On to Kupitero's obsolete computers/gadgets...(please note that these are all actual pictures)!

3COM Audrey (aka, Ergo):

This linen-colored, 3COM Audrey (also known as the "Ergo") is a slightly modified one, but still an, unhacked unit. The OS of the 3COM Audrey is a variant of UNIX called QNX. The OS was updated to the last revision made by 3COM after they discontinued support for the unit in 2002. The unit itself was put out of production in 2001. This update was made possible by a generous soul who still currently maintains a spoof of the original 3COM Marimba server - where the Audrey gets his OS update automatically. This OS update (1.02.08.01 FINAL 4/23/2001) was very important - since it enabled one to have "shell" access. With this, I was able to add other apps like the MP3 Player (pic #1, above) and an electronic Picture Viewer (pic #2, above - as a digital picture frame!!!), using the shell window - by simply adding a few line of codes.

As a digital picture frame, the 3COM Audrey is very ideal due to its small size - about 10" x 14" with an elegant 7.9", 640 x 480-capable color screen, rugged construction and a versatile stand. You can either prop the unit in just about any small desk space or counter top (as seen in pic# 2, this is just on top of my small bookshelf speaker) or, even hang it on a wall!

Currently, all our pictures (JPEGs) as well as all MP3s, are hosted in a PC server (though, not the one hosting this web page) running Windows XP. Access to that server is via a 10 Mbps Ethernet (a USB Ethernet Adapter - see pic #3 above) - that is connected to one of the Audrey's two USB ports at the back of the unit. Unfortunately, because of the screen's hardware limitation, the pictures "cycle" better only at the 640 x 480 resolution .

Other modifications can be done to the 3COM Audrey to make it run like Windows, by flashing the unit's ROM chip through the use of a CompactFlash card...but, this will make an already elegant hardware and OS...just like another, ordinary Windows box!

Apple Macintosh Color Classic (w/ "Takky" upgrade):

When Apple introduced the first Mac in 1984, it was a big hit among computer users, because of its GUI. In 1986, I got my first Mac -a Mac Plus (Motorola 68000-processor-based with two 3.5" disk drives (the other was an external drive) and a then, "massive" 1MB of RAM (which I eventually upgraded to 4MB using 30-pin SIMMs plus a hard drive). Bundled with the set was an Apple Personal Modem (back then, "speedy" at 2400 bps). It was on that same Mac Plus that this author hosted his first Mac-based, eBBS (electronic Bulletin Board Service) in Manila, Philippines, in 1988.

The Mac Plus was superseded by a Mac SE, then a Mac SE/30 (similar to the Mac SE except for a faster 68030 chip and a hard disk - which I still have) but my yearning for a Mac -with the same all-in-one form factor (pics #1 & 3) - with a color screen was only realized with the release of the Mac Color Classic. I got this one in 1998 although this was initially released in 1993.

This baby has a "Takky" upgrade (fondly named after the Japanese guy who pioneered these upgrades), meaning the original motherboard was replaced with one from either a Mac Performa/LC/Quadra 630 series to support higher resolution as well as more memory and, of course, speed at a 32-bit data path. This one has an LC board (68040-based), w/ resolution of 640 x 480 at thousands of colors setting. Currently, it runs Mac OS 8.1 and shares the network via a removable, internal Ethernet card. This old Mac still retains most of the the same features as the original Macs of 1984 (see pic# 2): ADB-ports, SCSI hard drive interface, mini-din serial ports, built-in sound as well as the very-popular -but now replaced- multi-colored "Apple" logo! It still can access the Internet (network or dial-up), runs Adobe Photoshop, MS Office98 for Mac as well as an elegant book end!

...more OBSOLETE Gadgets

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Addiction

This web page is just a repository of my current, yet, still modest computer/gadget collection... oh well, they come and go considering the very rapid pace in advancement of technology these days.

My interest in computers and gadgets - started in 1978, with the Commodore PET being my very first personal computer. In 1980, I "upgraded" to the now-legendary, Apple II (then, with a "hefty" 64K of RAM, green-phosphor monitor as well as two, 5.25" disk drives called the DuoDisks).

I collect - if ever I can afford it - computers or gadgets whose use seem to be either, 'too advanced' or "too expensive" during the time they were released.

Hence, after the hoobalahoo for these gadgets, you can pick them up for cheap. Some of these computers or gadgets were 'orphaned' or discontinued by their manufacturers, because they were either monumental flops or had ended their useful life for the times they were made.

Some continue to have a 'cult following' despite of their obsolescence, because of their elegance...both in product concept and design.