With all the hubbub about the non-upgradability and user-fixable parts of Apple’s latest products, Thomas Brand looks back to the 1998 PowerBook G3, codenamed “Wallstreet”, Apple’s most upgradable and “future proof” laptop:

In addition to all of the available built-to-order options, the Wallstreet also offered an impressive array of expandability. The PowerBook G3 Series included two hot swappable docking bays on either side. The left hand bay could accommodate a battery, a 3.5” floppy disk, a Iomega Zip drive, a third-party magnetic optical drive, or even a secondary hard drive. The right hand bay was larger and could accommodate all of the above plus a full size 5.25” optical drive. A small internal nickel-cadmium battery allowed swapping of the main batteries while the computer “slept,” and with two batteries installed at the same time the PowerBook G3 Series could last up to seven hours on a single charge. A maximum of 4 MBs of graphics memory limited the PowerBook G3 Series’ 3D performance, but an optional PCMCIA hardware controller made the Wallstreet the first Apple portable capable of DVD playback.

Sounds like the sorts of machines we now like to make fun of.

Apple’s Most Upgradable Laptop

It’s good to be back, and this week’s show was fun. My wife even says so (she always sits upstairs with Noah and listens to the live broadcast). Ben and I talked about several things including writing reviews of beta apps, using Checkmark and how it works alongside other reminder apps on the iPhone, and Belkin’s new WeMo device.

My Socks Would be Buttery

Shawn Adrian:

Every time you say no to spending your time one way, you’re saying yes to spending it a different way.

I couldn’t agree more. One of my favorite quotes about time management is from Robert Louis Stevenson: “Perpetual devotion to what a man calls his business, is only to be sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things.”

It’s why I started limiting my time spent doing email rather than continually aiming for an empty inbox.

(Via Chris Bowler.)

On Time Management

Andrew Kim:

I decided that Microsoft needs to be a brand that represents the future. Be slightly aggressive unlike Apple and Google’s friendly marketing. Promise to deliver the future today. Be almost science fiction.

It’s a well-done brand proposal and I like Andrew’s premise that Microsoft could use some edge to their brand to accompany their aggressive new hardware/software plans.

Andrew Kim’s Microsoft Brand Update Experiment

I just noticed today that Instagram’s permalink pages have received a very nice update. It used to be that all you could do was view the image and its related info. Now you can log in and then “like” an image or post a comment just as if you were in the app itself.

My friends on Twitter tell me that the update rolled out last week while I was vacationing in Colorado (as you may have deduced from my linked-to ‘gram).

Instagram’s Permalinks Got a Sweet Update

Dan Frommer:

The worry, as usual, seems to be that Twitter — a thing we love deeply — is going to destroy itself as it tries to become more of a business. Or at least ruin the Twitter that we grew up with or the Twitter that could have been. Anyway, I get it. No one likes it when The Man takes things away, even if it’s as bizarre as wanting to use LinkedIn to read Twitter. But it’s also important to understand Twitter’s situation.

Understanding Twitter

Chuck Skoda on the difficulties that Mac users and developers encounter at times due to Apple’s aggressive attitude of simplification, change, and/or the adoption of new technologies.

(An aside to Chuck’s article, I can’t help but wonder how long until the only port on a Mac is a Thunderbolt port. Will it ever happen, or will Thunderbolt and USB be as simple as Apple goes? And that begs another question: will Thunderbolt replace the 30-pin adapter on our iPhones and iPads? And if so, how soon?)

Growing Pains

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