The Flappy Bird phenomenon will never die. Although the game has been pulled from the App Store, the addictive little Bird has spawned a million clones, and been ported to all manner of devices, including Android and Windows Phone smartphones, as well as the Mac.
But what you’re about to see might just be the ultimate Flappy Bird port. It’s Flappy Bird running on a vintage Apple IIc, at an astonishing 60 frames per second.
It may seem hard to believe, but there was a time when Apple shipped computers without built-in monitor, not as an exception, but as the rule. Such was the case with the venerable Apple II, which shipped with a behemoth of a 320 x 200 CRT monitor that weighed a monstrous 22 pounds… more than a 27-inch iMac weighs today!
So in a very real way, this computer — built from an old Apple II connected by some kind of magic to an iMac running as the display by Franceso Zaia — isn’t just a sext Frankenstein. It’s actually a lighter, more efficient Apple II monitor than the original. And as an added bonus, you can dual boot up to OS X when the mood suits.
Via: TUAW
In Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, there is a scene in which a tribe of early hominids, having encountered an extraterrestrial Monolith for the first time, are suddenly evolved to the next stage of human consciousness, and are capable of using tools for the first time.
This video of children from the ages of 6 to 13 trying to figure out how to work a vintage Apple II is like the opposite of that. And it shows just how inexplicable computing was to pretty much everyone before Steve Jobs released the original Mac in 1984.
From the highs of the Steve Jobs portrait made out of 20lbs of electronic waste, to the lows of the hideous statue that looked like a totem from Hellraiser, there have certainly been some “uneven” tributes to Apple’s late co-founder.
So which camp does this creation fall into, then?
Called “Baked Apple,” the fountain-sculpture depicts a deformed Apple II sitting on top of a column (previously the base lamp), adorned with images of Jobs and the Apple logo. It was created by artist Robbie Schoen, who once attended Jobs’ alma mater. Schoen, and made his creation with the aid of a real-life Apple II, formerly belonging to the school’s science department.
2014 isn’t only the thirtieth anniversary of the Macintosh. It’s also the thirtieth anniversary of Infocom’s classic game The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy — a title that will likely be fondly remembered by anyone who was gaming in the mid-80s.
To mark the game’s thirtieth birthday, and to coincide with the 36th anniversary of the series’ first radio broadcast, the BBC has announced that on March 8 it will publish a new online version of the game, featuring new high definition graphics, social media support, and smartphone/tablet optimization.
In addition to all the new products of 2013, the past year was a whir of activity in the vintage Apple space. Apple may be content to only move forward and deny existence of any products older than seven years – what do you mean my first generation MacBook Pro is vintage??? – but the public has not forgotten them.
The biggest retro news of the year was probably the ascendancy of the Apple 1 on the auction block. In May, an Apple 1 fetched a record price of $671,000 at an auction in Germany – until just recently the highest price ever paid for a personal computer. Other Apple 1s sold this year in the $300,000 range, so if you are lucky enough to have one of these oldies-but-goodies in your attic, dig it out now!
Apple’s never been a particularly vocal advocate of open source, but thanks to a collaboration between two vintage computer museums, you can now delve into the sweet, sweet code of Apple’s first operating system.
Wow. Animated GIFs are everywhere now… even on a vintage Apple II Plus!
Nathan Griffith put together an awesome bit of code that makes it possible to display animated GIFs on an Apple II+ with only 64K of RAM.
The original Apple II was a huge breakthrough for Apple when it went on sale in 1977. And even though the 8-bit computer made Steve Jobs and Woz legends, you’ve got to wonder what Apple’s first big hit would have looked like if Jony Ive got his hands all over it.
A true Jony Ive edition Apple II will probably never see the light of day, but this customized aluminum Apple II some redditor bought off eBay might be the next closest thing. It’s simple, sleek and aluminum – everything Jony loves.
Take a look:
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak famously slammed the one-minute teaser for Ashton Kutcher’s Steve Jobs biopic and its script back in January, but that doesn’t mean he has a hatred for JOBS before he’s even seen it. In fact, Woz says he’s open to it as long as it’s entertaining and inspirational, and accurately portrays what really happened during the early days of Apple.
But he’s concerned the movie will depict Steve Jobs as a saint who was immune to failure.
Apple fans looking for some nerdy decor will love these Apple I and Apple II schematic prints from City Prints. They’re printed on heavy stock at 12×16-inches, with a bit of shine to make the schematics pop. Just think of all the hours you can waste, marveling at Woz’s magical craftsmanship.
The prints only cost $40 a piece, but if you want to get a frame for it too, you’ll have to pay $180. Either way, the frames look awesome as a piece of decoration, while also acting as a shout out to your first favorite computer.
Source: City Prints
Via: Gizmodo
What if the history books have it wrong? What if the tool is the master of its maker? Did Mac create Man?
Project Genesis, a short film about a world populated only by old Apple computers, has arrived. The computers have issues. And they have spoken:
We have always looked at our world with a single point of view: with resignation, limiting ourselves to survive. We were wrong! From this moment on, everything changes: new unexpected ways open up in front of us, the world we knew now becomes more accessible, simple, within everyone’s range.
With “Project Genesis” we open the door to our dreams: now we only have to start living, as we truly mean it
Cue the spotlights. Cue the fanfare. Today on Cult of Mac, we present the International Premiere of this groundbreaking short film by Italian director Alessio Fava. It was worth the wait:
Temple Run 2 gets this week’s must-have games roundup up and running (see what I did there?). It’s accompanied by a unique pinball game that features the cutest flying squirrel you’ve ever seen, an awesome new platformer from Ravenous Games, and a title that originally made its debut on the Apple II all those years ago.
Over at DesignBoom, they’ve put up an incredible gallery of early Apple II and Macintosh product designs that never saw the light of day by Hartmut Esslinger, a designer who founded Frog Design, the company that Apple partnered with through the 1980s and 1990s. There are even some products that Apple never made, like a stylus-controlled smartphone from the early 80s called the “MacPhone,” a precursor to the MacMini called the Baby Mac, and what appears to be a Mac with dual flatscreens.
We’ve picked some of our favorite designs and put them after the jump, but by all means, head to Designboom for more.
Apple has a reputation for having some of the best advertisements in the world. Not only does Apple know how to make unique products that consumers lust for, but they know how to sell them to people better than any company on the planet.
Over the last three decades Apple has had some incredible print ads. Some have struck the heart strings of consumers, while others were just really bad. We took a look at some of the best Apple print ads from the over the years and decided that these are 12 of the best ever.
Back in 1983, when Apple was first developing MacPaint and its less-featured sister app for the Apple II, MousePaint, they had a menu option called “Aids” which contained image manipulation tools. You can see this menu in documentation for the original AppleMouse II.
Before release, though, this menu was renamed Goodies, and intriguingly, it was done so because of rising awareness of the AIDS epidemic. The more you know!
Word is spreading of a new independent film, Project Genesis, involving a world populated only by old Apple computers. Italian director and filmmaker Alessio Fava has posted an enigmatic teaser of Macs shuffling around in a drab soulless environment, with hints of better existence:
We computers have always looked at our world from a single point of view: with resignation, limiting ourselves to survive. We were wrong! From this moment on, everything changes: new unexpected ways open up in front of us, the world we knew now becomes more accessible, simple, within everyone’s range.
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of inserting an old floppy of Jordan Mechner’s classic beat-em-up Karateka into a vintage Apple II, you already know it’s one of the most timelessly classic video ames ever made.
Ever tried inserting the floppy disk upside down, though? If you’re one of the few people who have, whether by accident or design, you’ve experienced one of the greatest and funniest Apple easter eggs of all time: the whole game played upside down.
Andrei Antonov is a huge Apple fan and has been an avid collector the last three decades. He’s got a certified crap-ton of old Apple machines, Newtons, Pippins, even random peripherals and Steve Jobs figurines. The guy has seriously got so much Apple stuff that he used it all to launch the Museum of Apple Technology where visitors can come in and actually touch the machines and play games like Prince of Persia and Mario on the oldest Macs you can find.
It’s an impressive collection to say the least, and some people think it might be the biggest collection of Apple hardware outside the U.S. Who are we to doubt them? Take a look at the pictures and see for yourself.
Nowadays, Apple locks its devices down pretty tightly: RAM soldered onto motherboards, proprietary torx screws and parts glued to each other inside cases. About the only tool you’ll ever find Apple shipping a product with that has been designed to help you actually open that device up is the iPhone’s liquid metal SIM ejection tool.
But that wasn’t always the case. Thirty years ago, Apple shipped every 5.25″ disk drive controller add-on kit for their Apple II computer with the adorable little wrench you see in the picture above, meant to help you actually install the card in your machine. It even had a cute little Apple logo stamped into the metal. I wish I had one of those for my keychain.
Via: Reddit
Is this graphic from the 80’s not the most amazing Apple II display ad you’ve ever seen? It’s got freaking rainbows and unicorns and even dolphins jumping out of the sea to play hopscotch with you. Shoot, it’s even got a cute little dancing penguin too! The only thing that would make it better is if Steve Jobs was riding a great white shark in the background with a laser attached to its head.
What do you think could be added to the graphic to make it even better? Let us hear your ideas in the comments.
Breaking fake news site Scoopertino is reporting that Apple has decided to take a retro approach with their new product offering, a re-release of the venerable Apple II microcomputer. An Apple press release (apparently) notes:
The Apple II gave birth to the computer industry. Now it’s pregnant again — this time with unlimited possibilities.
Old computers never really die, they just get passed on to grandkids and collectors. Likewise old computer users never die, they just don’t get out as much as they used to. The internet is an unfriendly place for 8 bit processors and dialup modems.
To help relive old memories and make new ones, several festivals dedicated to computers with no commercial value make the rounds each year. This year for our vintage geek pleasures: the perennial Apple II bash called KansasFest, and the Vintage Computer Festival East.
For the last thirty five years, time after time, Apple has revolutionized the way we look at technology and dragged the rest of the industry kicking and screaming into the future. If we listed all the ways in which Apple has changed the way we interact with technology, we could fill a book, so here are some of our favorite examples of how Apple has led the tech industry every step of the way.
Things at Apple are going to be a little different without Steve Jobs at the helm. I have no doubt that Tim Cook will step up to do a fantastic job, but there are many reasons why we’ll never forget Steve’s time at Apple. Here we take a look at some of Apple’s greatest achievements while Steve was at the company, and the products that have made it the world’s largest company.