iPhone 4

Well, now that I actually have an iPhone 4, I can make a blog post about how much I love it.
Here's a list of the best features:

1. Retina Display. I know when you hear about it, it doesn't sound that special, but it really is amazing! You can't see pixels at all. The resolution makes reading text, browsing the web, viewing photos, watching movies, and everything else a much more enjoyable experience. As far as I know, the iPhone 4 and the new iPod Touch are the only mobile devices to currently have a Retina display. 
2. Camera. The camera is very decent for it's size. It shoots movies in high def 720i, and they look really good. It also has a really nice flash, that can also be used as a flashlight with the right (free) app. 
3. Apps. There really is an app for everything. The App store has way more apps then other platforms.
4. GPS. The GPS on the iPhone is super accurate, and it makes a really good substitute for proprietary GPS systems like a Garmin or what have you. It came in very handy on our recent trip over Thanksgiving. 
5. Cool factor. Everyone knows what the iPhone is, and that it's better then any other smartphone.
6. Texting. Texting is super easy, and it presents in in a chat-type format, so you can follow what you're saying back and forth. On my old phone, I was always like, "wait, what did I just say to them?" If you go to landscape mode, the keyboard gets about 3x as big, which is nice. (The keys are much bigger then the Pre, with it's pixie-sized buttons.)


Anyways, that's just the beginning of why the iPhone is awesome!


EP

On My Free time, I Hacked iTunes

UPDATE: When upgrading to iTunes 10.1 (and most likely 10.2) the graphics upgrades disappear. I haven't had time to migrate the new graphics to the most recent iTunes iteration.

iTunes 10 is so bland. So I took the liberty of making some graphical upgrades... Check it out:

If you like it, you can download it here:
<No longer available due to the 10.1 and 10.2 updates breaking all graphic upgrades!>



EP

I Want This Mac

For a long time, this Mac has been on my wish list. Unfortunately, they're somewhat rare, and don't turn up much. It's the Quadra 700. What I think is really cool is that the floppy drive slot is vertical. This is because... You can turn it on it's side, and it becomes a desktop, instead of a tower computer! Haha.

It came out in 1991, and was the low-end high end Mac (Does that make sense?? Back then they had too many lines of Macs.) It had a 68040 processor at 25Mhz. It was featured prominently in Jurassic Park one of the computers that was used to control the park. (Cool, huh??!) Anyways, here it is:

And here's the Wikipedia link:

Quadra 700

Thank for Read!
EP

P.S. I found a link to a page that has couple of screenshots of the Quadra 700 in Jurassic Park!


Okay, all for now.

Other Uses of CRT Screens

Did you know that in the 40's CRT tubes were sometimes used as RAM? Strange, but true! I found this fascinating when I stumbled upon it on Wikipedia:

William's Tube on Wikipedia

It would use the photon beam to "write" binary on the phosphors, and then read it back. The charge on the phosphors lasts for a fraction of a second, and you can erase one by writing the block next to it. Hope everyone finds this as cool as I did!

EP

Computer of the Day - IIgs

This computer is one of my most intriguing. It was released in 1986, and was the last Apple II computer. It has no internal HD, like all Apple II's, and I don't have a disk drive for it. It has a 1 or 2.8Mhz processor, and was the first Apple II series computer to feature high performance graphics and sound (Hence, II G S.) It was also the first computer to have ADB (Apple Desktop Bus), that became the standard keyboard/mouse connector on all Macs for over a decade.

Perhaps some clarification is needed. For anyone who isn't aware, here's how it works:

Apple is a company. They produce different lines of products. Their computer line of products is called "Macintosh." Before the Macintosh line of computers came out, the also had the Apple, Apple II and Apple III line of computers. However, they were discontinued in 1992 in favor of the much better Macintosh line of computers. At it turns out, it's improper to say "mac does this" or "mac is a good company" because, of course, "Mac" is just the name of the computers that Apple makes. It is correct to say "Mac Vs. PC" because the computers that Apple makes are called "Macs."

Anyways, on with our computer of the day, and a photo:

This one is a Woz signature Limited Edition. Unfortunately, it's not rare or special.
Wikipedia page

Other Page with better picture

EP

How has Apple Revolutionized Technology? Let Me Count The Ways...

First off, let me just say this: You WILL be amazed by this article!

First off, Apple Computer, Inc. was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. The Apple II in 1977 was one of the first ready-made computer, and was aimed at the home market instead of the nerdy tech-y niche.

In 1983, Apple released the first computer with a Graphical User Interface, the Lisa. Unfortunately, it retailed at $10,000 and only the most affluent businesses could afford them. When the Macintosh made it's debut in 1984, it revolutionized the computer industry forever. It set the standard for computers ever since. The low price, relatively high specs, GUI, user-friendlyness made it very popular.

In 1991 Apple released some of the first laptops - the Powerbook line, with three models, the 100, 140, and 170. Before this, "laptops" were thought of as "portable computers" and looked like this.

Then, in 1993 Apple invented the PDA. The Newton was a device that was way ahead of it's time; Wikipedia says "The Newton project was a PDA platform. The PDA category did not exist for most of Newton's genesis, and the "personal digital assistant" term itself was coined relatively late in the development cycle by Apple's then-CEO John Sculley,^[1] the driving force behind the project. Newton was intended to be a complete reinvention of personal computing. For most of its design lifecycle Newton had a large-format screen, more internal memory, and an object-oriented graphics kernel. One of the original motivating use cases for the design was known as the "Architect Scenario", in which Newton's designers imagined a residential architect working quickly with a client to sketch, clean up, and interactively modify a simple two-dimensional home plan."

During the 90's, Apple fell into a rut, and really just blindly kept doing the same thing; Confusingly named biege boxes (Quadra 630, Centris 500, Performa 550, Quadra 605, Powermac 7200, 7300, 8500, ETC. What's up with that?) Steve Jobs was basically fired from Apple in the late 80's, but came back on as CEO in 1997. Following his return, Apple released the first iMac.

The iMac came out in 1998, and was the first blue-green computer available to consumers. It was once again aimed at the home market, and placed heavy emphasis on being super-easy to set up, and internet-ready. It had no Floppy drive, which was Apple's move to remove the Floppy disk, a medium that had been used for over 20 years.

In 2001, Apple unveiled the iPod. Not much description is needed for this, I'm sure as everyone knows, Apple set the standard for portable MP3 players for the next decade.

Apple began working on a tablet computer in 2003, but the mobile processors that are needed for a successfull portable computer. This project eventually gave birth to the iPhone, and later the project actually culminated in the iPad.

iPhone. The iPhone set the standard for smartphones. The touch interface was revolutionary, and since then cell phones have moved more towards the touch-based smartphones rather then old-style flip phones with keyboards. Here's a very early "smartphone" by Nokia, and released in 1996.

How will the iPad change the way we think about portable computing? Only time will tell. Netbooks may not ever be the same.

Anyways, thanks for reading, hopefully this was interesting!

EP

Computer of the Day

So, today, I'm going to feature a computer. How about the original iMac? Released in 1998, the iMac signaled a new era for Apple, one defined by design, consumer usability, and, well, Steve Jobs. As Job's first project coming back on as head of Apple, the iMac broke many rules of computing of the late 90's. It wasn't beige, it wasn't square, it wasn't just for nerds, and had no floppy drive.

The iMac had a 233Mhz G3 processor, a max of 512 RAM, a restyled USB keyboard and mouse, and the first non-beige, grey, black, or white computer in computer history. Apple had a series of ads that are fun to watch: 

Un-PC

Beige

You can find a whole ton of other ones, too. 

Stay tuned until next week when we feature the Macintosh Plus!

The Computers I Took Apart Today

Well, yesterday, I replaced the top case in a 15" Unibody Macbook Pro. Not an easy job, since you have to take everything out of the computer, then put it back in. It didn't help that there was a stripped screw on the display hinge. Today, I just took apart a Powerbook G4 with a bad PRAM battery. Anyways, IDK if that was interesting to anyone.. Oh, wait, no one's following this. Oh well, good night.

Too Many iBooks

Well, no one's following this blog, anyways, but I'm still going to post. Today, there are too many iBooks in my room. One of them is in pieces all over my desk. Anyways, school has started, so what little time I had left for extra stuff (Like blogging, Project 365) just went bye bye. Good night.

My First Blog Post

Well, I finally did it. I have a blog. I'll post my Project 365 photos, and random Apple news/thoughts. So subscribe and follow my journey!!