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Journalists Cover Microsoft, Using Macs

It’s not an easy time for Microsoft — with Steve Ballmer having to field questions about being “buffoons” and an “evil empire”  at the shareholder’s meeting (.doc) — so when they get together “the world’s most influential technology pundits and online writers” (nb: we weren’t invited) for Mobius to discuss super-secret mobile tech you’d think [...]

Guide To Black Friday Apple Bargains: Cheap MacBooks, iPods and Accessories Galore

Here’s a guide for finding the best bargains on Apple-related gear during the infamous Black Friday sales on November 27. We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of gear from leaked photos of sales flyers and descriptions of sales.
The bargains include a 2.26 GHz MacBook + $150 gift card at Best Buy for $999.99 ; a 32GB [...]

Review: Voices Is Today’s Best Thing Ever, Grab It Now While It’s Cheap

New on the App Store is Voices from the clever folk at Tap Tap Tap. You can guess what it does.

Open it up, pick a silly voice. Helium is pretty silly. A microphone appears and the app even clears your throat for you (try it, you’ll see what I mean). Now speak your brains, and [...]

Review: Sony Walkman S540 Series Video MP3 Player

Press releases, you will hardly be surprised to hear, are rarely very interesting. But one arrived in my inbox a couple of weeks ago that made me double-take.
“Sony’s S Series Walkman,” it chattered, “is a serious challenger to the iPod Nano.” Gosh, really? Perhaps the Cult had better have a look at one, then, despite [...]

Museum Pieces: Smithsonian Wants Your Apple Gear

CC-licensed picture by <a href=

In a bid to preserve some of the best modern industrial design for future generations, Smithsonian’s National Design Museum, the Cooper-Hewitt, is asking Apple fans to donate their old and not-so-old devices.

Aptly, webmaster William Berry calls the request a “wish list:”

Newton Message Pad (1993)
iBook (2001, white)
iPod, 1st generation (2001)
iMac G5 (2004)
Macbook Pro (2006)
iPhone, 1st generation (2007)
Macbook Air (2008)

While you can get rid of something that has given up the ghost, your device should still be in excellent (external) condition, with original parts and power cords or batteries.  All donors will be listed on the credit line whenever the works are displayed or published.
The  generous-minded can get in touch with Cynthia Trope, Associate Curator of Product Design and Decorative Arts, at tropeci@si.edu.

What, if anything, would you be willing to part with for a museum?

About the author

nicole_martinelli

Nicole Martinelli was born in San Francisco and has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. Cultish tendencies and love for DIY increased while living on the Old Continent, where tech came late and cost more in Big Mac index terms. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek, and since 1999 on her site, Zoomata. If you're so inclined, friend her on Facebook or connect on Linked in.

Email the author | Read more posts by Nicole Martinelli.

6 comments

    I ‘donated’ my 1st gen iPod to the. Science Museum in London
    ,it’s now on display with a huge wall of quotes from the
    famous and not so famous and looks stunning !
    Always makes me proud to see whenever I can go there …. And the kudos ain’t so bad either !

    I have a Newton MP pretty much in brand new shape.

    I also have an original release iBook that was used by someone for one month then boxed. I got it last year. It is basically brand new. And when I tried to install an OS… the hard drive died. Go figure.

    I think the iPod I have is teh rev 2 Gen1 (20GB with six pin firewire).

    I have a G5 as well, but hell, I’m USING that as my primary computer at home.

    There’s a part of me that wants to completely fill up my old computer with por..ahem…”adult material” and then donate it.

    Haven’t they heard of ebay?

    yes Jeff is right this request is pathetic, and symbolic all at once: out of touch art museum folk want technology but can’t use it to get it.

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