[HOM]

Well, I thought it might be time for a bit of a history lesson.

The current breed of Mac users are soft. These switchers don't know how easy they have it. I'm a grizzled veteran of three platform wars.

So, I therefore give you the following:





And the world famous Sluggo




I still have my Sluggo shirt. And I would like to thank the fine people at PowerComputing for letting me bungee jump for free over the Boston Harbor.

Bonus points to people that can name the clone makers without Google. Double bonus points if you owned one. Triple bonus points if it's still running.

I currently have two clones up and running in my collection. A Moto Starmax 3180 and a PowerTower 250 that I got at an amazing price when Apple bought them out.

If anyone cares I have more PowerComputing ads, but I don't want to overload this thread with pics yet.

[curiousuburb]

PowerComputing, StarMax, Daystar, Outback, Be...

Depends what you consider a clone and what counts as a remanufactured mobo unit (Outback).

I also remember a company in Vancouver around '96 that made a 14inch leather and titanium "laptop" (though it didn't have a battery) for $14,000 based on repurposed Tanzania 4400 mobos. IIRC, they had two prototype units (one of which I was able to test) before Apple Legal dropped the boom and killed them off.

[ThunderPoit]

i had a Umax c500 before i got my g4 867. last i checked, its still chugging away at my parents house

[ast3r3x]

Originally Posted by curiousuburb PowerComputing, StarMax, Daystar, Outback, Be... Depends what you consider a clone and what counts as a remanufactured mobo unit (Outback). I also remember a company in Vancouver around '96 that made a 14inch leather and titanium "laptop" (though it didn't have a battery) for $14,000 based on repurposed Tanzania 4400 mobos. IIRC, they had two prototype units (one of which I was able to test) before Apple Legal dropped the boom and killed them off.

Wow, that would have been nice! I had a starmax 4000/200, and it was the shit. I know think it was tanzania 4400, but I can't say for sure. It was basically a PowerMac 7200 with improvement if I remember.

[psmith2.0]

Years and years ago, when I worked at Camp Pendleton, we had Motorola StarMax 3000/180 (does that sound right?). I remember they were 603 chips and were 180MHz. At the time, they were indeed the shit.

This was pre-G3.

Someone I knew had a PowerComputing PowerBase 180 at his house and another person had an earlier PowerComputing something-or-other that he bought from the first guy.

I remember, around 1996 or so, looking at MacUser magazine (where PowerComputing always ran full page ads) and really considering getting one, and a matching 17" monitor (I still had a Quadra 610 at the time, so ANYTHING was a step up...and the PowerComputing stuff seemed more affordable AND more generously-equipped than the Apple stuff at the time).

But things didn't go exactly my way for a few years there and I ended up eventually, in February 1999, getting an iMac DV, which was TOTALLY worth the wait.

I remember the clones well. And I remember how an odd time that was (mid-late 90's)...

The absolute BEST thing about PowerComputing was their ballsy, "they suck, we don't" marketing and approach to the platform wars. It was the first time I'd seen a company - Apple included - seem to really carry the Mac flag, and carry it proudly. Heaven knows Apple, then AND now, doesn't seem to do it aggressively enough.

[Alpha9]

�Viva la Mac Revolucion!

[HOM]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 The absolute BEST thing about PowerComputing was their ballsy, "they suck, we don't" marketing and approach to the platform wars. It was the first time I'd seen a company - Apple included - seem to really carry the Mac flag, and carry it proudly. Heaven knows Apple, then AND now, doesn't seem to do it aggressively enough.

Yup.



Well, some more good ol PowerComputing ads







And my personal favorite, the one that nearly brought a tear to my eye...



All from a long forgotten time when Mac users really cared.

[PXLpainter]

Okay - my first post here in the "New Think Secret" forums!

I had a graphics shop that had several Power Computing boxes - wonderful machines and I always loved seeing them at MacWorld SF each year! The most memorable was their last big presence there - where their booth took up an entire corner of the large hall in the Moscone and it was a heavy war-zone military theme abounding - with a crashed airplane and the entire staff marching around in fatigues. They even had PC HumVees driving around and throwing PC t-shirts out the window all around the Moscone.

Boy - those were the days indeed! :smokey:

Back when Kai Krause & MetaTools would host awesome parties at the Exploratorium and have big name acts perform concerts. MacWorld has definitely changed alot since then. Too bad.

Thanks for letting me reminisce a bit!

[hmurchison]

Power Computing. If corporations had trailer parks Power Computing's would be the guadiest. Lord that was an annoying company. I wish they had put as much work into making sure their return rates weren't in the double digits as they put in their adverstising.

[PXLpainter]

Awwwwwe C'mon now! They had deep pockets at the time - lots of Silicon Valley VC money behind them and those big ad agencies were happy to spend like madmen!! All the hype just made them bigger. Granted, they did have a high return rate on hardware - but we were lucky to not be part of that statistic!

I think that Bay-area companies (especially in the '90s) tend to be aggressive in their presence and marketing. You have to admit - it worked while it lasted!

Gee. This is a nice place you have here.

Very pleasant that veterans of the platform wars can come together to celebrate and commiserate. I've always used Apple boxes, so I can't talk intelligently about the licensed platforms of the mid-90s.

Although I must say, I don't remember there being three platform wars. I was probably drunk then. The only platform war I remember is the one between cool servile computers and drab demanding computers. That has always been the difference from my perspective. I start up a Mac and it does what I want; I boot up Windows and do what I'm told.

Now there's Linux. It doesn't tell me what to do, and I don't know how to tell it what to do. So we just stare at each other and shrug. Only one of us curses loudly, though.

[Mugge]

Originally Posted by HOM Well, I thought it might be time for a bit of a history lesson. The current breed of Mac users are soft. These switchers don't know how easy they have it. I'm a grizzled veteran of three platform wars. (...)

Feh.

*snort*

How do you think it was to be an Amiga user in 1994? At least your platform is still in business.



Well ok. You may count Power Computing etc. as an out-of-business platform.

[rampancy]

Originally Posted by curiousuburb PowerComputing, StarMax, Daystar, Outback, Be... Depends what you consider a clone and what counts as a remanufactured mobo unit (Outback). I also remember a company in Vancouver around '96 that made a 14inch leather and titanium "laptop" (though it didn't have a battery) for $14,000 based on repurposed Tanzania 4400 mobos. IIRC, they had two prototype units (one of which I was able to test) before Apple Legal dropped the boom and killed them off.

I don't think Be counts - I don't remember any mention of their dual-603 based computer being able to run the Mac OS.

What really amused me was how, near the end, Apple and others were a little concerned because shortly before the clones were killed off, Motorola got their own license to license out the Mac hardware designs to other clone manufacturers (like PowerTools) - I still remember the names, the really shady ads and spec sheets filling out the back of MacWorld.

Does anyone remember MacTell? They used to have some awesome FireWire 400 products, and a nice Voodoo 2 (or was it a Voodoo Banshee?) -based graphics card. They were selling "G3 Macs!" which were actually Tanzania-based 603 Macs with the G3 upgrade card reinstalled...

I think PowerComputing's coolest product by far had to be the dual-bus PowerWave Macs which had both NuBus and PCI.

[turbulentfurball]

Originally Posted by Mugge How do you think it was to be an Amiga user in 1994? At least your platform is still in business.

I feel your pain. I think many Amiga users found their way to the Mac.

[Mugge]

Originally Posted by turbulentfurball I feel your pain. I think many Amiga users found their way to the Mac.

Actually, I find the similarities in the basic GUI concept very pleasing.

[turbulentfurball]

*sigh*

Those were the days.

And here's some light reading for you.

[Mugge]

Originally Posted by turbulentfurball *sigh* Those were the days. And here's some light reading for you.

Thanks for the heads up, but Ars is already part of my daily browse. Nevertheless it was a very interesting article.



Btw. the image is not showing.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Rip Ragged Now there's Linux. It doesn't tell me what to do, and I don't know how to tell it what to do. So we just stare at each other and shrug. Only one of us curses loudly, though.

What a thread bump...

[kieran]

I was just about to say that.

This might be the biggest bump I've seen here. Three years? Damn. You have to do a hardcore search to find this one.

Rip Ragged: What made you bump this one?

[Jerman]

I owned a clone at one point, I believe it was a PowerTower or something like that.

[julesstoop]

Originally Posted by Rip Ragged I've always used Apple boxes, so I can't talk intelligently about the licensed platforms of the mid-90s.

No,no. This means you can talk intelligently about the licensed platforms of the mid-90s.

[Hobbes]

Yeah, their ads were pretty ballsy, but if there's ever an example of "preaching to the converted" ... Power Computing is it.

You just don't reach mainstream, new users that way.

edit: whoa, just noticed the original thread date!

[stoo]

Does anyone remember MacTell? They used to have some awesome FireWire 400 products, and a nice Voodoo 2 (or was it a Voodoo Banshee?) -based graphics card. They were selling "G3 Macs!" which were actually Tanzania-based 603 Macs with the G3 upgrade card reinstalled...

Alchemey based clones (6400 / 6500) had ZIF CPU sockets and can (I think) run Mac OS X once upgraded to G3, with a little help from XPostFacto. Unfortunately the Sonnet L2 G3 upgrade for 6500s doesn't work in Mac OS X, but it does make them usuably fast in Mac OS 9.

IIRC Voodoo 1 / 2 cards were platform independent. For Voodoo 3 drivers there was a ROM flash utility and universal drivers. I have a Mac-flashed Voodoo 3 around somewhere, but the 6500 ran out of slots.