TIME TRAVEL at UVic … Sort of …

TIME TRAVEL
at UVIC !!!!
[ … sort of … ]

TODAY is Day 407 since Help Desk staff – ALL of us, have been working from home!

Sounds like an entry in a Doomsday Diary!

And … kinda right about that! So, of course, I immediately think of Time Travel! But, to keep it centred on TECH .. I will offer proof that the Commodore 64, and in fact, my own Commodore SX-64 is .. THE FASTEST COMPUTER OF ALL TIME! So .. Time Travel between different Techs and how fast they actually .. Travel through Time …. stay with me!

Absolute video proof that it is faster than any computer … AT STARTING UP! Hey, Time Travel is possible … but for now .. only forward!

You can see that my SX-64 is fully booted .. even before the Apple chime HAS FINISHED on my Apple 27″ iMac! BOOM! Hands down WINNER .. for starting up!

And as you can probably guess, my SX-64 is fastest at … shutting down too! Just turn the switch off! My 27″ Mac has to go through the proper shutdown sequence, and that can take anywhere from 30-60 seconds.

So, literally, my SX-64 is faster than my 27″ iMac – coming and going! I also have an old Mac SE, amongst other computers, too! But that needs a FLOPPY to boot up – and installs a RAM disk and … well if you know what a RAM disk is … good times … good times! And the SX-64 would still beat it! I even have an old external SCSI 100MB drive. That is NOT a typo – 100MB drive! Sure was an upgrade from 800K floppies!

OH, and that is my pet Flerken, Lilly! She is always on, so she wins by default! Don’t mess with Lilly!

So, sometimes old tech, even ancient tech, might still have a purpose! I want to do a post about the original, ORIGINAL version of iMovie! Yes, WAY back when! I created some training videos WAY before I joined The Computer Help Desk!

And I still have an old 24″ iMac in CALL, dedicated (i.e. NO internet at all!) for analog to digital video conversion using a Pinnacle Movie box. Works incredibly seamlessly, and literally, I can digitize a 90 minute VHS movie in about 90 minutes of real time conversion! Then burn it to a playable DVD (Single or Double-Density!) in about the same amount of time. BOOM DONE! And uses either USB or Firewire .. how quaint!

But that is another OAC Post .. in the future of course! BACK to the Future of course!

PS: This is my 200th published post here at OAC! First person to email me with this ‘200’ number wins a … chocolate bar!

‘TIME TRAVEL‘ Technologies… mostly 🙂

Commodore SX-64 (Wikipedia)
Commodore SX-64 Computer Review (YouTube)
Systems ‘Meet the Team’ Open House (OAC)
The IT Crowd (YouTube .. ALL EPISODES!)
The 25 Best Time Travel Movies Ever
21 Time Travel TV Shows You Need To Binge-Watch
20+ Best Time Travel Books for Science Fiction Fans! (Up the Line by Robert Silverberg not there!)
10 Ancient computers that are still in use today
18 Things To Do With Old Computers That Still Work Today
Check out how much a computer cost the year you were born

The Best of the 11th Doctor
(Matt Smith is MY Doctor!)
( Time Travel, of course! )

Apple II vs. Commodore 64

The 75 Best Commodore 64 Games Ever!

The 30 Best Time-Travel Movies That Will Blow Your Mind

BE SAFE EVERYONE!

Pandemic

NEW NEW NEW and COLOURFUL NEW TOO!

NEW NEW NEW
COLOURFUL NEW iMACS!

NEW is good, right? Of course it is! And new technology is even better, right?

Absolutely! So .. NEW iMACS ARE FANTASTIC, right? YOU BETCHA!!!!

SPOILER ALERT #1 – Yeah, a big fan of Apple! Ever since I was able to convince a skeptical Macintosh salesclerk to ‘Test Drive A Mac‘, way back in 1984, I have been hooked! Okay, also a Commodore-64 Fan Boy too! But I do use WIN computers for about 99% of CHD stuff now too! I was able to demonstrate the all new Macintosh, to the entire teaching staff where I worked – and even to my night courses too! Good times … good times …..

**Apple Spring Loaded Event April 2021**

The entire Apple “Spring Loaded” event is below, at YouTube! And just the new iMac announcement too! They are certainly a far cry from the first ever Macintosh sold by Apple! Click here to see a full roster of ALL the Apple Events going back to 2019.

iMacs will now be powered by an 8-core M1 chip, which is a huge step forward for security. THAT ALONE should be a major factor when considering a new computer.

Click for colourful GIF iMacs! — **Click for BIG colourful GIF iMacs!**

Colours ARE pretty – but not new. Apple did a similar theme years ago with the a ‘Fruit Colors’ release of the G3 iMacs! And I just found out that there were 13 different colours! WOW! I actually still own the Graphite one – and it still works! All the colours are in a YouTube video below and an article here.

**Click for BIG NAMED colourful GIF iMacs!**

And if you want to see a HUGE GIF of them ALL NAMED as they make your head spin, then click here or on the iMac to the left!!

Full Technical specifications of the recently announced iMacs, directly from the Apple site: click here on the image/text below:

For me, the M1, Big Sur, RAM, CPU, SSD, 4.5K (there is half a ‘K’ now?) etc. are all fine and dandy. I expect improvements and enhanced tech in those areas. But I was SO GLAD TO SEE … A RETURN TO THE 24″ SCREEN!

I have a 27″ and it is … too large. CALL has had 21.5″ screens for years … and they are fine. But I really like that ‘Sweet Spot’ of 24″ monitor size!!!!!! Just seems the right size for my eyes and desktop.

And the new ‘Magic Keyboards‘ also look VERY promising! I am an old school fan of the wired extended keyboards and mice, but those are not an option, so I will eventually … get used to them!

The ‘new’ size monitor, Magic Keyboard and Mouse are the real imporovements for me. What you see, what you type and what you point at. Yup, those are key to me!

I will probably order my new iMac in July-ish, when their Educational promotions are on. So probably just a free headset that I will never use! It could be a cheap christmas present too!

I will just have to wait! I have small Table below (one of my new favourite ‘toys’ with OAC!) comparing the original Macintosh (128K) and the new iMacs announced!

And further below, is a great site, EveryMac that you can look up ANY Apple product and find specifications! A great site!

Mac vs iMac (Apples vs Apples!)

The TECH Stuff	Macintosh (1984)	iMac (2021)
RAM	128K maximum 512K	Up to 16GB
STORAGE	400K Single Sided 3.5" floppy! Maybe an external SCSI HD of 10MB if you were lucky!	256 / 512 / 1TB SSD
SCREEN	9" monochrome 512 x 342	"True Tone" widescreen "Retina 4.5K" display mounted on a svelte aluminum stand. 4480 x 2520
MOUSE	Clunky but works	Wireless
WIRELESS	Yeah.No. Cables galore!	Wireless everything!
INTERNET	HAHA x ♾	One iMac to rule them ALL!
PROCESSOR & SPEED	8 MHz 68000 processor,	5-nm Apple M1 processor with 8 cores (4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores), an 8-core GPU, a 16-core Neural Engine, 8 GB of onboard RAM
Operating System	Original Mac 0.97	macOS 11 Big Sur
Original Price	$2495 (US)	$1499 - $1699 (US)
Weight	16.5 lbs (7.5 kg)	9.88 lbs. (4.48 kg)

FULL TECH details of Macintosh, iMac and … G3 MAC CUBE!

Anyone dare to guess what colour
I am going to buy?

‘NEW‘ Technologies
… in theory …

How Magical is Apple’s M1 Chip, Really?
Apple M1 Chip (Wikipedia!)
Apple M1 Chip: Everything You Need to Know
Should You Skip the Apple M1 Chip?
All 13 Colors of iMac (YouTube video imbedded in article!)
Apple History and Other Fine Nerdery (512 Pixels YouTube Channel!)
Apple iMac G3 333 (Fruit Colors) Specs
Commodore SX-64 TV Ad 1984 (YouTube)
Timeline of Computer History
This Day in Tech History
Awesome Computer History (A curated list of computer history ….)
24″ iMac M1 Buyer’s Guide-DON’T Make These 8 Mistakes🔥(YouTube)🔥
Apple M1X iMac Release Date and Price–Available in 2021?🔥(YouTube)🔥

Apple announces new iMac models that come in different colors, advanced camera and mic systems

Apple Event Spring Loaded
April 20, 2021

All 13 Colors of iMac G3

Apple “Test Drive a Macintosh”
Ad Campaign (1984)

1985 – Macintosh – Test Drive A Mac Computer (Better Quality)

Macintosh 1984 Promotional Video – with Bill Gates!

Evolution of Laptops (Portable Computers) 1975 – 2020

BE SAFE EVERYONE!

Pandemic

Comparing Apples and Oranges II . . . Technology!

Comparing Apples and Oranges
but this time …..
TECHNOLOGY!!

My last post was about Recycling, but .. prefaced with a mea culpa of ‘Comparing Apples and Oranges‘. I liked that concept so much, I am going to do it again … and whenever the mood strikes me!

How about camparing Apples to … Commodores! Yes, compare a few ingredients between my first ever computer – a Commodore SX-64 and a new iMac! An earlier post was entitled “Open the Pod Bay Door HAL. . . or Computers I Have Owned or Worked With” and talks a bit about my beloved Commodore SX-64!

I will still go out on a limb and say that the SX-64, that I still own, and still WORKS, is the fastest computer ever built! EVER! Well, EVER .. for startup!

I will prove it too! BUT in a future post about how fast computers are! You will have to stay tuned for that!

Okay, so Google is your friend and I will display a few offerings when I searched for “compare commodore 64 with new mac“.

SX-64 vs iMac (Apples vs Oranges!)

INSTALLED	SX-64	iMac
RAM	64K	Up to 32GB 2666MHz DDR4
STORAGE	HAHA!	1TB SSD
SCREEN	4"	21.5"
MOUSE	Joystick!	Wireless
WIRELESS	HAHA x 2!	Oh, yeah!
INTERNET	HAHA x ♾	Can't live without it...
PROCESSOR & SPEED	MOS Technology 6510 @ 1.02 MHz (NTSC version) @ 0.985 MHz (PAL version)	3.0GHz 6-core 8th-generation Intel Core i5 processor
Operating System	Commodore KERNAL Commodore BASIC 2.0	macOS 11 Big Sur

And that is about it! Definitely .. Apples and ~~Oranges~~ Commodores!

Yes, a bit cheeky, but just think about how much technology has not only changed, but IMPROVED! Look below for a comparison between a mobile phone and the computers used to … LAND A MAN ON THE MOON! And don’t be so hasty to dismiss …. older technology!

Oh, and … learned about inserting a TABLE here too! BONUS! Tables are very curious beasties here at OAC. A bit of fiddling but .. they do work. Just fussy! And I did learn about them! And that will be a future post too!

Curious Links for
Comparing Technologies!

Did Commodore, more than Apple, contribute to the birth of the personal computer?
C64 vs iPhone

The Commodore 64 vs. the iPhone 3G S: The Ultimate Showdown
Your Mobile Phone vs. Apollo 11’s Guidance Computer
Your Smart Toaster Can’t Hold a Candle to the Apollo Computer
Mac, iPod, iPhone & iPad Specs – EveryMac.com’s Ultimate Mac Comparison
1984 Apple Macintosh vs today’s Apple iMac: Spec comparison (A Little Dated but fun to read!)
Showdown: Original 1984 Macintosh vs. Today’s Apple iMac (A more up to date comparison – still fun to read!)
Comparison of Macintosh models (Need at least ONE Wikipedia Article per post!)
Systems ‘Meet the Team’ Open House (December 2017 & I set up my old SX-64!)
Cray-1 v. MacBook Pro (A threaded conversation .. but interesting!)
The 80’s supercomputer that’s sitting in your lap (Dated, but so much fun!)

Tag: SX64