Retro

The Macintosh computer, which has played a pivotal role in shaping personal computing and design principles throughout the entire tech industry, has turned 40 years old.

40 years ago on January 22, 1984, Apple ran the famous “1984” advertisement for the Macintosh during the Super Bowl. The commercial features an unidentified heroine wearing a Macintosh tank top who runs into a gathering of enthralled sycophants staring up at a screen of a droning Big Brother, wherein the protagonist tosses an anvil … Read More

Do you remember the Apple Newton commercials from the mid 1990s? The Apple Newton, which was Apple’s Personal Digital Assistant and first tablet experiment, used a stylus for input, had internet connectivity, and some really cool features that only recently came to the iPad – like Scribble. A YouTuber has put together a collection of … Read More

The 1999 movie “Pirates of Silicon Valley” offers a fun dramatization of the rivalry between Apple and Microsoft, from their origin stories at the beginning of the Personal Computing era, through their different philosophies and products. And the best part is, even though it’s Hollywood, it’s actually reasonably accurate! Pirates of Silicon Valley is loosely … Read More

Ever thought about converting that dusty old original Macintosh in your garage into a modern Mac? Probably not, but this person did, and they have documented the entire project of converting an original 1984 Macintosh into a modern Mac capable of running a much more modern operating system of Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Of … Read More

If you’re a longtime Apple fan, you may recall the Apple Newton, the Apple PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) that debuted in 1993. It had a pen-input based screen, handwriting to text capabilities, a whimsical and fun user interface (sigh), and many features that we all take for granted and use regularly today on iPhones, iPads, … Read More

If you’re seeking out a very unique hobby project or weekend endeavor, perhaps you’d be interested in building a tiny working Macintosh out of a RaspberryPi? Nobody said it would be easy, but if you’re adventurous, dedicated, and patient enough, you can follow a set of instructions to build your very own Tiny Mac out … Read More

No matter what device you are reading this article on, it would not be possible without the invention of the transistor nearly 70 years ago. Transistors are basically just mini-semiconductors that regulate voltage flow, and when many transistors are combined in large numbers, they create microprocessors (the Apple M1 chip has 16 billion transistors, for … Read More

As many of you likely know, the entire modern Apple operating system suite – from MacOS, iOS, iPadOS, visionOS, watchOS, and tvOS – are all based on UNIX, powering the Apple tech we all know and love. But way back in 1973, UNIX was a very different operating system running in a very different environment … Read More

Poolsuite FM is a really fun little free music app for Mac, iPhone, and iPad, that “transports you to a virtual vacation where the sun never sets”, according to the developers, and that’s pretty accurate. Splashed in retro-Macintosh design and style, launching Poolsuite FM is an immediate flashback to System 7 of Macintosh yesteryear, and … Read More

Many longtime Mac users continue to have old Macs laying around, and many of those old Macs continue to be used whether for specific use-cases, or simply outright nostalgia and retro computing fun. Whatever the case, if you’ve got an older Mac running Mac OS 9, and you wish it to have access to the … Read More

Mac OS 9 was the last version of classic Mac OS released before Apple transitioned entirely to Mac OS X and its underlying unix core, and if ever you’re feeling nostalgic for Mac OS 9 and all its goodness, you can now easily run the classic Mac operating system right in your web browser. Because … Read More

If you’re a fan of Apple history or retro computing, you’re sure to appreciate this nine-minute video covering the Apple Lisa. Created by The Verge, this fun video demonstrates using an Apple Lisa in 2023 as they overview the development of Apple’s Lisa computer, the prequel to the Macintosh, released some 40 years ago.

Remember the old days of BBS? Using a modem, you’d dial in to a BBS (bulletin board system) to connect and get online, where you could then play games, communicate with others through message boards and chat, and exchange information and files, all long before the days of the modern internet. While BBS’s are mostly … Read More

MacOS 8 may have debuted in 1997, but thanks to the Infinite Mac project, you can run MacOS 8 right now in a virtual Quadra right in your web browser. The Infinite Mac MacOS 8 installation is complete with a whole bevy of retro applications and games, including everything from Adobe Photoshop 3.0, KPT Bryce, … Read More

Any modern web browser can now run the retro System 7 Macintosh operating system on just about any device, thanks to the Infinite Mac project. Infinite Mac offers a browser based 68k Macintosh Quadra emulator that runs impressively well in a browser, allowing you to play old games, run old Macintosh applications, and just have … Read More

Have you ever wondered what modern apps like Zoom, Spotify, Google Chrome, Figma, or Slack would look like in the Mac OS 9 UI? Designer Michael Feeney did, so he took it upon himself to apply the 90’s Mac OS styling to some common apps used in todays workflow. In his own words: “(mac)OStalgia is … Read More

Do you remember when your Macintosh screen saver was filled with flying toasters, aquarium fish, and warp speed ahead? If so, you might be recollecting the glorious fun of the After Dark Screen Saver, which graced the Macintosh in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, way back when the Macintosh platform and entire ecosystem was … Read More