. | Mac Daniel & FriendsWhat Can I Do With a Mac Plus, SE, or
Classic?- Manuel
Mejia, Jr.
22 Oct. 1999
Q: I just got a Mac
Plus, Mac
SE, or Classic.
What can one do with this ancient Mac in today? (typical Mac
Daniel question) A: There are still many people who need to do a letter to
home or other places, and the older Macs are great for doing
this. One also has the ability to do drawing using MacPaint.
I still use MacPaint for newsletters,  report
covers, and even artwork that is made into patterns for silk
screening logos on shirts. I also have one HyperCard based
application for designing and testing model rockets! While testing some old links, I typed in this URL:
<http://macplus.schoolvision.com> I was surprised to find a text only web site that is run
by a Mac 128K machine
that was upgraded to a Plus. This may be the oldest known
microcomputer based web server. The original machine was
built in May of 1985 -- a full 10 years before the advent of
the World Wide Web. I was impressed. At the time this
machine was built, 64 KB RAM machines with 300 bps modems
and green or amber screens were still in common use. The main point in using an old Mac is the fact that not
every computer user is doing 3D rendering, high end
spreadsheets, or video/music editing. There are still a
great number of people doing basic word processing and
drawing. For those individuals, a G3/G4 Mac is far too much
of a machine for their needs. There are also people who can
take shareware and do tasks that were not even dreamed up by
Apple in 1984. Visit your favorite used
Mac dealer for software and antiques. Classic Macs do
not always age. Some will adapt to new challenges.  - Here's an interesting article that MacWEEK published
on Wednesday: Cruising
the web in black & white by John C. Foster. "I
couldn't help but feel a bit of pride as my elderly SE
maneuvered the Web...."
Manuel Mejia is familiar
with Mac IIs, LCs, and older PowerBooks. He uses both a PowerBook
145B and a Mac IIcx with System 7.1 on a regular basis. He also owns
the Pina books on repairing compact Macs from 128k through the SE and
is willing to look up answers. And he keeps a Mac II with System
6.0.7 on standby so he can help out with System 6 questions. (Manuel
doesn't have a Power Mac, so please don't ask Power Mac
questions.) Have a question to ask Mac Daniel & Friends? Visit our
staff page and pick an expert.
Recent Mac Daniel & Friends columns- Raising the dead, Manuel Mejia Jr.,
Mac Daniel, 1/18/2000
- Storage Devices for Older Macs,
Manuel Mejia Jr., 12/31/1999
- SCSI or IDE hard drive?, Charlie
Ruggiero, 12/28/1999
- Why System 6 for Mac IIs?, Manuel
Mejia, 12/13/1999
- Should I Wait for OS X?, Dan
Knight, 11/29/1999
- Why System 6 for Compact Macs?,
Manuel Mejia, 11/26/1999
- Should I buy a USB card?, Charlie
Ruggiero, 11/23/1999
- Online with a PowerBook Duo, Julie
Fugett, Mac Daniel, 11/17/1999
- Time to buy an iMac?, Dan Knight,
11/15/1999
- more on the Mac Daniel index
Not sure if you should upgrade your old Mac or replace it? Check
the index to see if we've already addressed
your problem recently -- and look in the
archive if it's not in the recent columns. If not, visit our
staff page for the names of several people
who may be able to help you. Dan Knight, webmaster, Low
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