The Apple AirPort Carrier Card Adapter (M8753G/A, 820-1066-A) is for the slot-loading G3 iMac (400MHz or faster). The “carrier card” allows a standard original Apple AirPort wireless card to be installed in an iMac.
At the time, wireless capability was not considered a standard computer feature so the iMac G3 not only did not include an AirPort Card, but it also lacked the internal port to accept it. Instead, Apple required this carrier to allow an AirPort Card to be added. The 802.11b AirPort Card was not included.
This Starbucks+iTunes counter display was used in a suburban Chicago Starbucks during the second iteration of the “Pick of the Week” promotion. The display matches the cards that are red with white accents.
The original promotion began on October 2, 2007, with the Starbucks and Apple partnership to give away “Song of the Day” cards on the iTunes Music Store. The partnership continued for several years with a few variations.
Because this counter display was well-used, it definitely shows signs of wear. I happened to be at the Starbucks sitting at the counter the evening when a new display was delivered. The barista on duty allowed me to have this retired display instead of disposing of it.
Beginning on October 2, 2007, Starbucks began a partnership with Apple to give away “Song of the Day” cards in collaboration with the iTunes Music Store. The first Song of the Day was Bob Dylan’s “Joker Man.”
Each card was printed in color on two sides. The front of the card featured the artist and/or band, and the back listed the terms and conditions of the promotion and included a 16-character code to redeem the free song on the iTunes Music Store.
After the first iteration of this promotion, a few other versions were offered, all with the same size card, but with different designs. Later versions of the promotion turned into weekly offerings. Special collections were also added such as music festival tie-ins (e.g., Lollapalooza) and music-related TV shows (e.g., The Voice). Also, Apple Books titles and free Apps from the App Store were added to later cards.
My collection includes hundreds of these cards from all the versions of these promotions: Song of the Day (light blue/gold accent card design); Pick of the Week (red/white accent card design); Pick of the Week (metallic silver/white accent card design); and Pick of the Week (white card design including song, book, and app options).
I collected these cards personally during my frequent trips to Starbucks. When available, I grabbed the white “divider” cards that were used by store personnel to show the promotion dates for each offer.
This card is an advertisement for the Generation 2 iPod. The Generation 2 iPod was similar to the original iPod and looks identical in this ad, but the device used a touch wheel instead of a physically rotating wheel to scroll throughout the interface.
The card is printed using a lenticular printing technique that shows two different designs, depending upon the angle the card is held. The card is notably the actual size of the iPod.
The front card has two lenticular designs: the Apple logo and name iPod (the iPod startup screen), and an interface screen capture showing the Artists screen with six artists including David Bowie, Moby, Busta Rhymes, Ash, Carl Cox, and John Digweed (Moby is selected).
The back of the card is bright orange and includes the text: “Introducing the newest iPod with the room for more than 4000 songs. For Mac and now Windows.”
I have three of these cards in my collection, all identical.
The original AirPort card was a modified PCMCIA card manufactured by Lucent. Lucent’s model was called the WaveLAN/Orinoco Gold PC card. Apple’s AirPort card had no integrated antenna and included a small antenna port along the top edge.
The AirPort card was designed to be installed by a user. It slid into a slot that was easily accessed, and a small cable was plugged into its antenna port. The antenna cable was integrated into the design of the Mac laptop or desktop. In some installations an adapter was required.
The original AirPort card was released along with the original iBook (blueberry and tangerine) and the original AirPort Base Station (graphite). Apple was among the first companies to release a complete wireless system that was accessible to consumers, providing computers designed to easily install wireless cards, the wireless card, a wireless base station, and software that was relatively easy to configure and set up.
According to Apple’s guide, About Your Airport Card:
AirPort Card Specifications Wireless Data Rate: Up to 11 megabits per second (Mbps) Range: Up to 150 feet (45 meters) in typical indoor use (varies with building) m Frequency Band: 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) Radio Output Power: 15 dbm (nominal) Standards: Compliant with 802.11 Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) 1 and 2 Mbps standard and 802.11HR DSSS 11 Mbps draft standard
