Happy Authorized Boxing Day

[via Vintage Computing]

[#1 posted by zuzu , December 26, 2008 10:00 AM]

I wonder what Woz thought of "authorized service" for a device he invented to be open-source hardware.

I'm certain that the TV-out I wired into my Apple IIe back in the day (for color when I only had a green screen monitor) was not considered "authorized service". Neither was expanding the memory to 128k "enhanced".

[#2 posted by pork musket , December 26, 2008 10:49 AM]

Rainbows and proto-geniuses. Nice.

[#3 posted by Trent Hawkins , December 26, 2008 11:10 AM]

I that the PC guy buying it? Must be why he's now so jaded.

[#4 posted by usonia , December 26, 2008 11:48 AM]

The proto-genius appears to be afflicted by some sort of palsy.

[#5 posted by darren , December 26, 2008 5:58 PM]

I think ZUZU misunderstands the "Authorized Service" designation.

[#6 posted by Anonymous , December 26, 2008 6:50 PM]

The message here is that Apple will make you gay. Just look at their smiling faces.

[#7 posted by nixiebunny , December 26, 2008 7:19 PM]

Re #1: Authorized service had a purpose. I worked in a Byte Shop in 1978, so I got to perform that service. I started when we were selling Apple IIs with serial numbers in the 3500 range. Once I worked on a machine whose S/N was 300 something. It had a rather primitive case.

The purpose of authorized service is to get the manufacturer to pay for repairs under warranty. Sure it was open hardware - installing your own DRAM chips was fine, as long as you didn't blow up things by plugging them in backwards.

For that matter, the early Apple IIs had a DIP jumper wire header for each bank of DRAM that you had to *solder* little wires to in order to change the memory size. So poking around in the hardware was not only commonplace and acceptable, but necessary. Remember, this machine's job was to render obsolete the Altair which was a kit.

[#8 posted by bat21 , December 26, 2008 8:14 PM]

The original Apple geniuses

[#9 posted by Ape Lad , December 26, 2008 9:05 PM]

Vintage Don Weller. Here's his more recent work, which doesn't feature nearly as many rainbows: http://www.donweller.com/

[#10 posted by FutureNerd , December 26, 2008 9:37 PM]

Why is his left hand on his right arm!? I'm frightened!

[#11 posted by FAC33 , December 27, 2008 7:55 AM]

The company my dad owned was a very early Apple dealer, first in our city. His company very quickly staked out the school market, while his main competitor was more known for the retail side. And yes, the company was an authorized Apple service center. Anyone who's ever dealt with the school side of computer sales knows that except for the occasional computer science teacher, schools aren't known for their computer savvy--they were wary of even looking into the box, much less doing their own upgrades. I know of schools still running IIcs well into the early 90s--and Dad's company still diligently fixing them when they went wonky. I'm amused at the thought that this lovely artwork depicts life at his company.

I miss the old Apple rainbow logos. Apple swag was always extremely hard to get, and Dad scoring some was always a big highlight. I've still got an Apple rainbow logo sticker on a toy chest in my basement, as well as a nylon briefcase (about laptop sized, although this was from the days where a "portable computer" was the size of a large suitcase).

[#12 posted by CaryMG , December 27, 2008 10:12 AM]

This image is now my wallpaper.

Bring back the rainbow Apple logo, Steve!

:)

[#13 posted by CaryMG , December 27, 2008 10:12 AM]

This image is now my wallpaper.

Bring back the rainbow Apple logo, Steve!

:)

[#14 posted by Dv Revolutionary , December 27, 2008 10:44 AM]

It is consistent with the advertising of the day. It is actually kind of pleasing.

I wonder if the style of these ads were kind of a red flag in the apple records -vs- apple computer spats. It is not quite John Lennon art but it is close.

[#15 posted by Chris Tucker , December 27, 2008 12:38 PM]

(Proto-Genius): "Have you tried turning it off and on again...?"

(Apple ][ user): "Thank you for not commenting about my freakishly long index finger on my left hand!"

[#16 posted by Anonymous , December 27, 2008 8:21 PM]

If you are familiar with Peter Max you will know that he was artist for the Beatles/ Illustrated Lyrics Books and served as Chief Creativity officer for Apple 9 years ago before this rainbow-themed iPhone wallpaper from last December:

http://www.myiphonewallpapers.com/p/14224,Peter+Max+for+iPhone.html