Best Preservation Methods For Macs?

[Mac128]

So we all know that the vintage compacts we so dearly love have a limited lifespan. While the cases may last for ever, the electronics are not likely to fare so well. That got me thinking. Many of us have certain Macs we dedicate for use and experimentation. But most of us have pristine examples of some Macs, which we maintain in "museum" condition. So here's the question:

Which is better for the Mac? Using it and keeping in good operational condition, thus hastening the deterioration of the components, or storing it in a cool dry location to preserve it for the future, perhaps bringing it out on special occasion to demonstrate, or play with it? In other words, once a Mac goes into a museum exhibit, is its lifespan more limited than actually using it?

Obviously anything mechanical must be regularly maintained as anyone who has received a 400K drive which has not been used in years knows. But what about the electronics? We all know the capacitors are going to leak sooner or later, no matter how they are stored. That will happen whether used or not. Obviously one can't just store a Mac and forget about it, as at least a regular check up is required to prevent irreparable damage. But in general principle, does using a Mac, or storing a Mac cause more damage to the electronics? Like the "weekend warrior" who is more likely to have a heart attack because they are sedentary for 5 days and then suddenly active, does that kind of activity also adversely affect a Mac? Is running it once in a while more harmful than running it regularly?

So the bottom line is, are we actually preserving our precious Macs by carefully storing them?

 

[Unknown_K]

I think electronics should be used at least every once in a while. Using them will also help find problems before they become major problems (leaking capacitors and PRAM batteries for one). Storing them in a cool dry place will help keep them working, too many people stick them in attics or barns where the elements kill them over time.

I am sure many hoarders think they are saving machines for future generations, but most will end up in the trash when they pass away anyway (or have to move). All the stuff I have is stuff I want to use, I keep them running so I can use them.

 

[Hrududu]

I would imagine old computer are a lot like old cars. Moisture and lack of use tend to be the biggest villains to avoid. I would imagine firing up a computer at least 3 or 4 times a year would be a good thing for the capacitors and whatnot inside. Moisture would also lead to corrosion on contacts and added dust collection, so I bet that would be the worst thing.

 

[phreakout]

I'm with Hrududu on this one. Sure, the capacitors are going to fail, now if not then in 5 years. But that is a way of life. If you just make your Mac into a museum piece and not use it for productivity, then it defeats the purpose of Mac ownership. My actions allow for more use out of these great machines. I am in hope that at least we can be a reference to others even though these machines have been moved out of the mainstream use.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we don't have to own every single model but just have a handful around, just in case. For me, I'll gladly hand on to the three Macs I own; one for each era of processor family change. Should I run into somebody who has an old disc with personal files they wish to get transferred to more new formats, then they can rely on me.

We live in a disposable society. Electronic technology is constantly evolving and there are a lot of people who are just throwing the old in the trash. I hate to think of all those machines being dumped in some landfill, their toxic chemicals seeping into the groundwater in some third world country. If we can save just x number of machines from that kind of fate, we are doing our part on making this a much cleaner place to live. Heck, even if you don't want to keep it, donate them to someone who can't afford a computer. Give these inexpensive machines one last free ride before they truly give up their ghost.

73s de Phreakout. :rambo:

 

[Unknown_K]

Giving a poor person a vintage 68K mac as their main machine is about the same as throwing it away. There are tons of much newer and usable machines they could get for free or close to it and get work done.

The way I see it saving a machine from recycling is not permanent. Somewhere along the line the next owner will either like to mess with it, be able to pass it on to another collector, or will recycle it. The best machines of the time that still exist will end up with collectors (if there are any), a few of roadapples will be around because of rarity (most will have been recycled). There has to be a want or need for the old gear or it will end up recycled today or 10 years down the road. Don't worry about just preserving items for other generations, trust me if they want it they will find it or make a new one.

 

[BarnacleGrim]

Agreed. It's easy for us to say that you can get by with a 68k as a main machine, after all, that's what they, and many of us, did back in the day. But right now the main concern is internet connectivity, and for that you'd need a pretty recent version of Mac OS X for it to work well.

 

[Scott Baret]

Sometimes, internet connectivity is not the goal. Instead, lack of internet is desired in a handful of cases.

As many of you know, I am a huge advocate of 68K Macs in education. We all know what they can do in terms of enriching an education through programs such as Math Blaster and Carmen Sandiego. In fact, some of us learned a few things from these games when we were children. However, there are other reasons why you may not want a web connection:

1. The web can provide for many distractions (at all age levels--think about it, a computer without chat, social networking sites, online games--this is exactly what you want for your kids who need to focus on homework and studies).

2. There is bad stuff on the web. Yes, we've been hearing this for about 20 years now, but it's true. Besides, kids can get around web filters and disable tracking software--they're tech-savvy and curious, just as we were years ago when we found ways to get around At Ease. Also, some kids are extremely gullible and will fall for anything they read online--be it an unreliable Wikipedia page, a dating profile of a 39 year old ex-con posing as a 13 year old, the temptation to illegally download music, or some offer for free stuff that winds up installing a virus on the computer. Depending on the maturity level of the kid, the internet may not be for them to use unsupervised.

3. Even for those who are mature enough to know how to use the web, it can be distracting! Online chat, social networking sites, fantasy sports, and even forums like this one can get in the way of productivity. Yes, the papers may get done, but they may not be done until 1AM. By using the web-capable computer as a reward for finishing the paper, there is incentive to get it done on the machine without a web connection. (If it has to be turned in online, simply put it on a floppy and copy it over--Snow Leopard can read floppies, it just can't write them.

4. I'm sure some of us on this forum like to go camping. (I mean real camping, as in going outdoors with a tent--not sleeping outside the mall where the newest Apple Store is about to open with an iPad, iPhone, two iPods, and a MacBook in tow). When you camp, you usually do so to get away from the fast-paced, tech-heavy, overindustrialized world we live in today and sit back to enjoy the simplicity of nature and a world without distractions. Even if you don't camp, you probably like to take a vacation on a beach now and then to escape the daily grind. Think of a web-free computer as a camping trip--back to the basics.

With the last point in mind, we like to preserve land for campers so they can go and enjoy the same camping experience the great grandparents they talk about over a campfire did years ago. Of course, this land has to be maintained and used to be worth preserving. Our old Macs are the same way. We aren't going to let camping die out because we want our children to have the same memories we did of escaping the complexity of society that we did. Likewise, we shouldn't let these old Macs die out and need to do our part to run them regularly, store them at room temperature, take the PRAM batteries out when not in use, re-cap the boards if need be, celebrate them for their virtues, use them when the need calls, and preserve the experience of a computer without the treacheries of the internet for future generations--the "camping" experience of computing for many.

(If you were in Boy Scouts, you probably remember the Outdoor Code. The last sentence in the preceding paragraph is the 68K version of the Outdoor Code and should be memorized by all users of older Macs--a request from Scoutmaster Scott).

 

[slomacuser]

Long live the mini vMac.

 

[tyrannis]

Giving a poor person a vintage 68K mac as their main machine is about the same as throwing it away. There are tons of much newer and usable machines they could get for free or close to it and get work done.

I know about about a dozen LC 575/580 owning low-income families with grade-schoolers reading above level that would strongly disagree. Once again, the fact that it doesn't surf like a champion doesn't make it unworthy of preservation.

 

[BarnacleGrim]

I was thinking mainly adults, but for kids, an early PowerMac could be just the thing. And they would still be able to use e-mail, I'd let the kids have that. Add a nice suite of educational and productivity software and it would be a great learning aid.

 

[Osgeld]

I know about about a dozen LC 575/580 owning low-income families with grade-schoolers reading above level that would strongly disagree. Once again, the fact that it doesn't surf like a champion doesn't make it unworthy of preservation.

preservation and shoving these things onto poor people are 2 different things, its one to hobby around, but really? if you want to help the poor I know many of us have our little treasure troves where you can get a palette of 1ghz p3's for the cost of scrap, that can run a current OS and unless your doing something frivolous (ie trying to play the sims 2 or hd video over flash) actually run just fine

I almost think its mean to hand someone a grossly outdated computer and tell them to educate their kids on it, sure its fine for stickybear but you just gimped the kid by a decade (cause we all know that the future lies in system 7 right?)

 

[tyrannis]

You think it's cruel to give a poor 5 year-old a classic Mac and a stack of educational software?

The next time you're in Best Buy, walk into the educational software section. You'll find two categories of early education software. One is the new stuff - laden with absurd features designed to engage, but in reality only succeeding in distracting the students from the learning objectives. The other category is the software that is essentially a port of the same thing they've been selling since System 7. So I'm not convinced that the classic Mac is grossly outdated for the purposes I am describing (the ones you are ignoring).

Academic learning objectives are the purpose to which I'm referring - no one is saying "here's a Performa 577, now go to college and do your research." I'm not even saying they will learn computing skills at all, but those skills aren't the point (they will get rudimentary computing skills later in school) The goal here is to eliminate the inherent disadvantages associated with young low-income kids as they enter the school environment (mostly attributable to parents failing to read to children). My point is that classic educational software is more effective than modern educational software when it comes to young children - so why not run it on classic Macs and keep them out of the landfill?

OT hijacking over - adios amigos. :beige:

 

[Osgeld]

You think it's cruel to give a poor 5 year-old a classic Mac and a stack of educational software?

I never said its cruel, now your putting words in my mouth, and whatever the educational software out there today is just as much crap as it was back when, your just bias because YOU grew up on that stuff

I sure would not give a kid a //e and math blaster thinking its some great community service that helps us both

(they will get rudimentary computing skills later in school)

sure they do, I have a guy at work that graduated in 2007, he didnt even know what the start menu was, just got an email address 2 months ago, and made his first ever online purchase yesterday

now are you saying if I had given him a SE 10 years ago he would be better off? probably not, If I had given him a windows 95/98 machine 10 years ago, maybe

 

[tyrannis]

I almost think its mean to hand someone a grossly outdated computer and tell them to educate their kids on it.

I never said its cruel, now your putting words in my mouth

Calm down Osgeld. I'm not putting words into your mouth - I'm using a synonym. Look into it.

 

[Osgeld]

do you have a point?

almost mean != cruel I dont care how you think your spinning it :-*

 

[Bunsen]

Place your Mac in a 15 gallon pot and cover with water. Add a pound of sugar and bring to the boil. Simmer and ...

... ohwait.

 

[Hrududu]

I'm going to have to agree with Osgeld on this matter. I can understand why some of you think that 68k and old PPC Macs are still useful today. Yes they still boot and run their software well, and it seems like a working computer should still fit someone's needs just fine. However, giving someone a 68k or old PPC Mac is not the same as giving someone an old car or TV that still works. The tasks that we use computers for today have changed far too much to make something from say 1994 worthwhile. Lets be honest here guys, classic Macs are literally useless these days. Before you jump on me with things like, "But you can still use Word, Excel, and Netscape 4 on them!!!" really think about it. The internet has become the single most important "application" for almost every computer user today. How long do you really spend on your computer that isn't in some way online? If you're anything like me, without an internet connection, I don't really have much use for my Mac. Right now people need computers that are fully internet capable (and when I say that, I mean running a modern browser on a modern OS). Thats why I think if you are giving/selling somebody a Mac for them to really use, it should be at least 800MHz and running Tiger. Its 2010 now, and G3 iMacs & early G4 towers cost the same as 25MHz 040 systems to most everyone. 68k systems are fun hobbies, but don't confuse functioning with usefulness.

 

[Paralel]

For any disadvantaged kid any computer is better than no computer at all.

I know when I got my first outdated system (a grayscale 286/16 at the beginning of the Pentium era) as a kid I was f***ing thrilled! I ran that sucker until it literally gave out.

 

[tyrannis]

I think if you are giving/selling somebody a Mac for them to really use, it should be at least 800MHz and running Tiger. Its 2010 now, and G3 iMacs & early G4 towers cost the same as 25MHz 040 systems to most everyone. 68k systems are fun hobbies, but don't confuse functioning with usefulness.

Agreed. We only give 68k/early PPC Macs as educational tools after a professional educational-needs assessment along with a customized package of software to address those identified needs. We offer 500 MHz iMac G3s, Power Mac G4's and eMac 1.25s for everyday use, all for free. :b&w:

I apologize to the original poster for leading the thread astray, because it's actually a good topic.