We range far afield this issue, reporting on a possible credit card scam on Mac users, a THINK C bug, why your PowerBook 145 may have an identity crisis, a clever battery swapping gizmo for PowerBook users, and clarifications on CD-ROMs. We also have a detailed performance report on the Performa 600, news of memory prices skyrocketing, an article on an innovative Internet programming group, and rumors of a bifurcated (split) keyboard from Apple.
Mark H. Anbinder writes, "Those of you with an eagle eye may have spotted a hint of an unknown Macintosh after this month's release of System 7.1
Corrected PowerBook 180 prices -- Mark also passes on some new prices for the PowerBook 180, and yes, these were raised at the last minute. The PowerBook 180 4/80 is now $4,109 list, and the PowerBook 180 4/120 is now $4,469 list
Allen Kitchen and Allan Bloom recently posted to the Info-Mac Digest, warning readers about a potential credit card scam that may affect many Macintosh users specifically
Tom Emerson from Symantec recently posted the following useful information about problems with THINK C 5.0.3:
"As many have found, THINK C 5.0.3's global optimizer has several serious bugs that did not exist in version 5.0.2
One of my colleagues recently showed me a PowerBook 145 whose "About This Macintosh" window claimed it was a PowerBook 140. "And," he said, "over there we've got another 145 that claims to be a PowerBook 170!" Sure enough, the two PowerBook 145s each claimed to be a different machine.
When I asked what was going on, a friendly technical support engineer at Apple explained the situation
System utility developer Utilitron has moved into the hardware field with PowerSwap, a simple, yet clever battery-powered device that allows PowerBook 140, 145, 160, 170, and 180 users to swap batteries without shutting down their computers
Our recent article about the new AppleCD 300 had some technical holes in it which Craig O'Donnell, a resident (well, he must live somewhere) CD-ROM maven has helped to fill
Elephants beware! The price of memory is shooting up! This is largely due to a tariff levied on Korean-imported memory chips, such as from Hyundai and Samsung
[Editor's note: Many thanks to Tom Thompson and BYTE Magazine for this, and, we hope, future articles. Tom and BYTE have provided us with this information because of our speedy distribution and because BYTE has limited space for Macintosh coverage
Apple definitely thinks of user safety more than most computer companies, and even includes basic ergonomic instructions in its manuals. The new 14" color monitor meets the strict Swedish guidelines for emissions, and if this rumor comes true, among large computer companies, Apple will stand alone at the forefront of ergonomic design.
I've heard that Apple is working on a new mouse with more rounded curves that users might find more comfortable than the current mouse
Macintosh has inspired a strong sense of community among its users, and the Macintosh programming world is no different. Perhaps the best example of this is TopSoft, Inc., a group of programmers who have collaborated for the last several months on some innovative projects, and recently incorporated as a nonprofit entity