Dining room Classic

[BarnacleGrim]

Here's one of my recent acquisitions, a Macintosh Classic. I decided to snub the big screen TV for my home entertainment system and go strictly retro. There is an AirPort express with AirTunes hidden under the counter, though.

So any suggestions on what I can have the Classic do? I keep the cocktail glasses overhead and the drinks underneath, so the obvious would be a HyperCard cocktail recipe stack. I know REALbasic compiled for 68k back in the day, maybe I could get it to talk to iTunes with TCP/IP over LocalTalk? Another cool thing would be a very basic sound visualizer, unfortunately the Classic doesn't have sound input.

 

[IIciguy]

That's really cool and I hope you find some good tricks for it. It's great to have older hardware doing tricks in places where they can shown off in style!

 

[beachycove]

The HyperCard stack. Definitely. And a few B&W games like Dark Castle, which will run in demo mode or let your guests play with the thing while sipping a long one.

 

[Mac128]

MacNifty produced a sound digitizer for use on the first 512K, which plugged into the serial port. You could feed a microphone or a line input into it and through the Mac's speakers. This would of course work on the Classic as well. Surely there were other such digitizers and serial microphones and software developed for the Mac thereafter, I believe Berkeley made one too ... Whether other software, like a sound visualizer would be able to access the port is another matter. But I would think someone made a solution for the compacts. One thing to consider, since that would be a very cool idea for your setup would be to put a Mac II board inside it (or just get yourself a Mac II eventually).

Of course the main thing these old Macs are good for, in addition to a cocktail database, would be as a clock. You could also install other screensavers, which are not quite as fun in Black & White, but still more fun than nothing.

You could also keep an eye out for telephone contact software and hardware that allows you to dial your phone directly from the Mac's address book.

 

[Bunsen]

The serial port input device I've heard of is called the MacRecorder. One of them should be fine for doing visualisations, even though it's only mono 8-bit. Doing realtime audio analysis on a 68000 should be an interesting challenge though.

 

[BarnacleGrim]

I used the PowerMac 7600 to get DarkCastle to a floppy disk. But then it turned out that the Classic's floppy drive doesn't work, much like my Quadra 700 from the same collector. (Disuse, I suppose, the PRAM batteries are all dead too. He was a shelf collector). I could always use LocalTalk, but that's for another night.

But I did find a copy of Møire already installed. Not mesmerizing, but at least it's something. Now I just need to re-learn HyperCard to put some cocktails on the thing.

I never used AppleEvents, but maybe they could be used over AppleTalk to a computer running iTunes, if the Classic is running System 7?

 

[beachycove]

The first version of iTunes on OS9 probably does support Apple Events over localtalk, and so it might conceivably work.... Sounds to me like an ideal Retro Challenge project.

The floppy probably just needs cleaned and lubricated. In my experience, the grease on the motor gears etc. is often pretty hard by this stage, but like everything mechanical, it can be renewed. The challenge of doing that/ learning to do that is part of the package.

Check out this site for a treasure trove of Compact-era applications.

 

[tomlee59]

Congrats on your acquisition! It looks like it's in pristine condition. There aren't that many remaining compacts that are in dining-room condition.

To add to the other suggestions, I'd throw After Dark on that Classic, and let the toasters fly. Its clock options are also nice (I use one of my old Pluses as a workshop clock).

And if you're feeling particularly daring, hook that puppy up to the net. There's nothing like surfing the web on a compact.

 

[ianj]

I'm in the process of acquiring an SE/30 to use as a living room computer for ssh and maybe some light writing. If that's your thing, you could network the Classic and go for that.

A cocktail recipe catalog is an interesting idea. I'm going to think about adding that to my own plans, although I don't know how close I want people who are handling food and drinks to get to any computers.

 

[register]

You could run the software "Oscilloscope", visualising environmental sound input through the microphone port. I will try to find a download link for this nice piece of free software.

 

[Mac128]

register, you talking about ianj's SE/30? 'cause the Classic doesn't have a microphone port. Not sure if the "Oscilloscope" would utilize a serial input microphone solution or not.

 

[BarnacleGrim]

The Classic II does have audio in, but I can't get it to boot. The project is on hold, though, until spring exams are over.

 

[Mac128]

5/4/10 Here's one of my recent acquisitions, a Macintosh Classic. ... 5/21/10 The Classic II does have audio in, but I can't get it to boot.

This is the first time you have mentioned you have a Classic II and not a Classic. I realize typing that extra "II" on the end is an effort, but it makes a world of difference on the advice you get.

 

[BarnacleGrim]

I realize typing that extra "II" on the end is an effort, but it makes a world of difference on the advice you get.

Yes, it's a pretty big ordeal.