| Cult of Mac

Merge New and Old with an iVictrola iPad Dock, No Electricity Required

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For those who love their iPads but miss the warm, muted sounds of a 78rpm phonograph, feast your eyes on the iVictrola iPad dock. A successor to the iVictrola iPhone dock a few years ago, this acoustic amplifier uses the speaker outputs of your iPad and an antique Magnavox phonograph radio horn to playback anything from Bix Beiderbecke to Lady Gaga – no electricity required.

Geek Trend: Tempting Fate Creating Steve Jobs Collectibles [Gallery]

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In the last few years a kind of cat and mouse game has evolved between Apple Legal and some of the more daring (and creative) members of the Cult of Apple: tempting fate by selling Steve Jobs collectibles, and risking the wrath of Apple. How long before your Cease & Desist letter arrives?

Here are some of the more popular items created in the past few years.

Yum iMac Coffee Table an Innovative Form of Computer Recycling

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Yum iMac Coffee Table

Classic Mac collectors are a creative bunch. Where others see digital trash, we see potential. Steve Abbott, curator of MacAbbott’s Mac Museum in Charlotte NC, has just created an innovative coffee table using those five-flavored candy-colored original iMacs in the style of Apple’s iconic Yum advertisement.

Steve stripped the guts out of five systems – blueberry, grape, tangerine, lime, and strawberry – added opaque white paper and light fixtures inside, then fashioned a table around them with a glass top and birch base. Reminds me of the kids tables inside Apple retail stores, with the retro glow of high tech lifesavers. The Yum coffee table is one-of-a-kind and for sale, bids start at $5,000; contact MacAbbott for details.

Swarovski Crystal iPad 2 case makes a Sparkling Statement

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CrystalRoc iPad 2 case

For those who like to add sparkle to their bling – and can afford to spend as much on their iPad case as on the iDevice itself – CrystalRoc has announced their Swarovski iPad 2 case. Featuring over 4,000 Xilion cut crystals this ultra-chic piece of loungeware will set you back $700, and is shipping immediately.

Why wait for ostrich leather? Not recommended for use on subways or in urban areas at night.

[via BornRich]

Steve Jobs Previews the 1984 Macintosh Commercial [Rare Video]

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Many people have seen the 1984 SuperBowl commercial introducing the Macintosh to the masses. In the fall of 1983, Jobs gave a preview of this spot to an enthusiastic crowd of Apple shareholders and insiders. With full Reality Distortion Field in place, a young, passionate Steve Jobs describes the history of computing, IBM’s missed opportunities, and their current threats to Apple and the computing industry.

Happy Birthday, Steve – you haven’t lost your touch! Apple SuperNerds will notice a few soundtrack differences between this preview and the commercial that actually aired – can you spot them?

Before there was Apple, we made Blue Boxes [Rare Video]

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Before the Mac, before the Apple II, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak made their first product: a digital Blue Box for hacking into telephone systems. In this clip from the 1998 documentary Silicon Valley: A 100 Year Renaissance, Jobs describes how the capability of this device so impressed two young teenagers that they began to realize the power of ideas and the potential of technology to control vast amounts of information.

If we hadn’t made blue boxes, there would have been no Apple.

They also realized the importance of good product packaging – nice wooden shipping case!

Geek Trend – Making Music with Your iDevice

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Where do you characterize the iPad and iPhone in the music making process? They can be your instruments, recording console, video edit system, and playback devices all in one. With new tools comes new talent, taking advantage of what progress has to offer. The Age of the iDevice in Music has only just begun.

Korean musician Yoari and an all-iDevice band performed this cover of Beyonce’s Sweet Dream in June 2010. The apps used in the piece are noted during the performance – a nice touch. And not a bad jam!

Vintage Apple News for 2010 [Year in Review]

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Vintage Tech 2010

What’s past is present, at least in the Vintage Tech World. 2010 saw some significant stories involving those attic treasures: an Apple 1 sold for a whopping $213,000, a Mac Museum for $10k, and an Apple II Festival turned 21. Meanwhile iPads were spotted co-habitating inside old Macs, obsolete status befell our PowerPC friends, and The Macintosh Way lived again.

Travel back in time for this review of the Year in Vintage Apple News.

Coming Soon to a Bathroom Near You – the iToiletstand

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You knew it was coming.  Currently VaporWare – and possibly HumorWare – Golden Cow Brands has announced the iToiletStand (aka Angled Stand), a waist high, foldable stand for iPads and other tablets which does just what you think:

Where can I use it? by the bath, couch, bed, in the kitchen or garage, by the toilet (yep, take a bit more time for yourself), next to your chair while playing a musical instrument, in hospitals, next to wheelchairs, somewhat near your barbecue grill, next to your lounge or lawn chair, next to your office desk, use it while giving presentations at school, during meetings or conferences, and the list goes on…

The implied cautionary warning of somewhat near your barbecue grill applies equally to anticipated bathroom usage.  The company says cost will be cheap enough for you to purchase several for use around the house, and shipping is anticipated to begin in early 2011

Too bad they missed the 2010 Holiday Shopping Season…

[via BornRich]