Color SE/30 that Mac84 is working on

[MrFahrenheit]

I just saw a post on Reddit from Mac84 where he has replaced the internal CRT with a color LCD and is using a PDS color card to drive it, from an original SE/30 board.

https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageApple/comments/12mp1fn
Very sleek! I guess this would basically become an all-in-one IIcx, better than a Color Classic.

 

[joshc]

Neat trick, but I wonder where he got that idea... hmm.

Oh yeah, here it is:

Fun with colour on my SE/30

I've been scrounging parts for a while now to somehow upgrade an SE/30 to a colour screen. I finally started piecing it together: The Mac has a RasterOps ColorBoard 264 in its PDS slot, and I've connected it to a VGA controller via a DB-15 to VGA adapter. Thankfully the VGA controller...

68kmla.org

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Neat trick, but I wonder where he got that idea... hmm.

Oh yeah, here it is:

What's the problem with creating one of those himself?

 

[joshc]

What's the problem with creating one of those himself?

There isn’t. I thought it useful to share what I believe to be the first project where this was done as people will naturally assume mac84tv came up with the idea.

YouTubers have a tendency to make people believe they are doing something original for their own benefit (profit/more views). And while they are allowed to do that, it’s one of the reasons I gave up with a lot of YouTube stuff about Macs.

Anyway, it is cool and it’s good to see other people implementing this.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

I understand what your saying. Mac84 is usually pretty good about that sort of stuff, really a lot of the vintage mac youtubers are. I don't remember any specific examples of any vintage mac folks claiming someone else's modding idea as their own, but I honestly think that if they did forget to credit who came up with the mod, it was probably just out of negligence more than anything else. I can't see how mentioning the mod's original creator in the description or somewhere during the video would hurt the video's view count or watch time.

Anyways, I'm hoping he's going to make a video on the creation of one of these. From reading that thread, the guy who made the mod didn't go into detail on how he wired everything up - would certainly be useful to have a write-up on that.

 

[ObeyDaleks]

If I had a spare SE/30 that I didn’t mind turning into “an abomination” LOL, I would totally do this. Looking forward to the video. I think I saw one a long time ago where he said he would do it in “Part 2” but Part 2 never came.

 

[cheesestraws]

famous youtubers recycling other people's ideas without making it clear that's what they're doing again, I see

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

What exactly is the issue here? I genuinely don't get it. He probably saw that thread from a few years back and wanted to build his own. That thread doesn't describe the process beyond saying that it was hooked up to a DB15 to VGA adapter, which isn't exactly too descriptive. Let's assume he's going to make a video on the process, which he likely is. Then, potentially a couple thousand people will watch that video and learn about the mod, which he'll probably credit where he found the idea from anyway, you're just assuming he won't. And either way, it's a modding idea, not a product that someone made. Should everyone doing a video on recapping a mac credit the original person who figured out bad caps was what made their SE/30 die? Or the first to figure out that tunnel vision on LCDs could be fixed by baking them in the oven?
I'd also not call 15 thousand subscribers "famous" really, there are tens of thousands of channels that have reached those numbers at this point. He's well known in this community, but then again so are you, along with many other members here.
I just don't get the negativity here.

 

[cheesestraws]

Because he and others are prepared to monetise other people's work without proper credit while at the same time being unable to take even fairly moderate criticism?

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

I wouldn't call it "monetizing other people's work". Anyone can go out and buy an LCD panel, a color graphics card (if you're prepared to pay up that is) and the proper adapters and stuff. I can't speak for @ants, and he hasn't been active here in a while anyways, but if I created a mod for a vintage mac or whatever piece of hardware and then someone made a video on my mod, I'd be happy to see more people hearing out about it, not mad that "he's making money off MY mod that I made!". And he would probably only made $50 off of the video either way, which is a lot less than the time he put into getting the mod working and filming/editing a video. That's if he makes a video at all, and you're also assuming he wouldn't mention where he got the idea from.
He doesn't do YouTube as a job, he has a day job. He does youtube as a hobby, like myself and many others, because he enjoys making content. It's quite rare to see a YouTuber doing youtube "only for the money".
And from my interactions with him - he's a reasonable guy who doesn't refuse to take any criticism. FWIW.

 

[cheesestraws]

People whose judgement of character I respect do not speak highly of him at all.

But that, of course, is subjective. I will not ask you to accept my judgement.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Well, I can only speak for my interactions with him. Agree to disagree on this one I suppose. I respect your opinion.

 

[François]

Putting a LCD in a SE/30 case (often with a more modern computer) is not a new idea at all. How about 14 years ago? It’s in french, but you can see that the author link to other older projects that inspired him. When such an idea, such projects have been around for such a long time, have been completed more than a few times, I don’t think it is required to say that you’re not the first.

 

[joshc]

Putting a LCD in a SE/30 case (often with a more modern computer) is not a new idea at all. How about 14 years ago? It’s in french, but you can see that the author link to other older projects that inspired him. When such an idea, such projects have been around for such a long time, have been completed more than a few times, I don’t think it is required to say that you’re not the first.

That one is not the same, that’s an LCD with new internals to drive it rather than driving the LCD from the original logicboard and a video PDS card.

 

[bakkus]

Congratulations on finding the most toxic reply ever to "hey, I saw this neat project" in the book, I suppose?

 

[chiptripper]

Not big on Youtube personalities either, but tbf sometimes I'll think up a cool and unique project idea, then discover that someone else did it 3 or 4 years ago.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Agreed, some of you guys are just assuming the worst, and that he'll do the worst, before he's even made a video on it.

 

[unCoopervised]

I'm late to the party but . . . I'm gonna guess 100s if not 1000s of compact Macs have damaged or not-working CRTs and if someone wanted to restore it, an LCD is just about the only option. For example, who was the first person to put an LED light bulb in an antique lamp? Do they need to be credited every time someone puts the only kind of light-bulb now readily available in an old lamp?