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June 2010

Continuing The Legacy

by Tom Willits

 

 

Back in 1997 I was going to college, fresh out of High School, the thought of owning a Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh was not even dissolving in a single cell of my brain at that time. In fact, the only computer we had in the house was an old Apple IIc plus. Of course I’d used Macs in school but even buying a cheap one in 1997 wasn’t an option for a full time student with a job at Burger King.

The years in my life between 1997 and 2000 were pretty much ‘what club are we going to this weekend and where’s the party at next week?’ At some point my girlfriend and I acquired an older Macintosh Performa in 1998 and I finally got back into the whole Macintosh experience. Since then I’ve had numerous machines, from a snow iBook G3 to a late 2009 model Mac Mini, an Xserve, and of course a Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh.

I can’t say for certain when I first set my eye on this machine. I doubt it was back in 1997. But what I do remember is finding it on the internet years later and of course one of the web sites I stumbled upon that had a plethora of information on the TAM was Tam.axon.net. Since I didn’t own a TAM then I was never a part of that community, but I remember going though the pages and seeing that the product that Apple had released years before still had a healthy following and support.

As I said I can’t remember when I first remember seeing the TAM but as I recollect what I thought was most intriguing about the TAM was how much it didn’t look like a Macintosh or even a computer. It’s almost like the TAM was a concept design. It was like looking at a futuristic machine in a retro science fiction movie, like something you’d see in the film 2010. It seemed so out of place yet, so stylish and comforting. And I remember like a lot of other people will agree when they first laid eyes upon it ... I had to have one.

Unfortunately that wouldn’t come until twelve years after the TAM’s release. But the way I see it, it’s better late than never. Most computers are outdated in terms of performance and upgrading two to four years after their release. Some computers have been able to stick around longer than others.

On a side note, I did a comparison awhile back, based on when the machine was released and when it became obsolete based on the newest shipping OS that couldn’t be installed by conventional means. I found that the Powermac Quicksilver running at 867mhz could be purchased in mid 2001 and you could hang on to it all the way up through August of 2009 when OS 10.6 was shipped. That’s nearly eight years! That’s a long time, especially in today’s standards of rapidly improving technology. I attribute that to the superb architect of the G4 processor.

(However there is another machine that remained in service even longer than that. Can you guess what it is? The answer will be at the end of this article so no peaking!)

But officially with the release of OS X in early 2001 and also OS 9.2 in June of 2001, the TAM was officially obsolete so the point of buying one to use on a day to day basis didn’t necessarily have to come into play. I intended to use the machine, but it didn’t have to run Final Cut Pro, although you could ...

Buying the machine for me was like finding that old toy your folks never bought you when you were a kid, wiping away all that dust that had settled in from lying around in the thrift store and someone’s garage and uncovering a fine luster of elegance underneath. I had it. I finally had it and there it sits now, just as proudly as it did thirteen years ago.

I mentioned before I stumbled upon Tam.axon.net when I was looking for a TAM and after I bought one I had rediscovered the site only to see it was no longer in use. I suppose people move on. Perhaps they no longer share the love of the TAM that they once had and sold it or maybe returned it into its shipping cartons and stowed it away with the other obsolete toys.

But it didn’t matter. Like I said, I had it. I was still able to use the site in late 2009 and shuffled through the pages looking for as much information as I could. I remember the TALK pages were very helpful. Now the site is gone, now only available in the archive web and in TAM Archive here at 20thanniversarymac.

My reasons for bringing those pages into my new TAM site are probably twofold. One, they have a great deal of information on the TAM and with the convenience of simply clicking through the pages one can easily find information without the hassle of going through the Way Back Machine. I’ve noticed sometimes the archive web behaves oddly and slowly and sometimes not at all. I also wonder how long they’ll be in there. Forever?

Second, I think it’s one of respect to the original pioneers for bringing a TAM community together. The original TAM sites looks pretty good. Actually they look damn good, especially for 1997. I’ve seen web sites today that don’t look anywhere near as respectable. I’d like the honor of keeping them here at 20thanniversarymac so that others can see the original sites like Tam.axon.net and Georgecole.com to add to the overall TAM experience. Most people don’t know about the archive web, or it’s just too much hassle for them to try but I believe these early sites are just as important as the TAM itself. They were a part of its history and should be remembered too.

20thanniversarymac.com is my first web site. I’ve tossed the idea around before, but could never come up with a reason to create a site. After I bought my Xserve the possibility came a little closer, I just needed a reason to do it. After I bought my TAM and joined the new community at Appletam.ning.com I finally made the decision to start a web page, a TAM site seemed like the perfect opportunity.

I like the experience of doing new things. Creating web pages is certainly one of them. I’ve never done it before and I have to say, along with learning a lot of new things, it’s also been a lot of fun. Maybe I’ll create another site someday. I hope to run this site for many years, adding to it and keeping the legacy of the TAM going for as long as possible.

When you look at all the Apple products that have come and gone, few have made such a statement as the TAM. Without a doubt the designers put its form before anything else which is why the TAM is still a popular item to collect. Buying a TAM should be given considerable thought if you’re thinking about going down that path. The TAM requires a significant amount of care and respect. Since you’ll be using between OS 7.6.1 to OS 9.2.2 you’ll be limited to what you can do on the TAM, so don’t buy one thinking you can surf the internet as easily as your Macbook.

My point here isn’t to discourage anyone from owning a TAM, but to remind that it is much harder to keep it running than your average newer Mac. But I believe if you can see past these minor inconviences you’ll really appreciate purchasing a TAM and continue the Legacy along with the few remaining TAM owners out there.

Years from now, don’t ask me how I know, but someday ... a new generation will want to learn about these ancient machines like the Apple I and the Lisa and the Macintosh 128k and of course the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, because people like history. It excites them and invites their curiosity to delve into research to learn about that legacy. People will want to know everything they can about the TAM, besides the quick fix they get from Wikipedia. I’d like to have it ready for that day. So here it is for the world to see ...

Welcome to the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh
-The definitive TAM resource tool

T.W. June 2010

 

(Answer: the Macintosh Plus, released in January of 1986 with OS 1.1 that could update to 7.5.5 and was finally no longer supported in January of 1997 when 7.6 released, the same time when the Twentieth Anniversary Mac was announced. That’s 11 years!)

 

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©2010 Tom Willits 20thanniversarymac.com