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Month: March 2020

Apple iMac G4

The iMac G4 was the memorable follow-up to Apple’s revolutionary iMac. Upon the return of Steve Jobs in 1997, he boldly transformed Apple’s products and inspired a historic line of devices. This “Flat Panel” iMac was built to highlight its attractive LCD monitor, which turned the traditional Macintosh all-in-one design on its head. I first encountered an iMac G4 when I helped a friend set one up in 2002. Every experience was new. From taking the alien-looking device out of the box, to seeing OS X, to launching Safari, it was my first exploration of a now common-place world. The Bondi Blue iMac released in 1998 demonstrated Apple’s renewed prowess. It ushered in a series of bold decisions, including using…

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PiDP-11

The PiDP-11 is a modern replica of Digital Equipment Corporation’s influential PDP-11 minicomputer. Before, we had a computer on every desk and in every home–and long before they were in every pocket–computers were large, intimidating, and locked in special rooms at universities and corporations. The PDP series paved the way for making computers more accessible. PDP stood for Programmed Data Processor, and this distinguished line of computers was produced from 1957 to 1990. Each PDP model was numbered sequentially from one to sixteen (skipping PDP-2 and unlucky 13). The PDP-1, PDP-8, and PDP-11 are best remembered today. The PDP-11 was DEC’s first 16-bit computer and cost $20,000 when released in 1970. Reportedly, 600,000 units were sold over its long life,…

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