Tag: 1997

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ClarisWorks for Kids Pencil

Claris describes itself as “a subsidiary of Apple Inc.” The company began in 1987 as a software company Apple “spun off” to make software for the Apple II and eventually the Macintosh. In 1988 Claris purchased a popular database program FileMaker Inc. In 1998 Claris changed its name to FileMaker and returned its popular ClarisWorks product to Apple (changing the product’s name to AppleWorks). In 2019, FileMaker Inc. went back to the Claris name by rebranding as Claris International.

ClarisWorks for Kids was released in 1997. It had similar features as ClarisWorks, but with a simplified interface aimed at early elementary school students.

This pencil features the ClarisWorks for Kids logo, characters, and a bright yellow eraser. I have seven of these pencils in my collection.

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PowerBook G3 (original, 250 MHz, “Kanga,” 1997)

The PowerBook G3/250 is the first Apple laptop to use the G3 processor. It shipped with a 250 MHz G3 processor; contained 32 MB RAM and 2 MB VRAM; used a 5 GB hard drive; and had an internal 20X tray-loading CD-ROM drive. It included “hot-swappable” drive bays—drives could be swapped while the computer was running without restarting—and dual PC card slots. The display was a 12.1-inch color TFT active-matrix display at 800×600 resolution.

The design of the original PowerBook G3 is nearly identical to the PowerBook 3400 that proceeded it. The laptop included the 3400’s notable four-speaker sound system. It shipped with MacOS 8.0 and could be updated to a maximum of MacOS 9.1. Its average weight was 7.5 pounds.

Because of its G3 (third-generation) PowerPC 750 processor that included a backside level 2 cache, the laptop’s performance exceeded that of some desktop systems at the time. When released, its retail price was $5,700.

Source: EveryMac

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PowerBook 20X CD-ROM Module (1997)

Beginning in 1995 with the PowerBook 190 and 5300 models, Apple laptops shipped with an expansion bay for both Apple and third-party drives. The drives were “hot-swappable,” meaning that the user could pull out one drive and replace it with another without restarting the laptop.

This PowerBook 20X CD-ROM Module from 1997 works with PowerBook 1400-series laptops.

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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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eMate Replacement Pens (1997)

These boxes contain eMate Replacement Pens. The box is labeled “24 low-cost replacement pens for the Apple eMate 300 mobile computer.” One of the boxes I have is factory-shrink-wrapped and the other is an open partial box.

The eMate 300, a member of the Newton family, shipped with a stylus of the same design as these replacement pens. Comparing the pen that shipped with the eMate 300 and these replacement pens, the two appear identical.

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Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (1997)

The Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, sometimes referred to as the “TAM,” is a truly unique Macintosh.

It featured a 250 MHz PowerPC 603e processor, 32 MB of RAM, a 2.0 GB hard drive, a vertical 4X CD-ROM drive, S-video input, TV/FM Radio capability, a floppy Superdrive, and a custom Bose-designed speaker system. The TAM uses a unique ADB (Apple Desktop Bus) keyboard with an integrated trackpad and Italian leather palm rest. It did not ship with a mouse. The TAM includes a base unit that houses a subwoofer and the computer’s power supply, connected by a thick cable.

When powered on, the TAM plays a startup chime unique to this computer.

Apple manufactured 12,000 Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh computers and released 11,601 of them. When first offered, the price was $7,499. Halfway through its product cycle, Apple dropped the price to $3,500. When the product was discontinued in March 1998, the price dropped to $1,995.

When released, the Apple website devoted six full web pages to the TAM. One page boasted “Concierge Service” for TAM owners that described a “Three-Year Limited Hardware Warranty,” “Three-Year Call Telephone Support,” and a setup service:

“On-Site Setup. Apple will arrange to have your TAM delivered to your doorstep. A trained field technician will set up the hardware and basic software, make sure the system is operational, and answer questions you may have about the system.”

Another webpage highlighted the use of the TAM in the 1997 movie Batman and Robin (that also featured the eMate 300).

The Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh was created to celebrate April 1, 1996, the twentieth anniversary of the day that Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne formed Apple Computer. The TAM was announced on March 20, 1997.

The TAM was among the first design projects involving Jonathan Ive, Apple’s long-time CDO (Chief Design Officer).

The release of the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh marked the appearance of Apple’s first all-in-one desktop computer to use a flat panel display. Another all-in-one flat panel Apple desktop would not be released until 2002 when the first flat panel iMac was released.

Sources: EveryMac.com, Wikipedia.com, Apple at web.archive.com

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eMate 300 (1997)

The eMate 300 was designed specifically for the education market and was used extensively in the schools where I was a Director of Technology in the late 1990s to early 2000s. 

At the time, students primarily used desktop computers in a computer lab setting, while laptops were used by some school administrators and few teachers. We used the lower-cost eMate 300 for students who had difficulty handwriting, and most students and teachers preferred typing on this device over an AlphaSmart keyboard device that was also available at the time.

The eMate 300 ran the NewtonOS, a different operating system than the Macintosh computers of the time. The eMate 300 featured a 25 MHz ARM 710a processor, 8 MB of ROM, 3 MB of RAM (1MB of DRAM+2 MB of Flash Memory for user storage), a PCMCIA slot, IrDA-beaming capabilities, and a proprietary Newton InterConnect port.

The design was quite unique with a translucent aquamarine and black “clamshell” portable case with a 480×320 16-shade grayscale backlit LCD display. The eMate 300 included a stylus and a built-in keyboard (and did not support a mouse).

The eMate was the only Newton model to resemble a traditional laptop rather than a handheld device. Although the device was called the eMate “300,” no other models were manufactured.

eMate 300 design elements were clearly used in later Apple designs: the translucent plastic would show up a year later in the original Bondi blue iMac and later in the original iBook designs; the retro-futuristic curves and overall shape was also echoed in the iMac and iBook; and the NewtonOS is often considered a precursor to the iPhoneOS that would later become iOS.

My collection features several eMate 300 devices, many of them including original packaging.

Source: EveryMac.com

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PowerBook 1400cs/133 (1997)

The Macintosh PowerBook 1400cs/133 featured a 133 MHz PowerPC 603e processor, 16 MB of RAM, a 1.3 GB hard drive and an 8X CD-ROM drive. The color dual-scan display measured 11.3 inches. The PowerBook 1400cs was similar to the PowerBook 1400c, but the “s” in “cs” indicated a higher quality active-matrix display. 

The PowerBook 1400 series was the first PowerBook to use an internal CD-ROM drive and stackable memory modules. This PowerBook also included a clear cover on the outer case and shipped with preprinted “BookCovers” to customize the look of each PowerBook.

Source: EveryMac.com