovie was created, it also included the Avid VideoShop 3.0 software on CD. At the time, this system was the easiest method for watching TV/video on a Macintosh, and it introduced a low-cost way to edit videos.

I remember that these systems were offered at no additional cost to education with certain Macintosh and Power Macintosh purchases.

Source: Apple

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Newton 9W Power Adapter (1997)

The Newton 9W Power Adapter could be used with all Newton MessagePad products in the United States, Canada, and Japan. An Apple price list also noted that this adapter could “recharge the NiCd Rechargeable Battery Pack for the MessagePad 120 and 130, and the NiMH Rechargeable Battery Pack for the MessagePad 2000 and 2100.”

Source: Apple

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QuickTake AC Adapter for QuickTake 200 (1997)

The QuickTake AC Adapter for QuickTake 200 was sold separately from the QuickTake 200. According to the product box, this adapter “Lets you run your QuickTake 200 digital camera using AC power.”

I remember using the QuickTake AC Adapter primarily for school projects that involved the QuickTake 200 on a tripod and taking photos of many students or student work examples in succession.

Source: Apple

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QuickTake 200 Digital Camera (1997)

The QuickTake 200 was the third and final digital camera by Apple. It was released in 1997 and was built by Fuji. The QuickTake 200 was a major step ahead compared to the QuickTake 100 and 150 cameras that came before it, due to its 1.8-inch color LCD preview screen, removable memory cards, and additional controls. Further, the QuickTake 200 looked and functioned more like a traditional camera than its predecessors.

The QuickTake 200 shipped with a 2 MB SmartMedia card that allowed up to 20 high-quality or 40 standard-quality photos. The camera used four AA batteries and had controls for aperture and focus with three different modes: close-up (3.5–5 inch), portrait (17–35 inch), and standard (3 feet–infinity). It also shipped with a snap-on optical viewfinder to save battery. Unlike the previous QuickTake 100 and 150, the QuickTake 200 did not have a flash.

I used the QuickTake 200 digital camera extensively both as an educator and personally. In fact, I took my QuickTake 200 on my most memorable vacation to date on a trip to London in 1998. At the time, digital cameras were not well known and it allowed me capture many more photos than I’d taken in the past on film because of the removable SmartMedia cards. By no means was the experience similar to today’s virtually unlimited mobile phone camera photography, but it was my first indication of what was coming, years before everyone had a camera all the time.

As a fan of vintage Apple, I was intrigued to notice that Apple brought back the “QuickTake” name for a camera feature in the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro cameras in 2019. The Apple Support website states, “Grab a video with QuickTake. iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro have QuickTake, a new feature that lets you record videos without switching out of photo mode.”

Sources: Wikipedia, Apple Support

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Macintosh 512K (1984)

Upon release of the Macintosh 512K, a slightly redesigned Macintosh with the specs as the original Macintosh was introduced as the Macintosh 128K. Thus, the Macintosh 512K was technically the third Macintosh to be released since the new 128K model differed from the original Macintosh. 

The Macintosh 512K had the same 512×342 monochrome display as the original Macintosh, but its memory was quadrupled. The name Macintosh 512K refers to its 512 kilobytes (kB) of internal RAM. The computer was not designed to be upgraded with additional RAM or further expanded, although a few third-party add-ons made available (such as a $2,195 “HyperDrive” hard drive by General Computer Corporation).

The Macintosh 512K was bundled with software including MacPaint and MacWrite, but many additional titles  were soon available, including MacDraw, MacProject, Macintosh Pascal, and Microsoft Excel (requiring 512 kB of RAM to run). The increased memory also allowed the Macintosh 512K to handle larger word processing files, file sharing using Apple’s AppleShare local file sharing abilities, and generally faster performance of the graphical user interface (GUI). 

Sources: Wikipedia (Macintosh 512K, GCC), EveryMac

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Macintosh Mouse (original, beige, 1984)

This original Macintosh Mouse, Model M0100, shipped with a Macintosh 512K. This mouse was compatible with the Apple Lisa and was the same mouse that shipped with the original Macintosh. 

The original Macintosh Mouse used a DE-9 connector and remained unchanged until 1987 when its color was altered to Platinium (with Smoke accents) to match the Macintosh Plus. Like all early Macintosh mouse designs, it used only one button to control the famously easy-to-use Macintosh operating systems of the time.

Source: Wikipedia