Eighteen Years of Progress (Current Gen MBP vs TiBook G4)

[cambookpro]

Please excuse me if this is the wrong forum, but I thought some members may be interested.

I had a small clearout today and found an old TiBook G4 (bought in around March 2001). To my surprise, it still boots (the battery even holds a charge!) and everything seems functional. I took a couple of pictures showing how Apple's prosumer Mac laptop has changed over the past 18 years.

(I'll let you decide whether the keyboard has improved or not over these 18 years...)

For some reason, it had the Mac OS 9 install disc in the CD drive, so here's the OG Yosemite wallpaper:

Here's to the next couple of decades!

 

[ScreenSavers]

Pretty sweet. I also have both of those, even though my current MacBook Pro is a 15 inch model. I think the titanium has smaller bezels! I won’t invade your thread by posting pictures

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

When TiBook came out people complained about the heat, the mushy keyboard, the flaking paint, the creaking case, the fragile hinge, the optical drive failures. But it sold like hotcakes because it was super thin for the time and Windows laptops were blocks of black plastic with most of the same problems (except worse because Windows is only good for games). Only Vaio was trying to be Mac-like.

Nothing really changes. You will have people complain about a new Mac but deep down inside they know the value of it compared to everything else on the market. The annual surveys asking thousands of computer users don't lie.

Look at that 1st gen iPod in your photo. It's still awesome and better than any competing music players today.

 

[BigBoy2018]

When TiBook came out people complained about the heat, the mushy keyboard, the flaking paint, the creaking case, the fragile hinge, the optical drive failures. But it sold like hotcakes because it was super thin for the time and Windows laptops were blocks of black plastic with most of the same problems (except worse because Windows is only good for games). Only Vaio was trying to be Mac-like.

Nothing really changes. You will have people complain about a new Mac but deep down inside they know the value of it compared to everything else on the market. The annual surveys asking thousands of computer users don't lie.

Look at that 1st gen iPod in your photo. It's still awesome and better than any competing music players today.

Well that ti-book was actually a particularly glowing piece of crap (design-wise). Thats why they cancelled it after only a couple years.
The aluminum models that followed were WAY better. And that rescued Apple’s reputation.

Now they’re ruining their rep once again with a flawed laptop design.

 

[ScreenSavers]

Mine has all of the problems listed above. But it will works after all these years. Haven’t had any major issues with the 2018 MBP though. Occasionally a key will feel weird but air will fix it.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

Well that ti-book was actually a particularly glowing piece of crap (design-wise). Thats why they cancelled it after only a couple years.
The aluminum models that followed were WAY better. And that rescued Apple’s reputation.

Now they’re ruining their rep once again with a flawed laptop design.

No such thing as unflawed design and perfect laptop will never ever exist. Some people don't experience or perceive problems that others do. For example, the aluminium PowerBooks developed pitting and corrosion in the palm rests, paint flaking off the keys, power socket that would warp, heat issues are always a problem, screen burn-in on all laptop in those days. Some people experienced all of that, some experienced some of that, some experienced none of that.

 

[Howard2k]

Look at that 1st gen iPod in your photo. It's still awesome and better than any competing music players today.

You cannot possibly be serious. The first gen iPod is better than the new iPod? Better than a hifi digital audio player?

It's not even better than a $50 music player from Walmart these days is it?

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

You cannot possibly be serious. The first gen iPod is better than the new iPod?

How can you even read my post and come up with such an incredible reply? You don't need to twist someone's words into something the opposite of what they said. You don't need to be a terrible human being and low quality person. We have enough of those on the internet who don't care about peace or the mental health of others. You waste your energy and my energy and the electricity of half a dozen servers in between.

 

[BigBoy2018]

No such thing as unflawed design and perfect laptop will never ever exist. Some people don't experience or perceive problems that others do. For example, the aluminium PowerBooks developed pitting and corrosion in the palm rests, paint flaking off the keys, power socket that would warp, heat issues are always a problem, screen burn-in on all laptop in those days. Some people experienced all of that, some experienced some of that, some experienced none of that.

Im sorry, but the aluminum models were way better than the ti-book. Not even close. Just my opinion though so feel free to do the internet-argument dance with that.

 

[Howard2k]

How can you even read my post and come up with such an incredible reply? You don't need to twist someone's words into something the opposite of what they said. You don't need to be a terrible human being and low quality person. You waste your energy and my energy and the electricity of half a dozen servers in between.

Twist your words?

Let me help you.

This is your post, with your words outlined:

This is where I quoted you:

Those are your exact words. I didn't twist anything. The words are the same.


Get over yourself.

 

[BigBoy2018]

Twist your words?

Let me help you.

This is your post, with your words outlined:

View attachment 846400


This is where I quoted you:

View attachment 846401

Those are your exact words. I didn't twist anything. The words are the same.


Get over yourself.

Game. Set. Match.

 

[redheeler]

For its time the TiBook was considered thin and light, so it's amazing to see this much of a difference. Unfortunately, the compromises to get to the current form factor are plentiful. No longer is it easy to swap out the battery, or upgrade the RAM, or install a larger hard drive, and the keyboard isn't as nice to type on.

 

[venom600]

I was at Macworld SF in 2001 when the Titanium Powerbooks were announced. They were revolutionary and introduced entirely new manufacturing and design that is still used today. It's impossible to look at a MacBook Pro and at a Powerbook G4 and not see the family resemblance. However... it was a terribly built machine. Super fragile. I worked at the Apple Store as a genius back then and there were a lot of flaws.

The hinges were exposed and super fragile. The painted plastic frame around the titanium was prone to cracking because the system had poor rigidity due to being made from plastic glued to a very flexible metal. The paint on the frame would get scratched if you breathed on it. And yet... I loved it. It was an exotic sports car in a sea of plastic minivans and boring sedans. When I got mine in college (it came out during my freshman year) it got a ton of attention from people who'd never seen anything like it before. It was special in a way few computers ever can be. Only the G4 Cube and the TAM compare in my mind. That period from the Powerbook G4 Titanium to the PowerMac G5 was the height of Apple design, imho. Everything the new machines aren't; affordable, expandable, and gorgeous.

 

[BigBoy2018]

I do think the ‘98 - 2008 era was the ultimate decade in Apples design. Ever since then it’s been mostly about thinness and removing features in the name of ‘simplicity’. Both in hardware and software.

If Ive had left a decade ago, I would have been bemoaning his departure. Now, all I can say is ‘good riddence’.

 

[MSastre]

Still have my TiBook and until recently, was using it as a DVD player at Gun & Knife shows. Did not know it could run Yosemite. Mine still works great.

 

[Flabasha]

Well that ti-book was actually a particularly glowing piece of crap (design-wise).

Disagree. That TiBook design was great, far superior to the version that followed (though not as good as the 2012-2015 design). I still wish the monitor bezels on current models was as slim as that TiBook.

 

[ScreenSavers]

Still have my TiBook and until recently, was using it as a DVD player at Gun & Knife shows. Did not know it could run Yosemite. Mine still works great.

To clarify it does not run Yosemite or even close. I think that is just an old wallpaper from OS 9. A titanium PowerBook can only run up to 10.5 Leopard, and some of them don’t even go past tiger.

 

[BigBoy2018]

Disagree. That TiBook design was great, far superior to the version that followed (though not as good as the 2012-2015 design). I still wish the monitor bezels on current models was as slim as that TiBook.

You’re talking pure superficial appearance. When I say design I also am including durability, which to me is a critical aspect of designing a laptop.

If you design something pretty that falls apart the next day, then thats not a terribly good design imo.
[doublepost=1562182126][/doublepost]

To clarify it does not run Yosemite or even close. I think that is just an old wallpaper from OS 9. A titanium PowerBook can only run up to 10.5 Leopard, and some of them don’t even go past tiger.

What wallpaper are you referring to. In the main post the ti-book is running os 10.4

 

[cambookpro]

You’re talking pure superficial appearance. When I say design I also am including durability, which to me is a critical aspect of designing a laptop.

If you design something pretty that falls apart the next day, then thats not a terribly good design imo.
[doublepost=1562182126][/doublepost]

What wallpaper are you referring to. In the main post the ti-book is running os 10.4

The last photo has a wallpaper from the Mac OS 9 install CD I found inside it (no idea why it was there, it’s happily running Tiger), just thought it was amusing considering that an OS X release was eventually named Yosemite.

 

[Flabasha]

You’re talking pure superficial appearance. When I say design I also am including durability, which to me is a critical aspect of designing a laptop.

If you design something pretty that falls apart the next day, then thats not a terribly good design imo.

I am actually including durability... After I sold my TiBook for the new model, I was at a coffee shop with my girlfriend (my wife now, so I am a forgiving soul), and she dumped a coffee on the table. Not the computer, the table. Before I could pull the laptop off the table, the screen flickered out. Dead MBP. Why? Because that next model had an air intake directly on the base, beneath the monitor. The fluid went straight into the internals of the laptop.

If it had been my TiBook, I would have wiped the base off, and gone on with my life. Instead, I was out $3,000.

 

[ScreenSavers]

You’re talking pure superficial appearance. When I say design I also am including durability, which to me is a critical aspect of designing a laptop.

If you design something pretty that falls apart the next day, then thats not a terribly good design imo.
[doublepost=1562182126][/doublepost]

What wallpaper are you referring to. In the main post the ti-book is running os 10.4

OP’s last picture

 

[venom600]

I am actually including durability... After I sold my TiBook for the new model, I was at a coffee shop with my girlfriend (my wife now, so I am a forgiving soul), and she dumped a coffee on the table. Not the computer, the table. Before I could pull the laptop off the table, the screen flickered out. Dead MBP. Why? Because that next model had an air intake directly on the base, beneath the monitor. The fluid went straight into the internals of the laptop.

If it had been my TiBook, I would have wiped the base off, and gone on with my life. Instead, I was out $3,000.

That's not a fair comparison. The computer died because of user negligence, not a design flaw. The Titanium Powerbook was a bold, but very flawed design. It was extremely fragile. When I was a genius I saw people coming in with broken hinges all the time. I never saw a machine more than a month old that didn't have scratches and scrapes on the plastic frame. Many were even cracked. The subsequent aluminum models fixed all of the build quality issues.

 

[TSE]

Posts like this is what makes this forum as beautiful and fun as it is. Thank you.

 

[x-evil-x]

You cannot possibly be serious. The first gen iPod is better than the new iPod? Better than a hifi digital audio player?

It's not even better than a $50 music player from Walmart these days is it?

my sony walkman cassette is better

 

[Flabasha]

That's not a fair comparison. The computer died because of user negligence, not a design flaw.

Durability includes the ability to withstand user error, which will inevitably happen in a laptop's lifetime. The TiBook would have survived, no problem. Its successor, dead as a doornail.