Macopinion

How to Play Poker on a Mac

The Road Warrior Mailbag - From The Archive - July 28, 2008

Re: Why I Won't Be Buying An iPhone 3G
Replacing an iBook G4's hard disk drive?
From The Archive: Why My iBook Reminds Me Of A Renault 4



___

Re: Why I Won't Be Buying An iPhone 3G

From ncbill

Unlimited (in practice, limited to 5GB/month) data plans from cellular carriers here in the U.S. are about $60/month (with a voice plan).

Smartphone unlimited data is around $30/month, but tethering to a computer is not allowed (on some phones it is relatively easy to get around this restriction)

There is usually not a contractual requirement for the data plan - I can call up Verizon and cut on or off the unlimited data plan on a month-by-month basis.

It appears someone has figured out a kludge to tether the 3G iPhone. http://cre.ations.net/blog/post/how-to-tether-your-iphone-3g-and-browse-the-web-using-your-3g-co

___

Hi bill;

Thanks for the comments and link.

Charles






Replacing an iBook G4's hard disk drive?

This was posted to the Applelinks Discussion Forum, and contains some useful information and links on the titular topic.

The original post can be found at:
http://www.applelinks.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/142/

Replacing an iBook G4's hard disk drive?

A bit of advice, if you are considering it:

The level of difficulty in replacing a hard disk drive in the iBook G4 is said to be High. The odds of damage occurring to other components or cabling in the way can be a costly error and disable the 'Book entirely.

That said, there are a few online places to look for hard disk drive replacement help guides and I defer to those (see links to a few known ones) for you to look into. ~ Also, I'd buy from a reliable source, and avoid odd brands with a history of unfriendly use. Hitachi (bought IBMs drive business), Maxtor, now a part of another OK company, Seagate, and a few others are fairly good. Western Digital (WD) is not high on my list. No point in taking another chance.

You can get deals on hard disk drives through retailers and not have to test the quality of an auction item.

iBook G4 12" Disassembly: Installing Hard Drive Replacement ...
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/iBook-G4-12-Inch/Hard-Drive-Replacement/83/14/

iBook G4 Hard Disk replacementm- Pictures guide to HD replacement Difficulty level: high - experts only.

Note: this operation can void warranty.
http://www.faqintosh.com/risorse/en/guides/hw/ibook/g4hd/

iBook G4 how to replace hard drive - google search ' results link
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=iBook+G4+how+to+replace+hard+drive&btnG=Google+Search







From The Road Warrior Archive

Five years ago this week I posted the somewhat whimsical Road Warrior piece republished below comparing my then-workhorse G3 iBook to the Renault 4 automobile.

From The Archive: Why My iBook Reminds Me Of A Renault 4

- [Originally Published July 27, 2003]

I suppose it's because I've been a lifelong car freak that I often think of computers in automotive analogies. And so it was that last week while watching a CPU usage monitor on my iBook pegging out at 100 percent while running several simultaneous processes, it occurred to me that the iBook reminds me of a Renault 4.

Few Americans who have not traveled in Europe have likely ever seen a Renault 4. It was the French automaker's take a on building an entry-level, ultra-utilitarian car in the '60s and '70s. I imagine that a few were imported to America in the early-mid '60s, as there were to Canada, but certainly not after the first federal safety and smog regulations were mandated beginning in 1967.




The Renault 4, which was built from 1961 to 1994, with a total production of 8,135,424 units, typified a genré of automobile that has been very popular in Europe and the developing world, but not in North America, at least not since Henry Ford's Model T. Other examples of the category would be in Sir Alex Issagonis' Morris Minor and Austin/Morris Mini (the original Mini -- not the potent sports car disguised as a box that BMW is building these days), the original Volkswagen Beetle, the Fiat 500, and the legendary Citroen 2CV. These were all cheap, basic cars that could serve multi-purpose roles - often rural, or even agricultural.

I think the French have - or at least had - the concept nailed in the '50s and '60s. The Citroen Deux Chevaux is better known, thanks partly to its bizarre and funky appearance (one could hardly call it "styling"), but IMHO, the Renault 4 was a better car by a substantial margin, with a four-cylinder engine (747 cc to 1108 CC), and a roomier, box-shaped body that wasn't exactly pretty, but was a lot less weird than the 2CV.




I never owned a Renault 4, but a couple of my friends did. One of these cars, and early '60's vintage model, had been driven from Europe down through East Africa and then shipped to Canada. The other, a '64, I worked on, rode in a lot and drove a bit. The car was basically a tin can on wheels, but it had an amazingly smooth ride, and its crude but astonishingly comfortable seats that were essentially foam hammocks suspended from tubular metal frames.

The 4's three-speed gear shifter was quirkily configured, being an L-shaped lever that protruded from the center of the dashboard, although a shifted in a conventional H-pattern. The Renault 4 wasn't fast or powerful, and that smooth ride took a toll on its cornering ability, but you could pile an awful lot of stuff (or people), into it and it was both great fun and a first-rate economical utility vehicle.

The little 845cc four-banger in my friend's R4 was always working pretty hard, and that's what made me draw a parallel with the faithfully laboring 700 MHz G3 processor in my iBook. With both machines, you tend to be using them flat out a lot of the time. No wasted potential. You're getting everything they have to offer out of them - a general concept that has always appealed to me, which is why I have a soft spot for minimalist cars like the Renault 4, and for Low End Macintoshes.




But there are other analogical similarities. Both the $999.00, 700 MHz "Opaque White" iBook and the Renault 4 were the lowest-priced, most basic Apple laptop and Renault automobile respectively. Both have squared-off lines, and a modest but complete inventory of features. I find that the basic CD-ROM drive and 20 GB hard drive in the iBook are adequate for what I require of it, just as the Renault 4 was sufficiently equipped for its intended purpose.

Not to say that these utilitarian machines don't have panache. Both the iBook and the Renault 4 come/came in a choice of no-frills or "deluxe" versions. The 12 in. iBook is of course available in an up-market model with a DVD/CD-RW drive and a larger hard drive for $1,299.00.

As for the Renault 4, aside from the basic model, which had one of the first one-piece liftgate rear doors used in an automobile, it was also available in the 4L version with a conventional enclosed trunk compartment. Then there was "La Parisienne," launched in 1964 in a cooperation with the French magazine "ELLE", in order to increase the sales of the R4 among feminine drivers. In the beginning only black cars were available, with imitation canework on the doors, rear fenders and back door/trunk lid.

The iBook and the Renault 4 in their respective product categories prove(ed) that inexpensive doesn't have to be synonymous with lack of imagination, no innovation, or cheapness in the negative connotation of the term.

However, one dissonant characteristic is that while the Renault for was reasonably easy to take apart and work on, the iBook is emphatically not, which is probably the greatest shortcoming in its design. I hope Apple will address that issue in the next generation iBook, which I'm guessing we will see late this year or early next.

If you would like to find out more about The Renault 4, visit:
http://www.renault4.plus.com/
http://www.geocities.com/richardirl/





***



cmoore@macopinion.com

Note: Letters to The Road Warrior may or may not be published in The Road Warrior Mailbag at the editor's discretion. Correspondents' email addresses will NOT be published unless the correspondent specifically requests publication. Letters may be edited for length and/or context.

If you would prefer that your message not appear in The Road Warrior Mailbag, we would still like to hear from you. Just clearly mark your message "NOT FOR PUBLICATION," and it will not be published.

CM