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Do you miss the happy mac?

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Dan 7.1

Well-known member
yeah i think i missed it for all of about 10 seconds and then got over it.

besides, my macs boot up in verbose anyways so i don't see any graphics :p

 

Moofo

Well-known member
The mac has lost it's soul since like the PowerBook 190. That's when the Happy Mac went all the way to color....

It's really the soul of the Mac.

Ps.: I don't remember exactly which was the first machine where the happy mac was colorized...

 

MacTCP

Well-known member
I don't because it's on my old macs.

I'm glad there isn't some shiny aqua happy mac at startup.

:) :beige: :b&w:

 

vassilizaitsev

Well-known member
Well, I allways found it a touch self indulgent on Apples behalf, a little pompous, "We are Apple and look at us we're really cool and with it", yeah, yeah, blah blah, perhaps Apple was with it for nerdy American school kids!

I miss Gem, The little green desktop, so welcoming, so bright, so fun :)

 

equill

Well-known member
It is said, in many different ways, that "You don't know where you're arriving unless you know where you came from". Apple's little touches, in the Happy and Sad Macs, signatures moulded into cases, the Easter Eggs and other 'in' jokes or characteristic references, were a human touch in the potentially forbidding new world of computing. Let's keep in mind that buyers of Apples, and then Macs, were sometimes as infatuated with computing as they were intent on getting some job done. For the latter, thoughtful and effective software. For the former, a sense of belonging as well as the hardware and software.

If Apple throws overboard all of its history, it will be the loser. It needs to be as aware of its beginnings as Apple Computer as it is of what appeals to a mass market in the way of tools (for the serious) and diversions (for the acquisitive). What Apple has always had has been design quality, both æsthetic and functional (with some bloopers, admittedly). Only a commitment to being different and better, as opposed to different for difference's sake (look at many PC bells-and-whistles towers) will give them the edge as platforms converge. Remembering their history, with a dab of humour deftly applied, may keep their feet on the ground.

de

 
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Franklinstein

Well-known member
Though I do occasionally miss the little happy Mac on my newer machines, I can take solace in the fact that seeing it is just as far away as my closest Classic Mac OS-booting machine. At least they didn't replace it with a happy iMac or anything like that...

 

MacMan

Well-known member
I see the Happy Mac on my pre-OS X machines every day so I don't really miss it too much. The thing is that many new switchers from the Windows world won't know what the Happy Mac is meant to represent, as Macs haven't looked like that since the early 90's.

 

iMac600

Well-known member
I don't really miss it... to me it is, was and always will be just a boot graphic. In my eyes it's no different from the flash of "Award Modular BIOS" on a PC. Besides, I know things that are much cuter and cuddlier. ;)

 

The Macster

Well-known member
Besides, I know things that are much cuter and cuddlier. ;)
Yes, since upgrading to Vista I've been missing the Windows logo so much now that they just have that black boot screen with the little progress bar and nothing else :p Cute boot logos are no more it seems :(

 

LCGuy

LC Doctor/Hot Rodder
I think he's actually talking about something totally un-related to computers. (and much, much nicer....on some days :p ) Such as.....women? ;)

I don't really miss the Happy Mac though...i still have my vintage Macs, that still show it. But i do remember when Jag came out, i was doing work experience at a local Apple retailer, fixing Macs. Anyway, one of the techs already had it up and running on his Sage iMac a couple of days after the release, and i asked him, "is it true that they've done away with the Happy Mac?". He booted up the iMac and said, "yeah, all you get now is an Apple logo, and it is very boring."

But yeah...Macster, i have to admit...the Vista boot screen does look a bit off...maybe its just me, but to me, the whole lack of a boot logo looks a bit beta-ish to me.

 

Mr. 680x0

Well-known member
I have a black and white Happy Mac on my G4 thanks to MacBoot. :) Unfortunately I don't think it works on Intel Macs, and I'm planning on getting a MacBook...

 
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