Newton 4MB Flash Storage Card (1994)

All Newton devices had at least one PCMCIA memory card slot. According to Engineering360 (the world’s largest online destination for engineers):

“PCMCIA memory cards and storage cards are used to add memory (RAM, SRAM, Flash, etc.) and/or storage capacity (hard disks, CD-ROM, etc.) to computers. PCMCIA is an acronym for the Personal Computer Memory Card Association, the organization which develops and maintains standards for PCMCIA cards. Originally, these devices were known as PC cards because they were designed to add memory to portable computers.”

The original MessagePad and the 100 series Newtons (100, 110, 120, 130) had one Type II card slot, the MessagePad 2000 and 2100 had two Type II card slots, and the eMate 300 had one Type III card slot.

This Newton 4MB Flash Storage Card added 4MB of internal storage to a Newton device.

Sources: Apple Newton UK, Engineering360

Mobile Me box (2010)

MobileMe is the third in Apple’s iterations of online tools suites. This boxed version of MobileMe was available in 2010 and matched other Apple retail packaging of the time.

The history of Apple’s online services has included:

iTools (released 1-5-2000) with services including @mac.com email addresses (accessed through the Mail app), iCards free greeting card service, iReview web site reviews, HomePage free web page publishing, iDisk online data storage, and a KidSafe directory of child-friendly web sites.

.Mac (pronounced “dot Mac,” released 7-17-2002) with services including HomePage web hosting, iDisk online disk storage service, @mac.com email service (POP and IMAP), iCards online greeting cards, Backup personal backup (to iDisk, CD, or DVD), and McAfee Virex. Later enhancements included an online Mail interface, Back to My Mac remote desktop, Web Gallery, and the ability to add more online web storage and segment it according to purpose.

MobileMe (released 7-9-2008) had a difficult rollout where some users experienced instability over a period of several weeks. Steve Jobs later wrote, “it was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software, and the App Store.” Customers received a free 60-day extension of MobileMe services. Although .Mac removed some services, including iCards and some specific web services, greater iLife integration was added and primary services continued to be expanded and upgraded.

iCloud (beginning Fall 2011) was released with iOS 5 and the iPhone 4S. iCloud includes email, calendar, file across multiple devices, 5 GB of free cloud storage, and offers additional paid tiers for more storage.

For users like me who have been customers since the iTools era, all email domains remain available, including @mac.com, @me.com, and @icloud.com.

This MobileMe software box is from 2010 and features several services on the packaging: online syncing of email, calendar, and contacts; the Find My iPhone or iPad service; online photo and file storage; and an image depicting the ability of MobileMe to share files and information among iPhone, Mac/Windows, and iPad via “the Cloud.”

Source: Wikipedia

Mobile Me box (2008)

MobileMe is the third in Apple’s iterations of online tools suites. This boxed version of MobileMe was available in 2008 and matched other Apple retail packaging of the time.

The history of Apple’s online services has included:

iTools (released 1-5-2000) with services including @mac.com email addresses (accessed through the Mail app), iCards free greeting card service, iReview web site reviews, HomePage free web page publishing, iDisk online data storage, and a KidSafe directory of child-friendly web sites.

.Mac (pronounced “dot Mac,” released 7-17-2002) with services including HomePage web hosting, iDisk online disk storage service, @mac.com email service (POP and IMAP), iCards online greeting cards, Backup personal backup (to iDisk, CD, or DVD), and McAfee Virex. Later enhancements included an online Mail interface, Back to My Mac remote desktop, Web Gallery, and the ability to add more online web storage and segment it according to purpose.

MobileMe (released 7-9-2008) had a difficult rollout where some users experienced instability over a period of several weeks. Steve Jobs later wrote, “it was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software, and the App Store.” Customers received a free 60-day extension of MobileMe services. Although .Mac removed some services, including iCards and some specific web services, greater iLife integration was added and primary services continued to be expanded and upgraded.

iCloud (beginning Fall 2011) was released with iOS 5 and the iPhone 4S. iCloud includes email, calendar, file across multiple devices, 5 GB of free cloud storage, and offers additional paid tiers for more storage.

For users like me who have been customers since the iTools era, all email domains remain available, including @mac.com, @me.com, and @icloud.com.

This MobileMe software box is from 2008 and features several services on the packaging: online syncing of email, calendar, and contacts; online Photo gallery; online storage; and an image depicting the ability of MobileMe to share files and information among a Mac, iPhone, iPod touch, and Windows via “the Cloud.”

Source: Wikipedia

PC Card storage module (for PowerBook 5300 series computers, 1995)

According to the Macintosh PowerBook User’s Guide for PowerBook 5300 series computers, this storage solution is called a “PC Card storage module.” This module is shown on page 2 of the manual in one of the labels of an annotated drawing of the PowerBook 5300.

The manual states: “PC Cards (also known as PCMCIA cards) are about the size of a thick credit card and have a 68-pin connector at one end. They come in many varieties, such as fax/modem cards, mass-storage cards, Ethernet connection cards, and wireless communication cards. You can use PC Cards to expand your Macintosh PowerBook’s capabilities.”

Later, the three types of PC Cards are explained: “There are three types of PC Cards. The different types refer to the thickness of the card. A Type I card is 3.3 millimeters (mm) thick, a Type II card is 5 mm thick, and a Type III card is 10.5 mm thick.”

The manual also provides details as to how to use a PC Card to connect to the three Apple online services available at the time when the Internet was just becoming widely used, AppleLink, Apple Remote Access (ARA), and eWorld. All three applications were available on the PowerBook 3400 Macintosh HD.

The PC Card storage module can store up to four Type I or Type II PC cards. It is used by sliding the module into the right or left module bay of the laptop.

Source: Apple