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The Cube with matching LCD monitor and USB keyboard was way ahead of its time. A premium product at a premium price. The problem was software. Apple did not

The Cube with matching LCD monitor and USB keyboard was way ahead of its time. A premium product at a premium price. The problem was software. Apple did not have the operating system to justify such a premium product. MacOS 9 was laughably dated, slow, and unstable, especially compared to Win2000 and WinXP, and OS X was years away from being ready. The hardware writes a check that the software can't cash. Anyone would have been better with a PowerMac or a Win2k machine. I own a Cube, and with OS X 10.4 installed it is a completely different machine. It boots faster than a modern Mac, and is light years ahead of aged Mac OS 9 and the early versions of OS X. It feels utterly modern, and takes full advantage of the tight integration between the hardware, LCD monitor, and USB peripherals. Unfortunately for Apple, OS X 10.4 was released 4 years after the Cube was cancelled. I think that if Apple had OS X 10.4 ready in 2000, we would look back at the Cube in a different way.

trm42 6y ago
Good point about the software. Cube was published when Mac OS X was in its infancy. Ended up doing some expo gig where we presented it with the Mac OS X Public Beta running Mac OS Classic version of Photoshop. The Cube was so cool for its time and it still looks good, a lot better than most of the modern PC gear. Opening it was also really cool. It just felt like magic when everything else in the market was basically big, ugly beige boxes which required force, trickery and bloody fingers to open and modify the components. I wish they would make a new version with some Mac Mini hardware. Funny thing about the Cube. It has a place for a fan but as the article mentioned, it didn't have it in production builds. There are still some aftermarket kits to retrofit the fan in place :) Been still thinking about buying one to run Mac OS PPC Classic apps...
everdrive 6y ago
10.4 was such a beautiful operating system. I really believe that Apple had the best operating system out there for the short window that 10.4 was around.
- masklinn 6y ago
  10.4 was OK but for my money 10.6 was better.
  - everdrive 6y ago
    It was, but the rest of the world had caught up quite a bit by then. Recall that when 10.4 was in its prime your options were Windows XP pre-service pack 2, aka, Swiss cheese Windows. The ecosystem of available operating systems really put 10.4 well above the competition.
- abrowne 6y ago
  I agree, 10.4 seemed "complete" (besides lacking Time Machine, which I didn't know I wanted until it was added).
- Wowfunhappy 6y ago
  I played with 10.4 for the first time relatively recently. I was using VMWare Fusion, which isn't supposed to support OS's prior to Leopard, and Tiger crashed frequently as a result. So I can't fairly evaluate stability, although it was definitely speedy. But, in terms of visual design... I don't think it's as pretty as Leopard, but what I find intriguing is how well it matches the hardware design of the era. On a Powerbook or PowerPC iMac, I can imagine how the contents of the screen would perfectly match the hardware that framed it. I don't think Apple has done anything quite like that since...
- mfarris 6y ago
  I still use 10.4 on a 2005 PowerMac several times a week for various creative projects. The ease of use is so much higher than recent MacOS versions it's not even funny.
  - everdrive 6y ago
    What software are you using? Is the machine connected to the internet?
FriendlyNormie 6y ago
Stopped reading when you said Mac OS 9 was slow. Compared to the current Mac OS on modern hardware, OS 9 was blazing fast even on that old hardware. Most things being single threaded also meant that even if your machine was lagging, you could queue a bunch of keystrokes and clicks and they’d all execute in perfect order exactly as expected as soon as the lag stopped. Nowadays all those keystrokes and clicks just fucking vanish.
- Wowfunhappy 6y ago
  > Most things being single threaded also meant that even if your machine was lagging, you could queue a bunch of keystrokes and clicks and they’d all execute in perfect order exactly as expected as soon as the lag stopped. Nowadays all those keystrokes and clicks just fucking vanish. Actually, on the rare occasion when OS X freezes up, I have experienced this. For a solid minute I mash keys and click my mouse in vain, and then boom, the system wakes up and all of my keystrokes and mouse clicks execute at once.
klodolph 6y ago
I don’t remember Mac OS 9 being slow—was it? I remember everything else—it was certainly unstable. Windows XP was introduced about a month after the G4 Cube was discontinued. If you bought a PC during the time the G4 Cube, it would have likely come with Windows ME.
- armadsen 6y ago
  Mac OS 9 was very responsive. e.g. Clicking on something and seeing the results of your click tended to be very fast. Comparatively, early versions of Mac OS X running on the same hardware were incredibly slow/unresponsive. They improved that with subsequent releases, and of course the hardware caught up too.
  - abrowne 6y ago
    I installed the Mac OS X public beta on my family's eMac. The computer had 64 MB of RAM while the requirements listed 128 MB IIRC. But I wanted UNIX! It was so unresponsive, I had to learn to use the terminal.
    - mattkevan 6y ago
      Oh man, that brings back memories of trying the beta on my parents’ 1st gen bondi iMac with 32mb ram and a 4gb hdd. Looked like it was warped in from the future. Moved at dialup pace.
      - abrowne 6y ago
        Now that you mention your iMac, I think it was also a 32 MB iMac (2nd gen, blueberry) that I first tried …
    - bluedino 6y ago
      I had a Bondi iMac and a friend had a Pismo, even after maxing our RAM and HD, we’d go back and forth between OS 9 and OS X Because one was crap and the other was terribly slow
  - 6y ago
nickbauman 6y ago
I don't really know what it was trying to accomplish. What needle is being moved here from a "personal computer" perspective? For example: What I really want is an end to the laptop form factor altogether. Take an RPI4 form-factor with a projection keyboard and a flexible fabric display I can roll up into a map tube and a few cables. Now THAT would be a game changer.
kergonath 6y ago
I love my Cube. It is one of the best designed device I’ve used. Just opening it to look inside is delightful. As you say, the keyboard/mouse/monitor/speakers combo is gorgeous. But you’re right, it was badly let down by the OS at the time. And by the time OS X had matured, it was close to obsolete. Such a missed opportunity.
- WWLink 6y ago
  I feel like the last Mac Pro was similar to the cube in spirit, but not nearly as good looking. It's still tempting to buy one of them sometimes.
atkailash 6y ago
So you’re saying buy one on eBay and install 10.4...

trm42 6y ago

Good point about the software. Cube was published when Mac OS X was in its infancy. Ended up doing some expo gig where we presented it with the Mac OS X Public Beta running Mac OS Classic version of Photoshop. The Cube was so cool for its time and it still looks good, a lot better than most of the modern PC gear. Opening it was also really cool. It just felt like magic when everything else in the market was basically big, ugly beige boxes which required force, trickery and bloody fingers to open and modify the components. I wish they would make a new version with some Mac Mini hardware. Funny thing about the Cube. It has a place for a fan but as the article mentioned, it didn't have it in production builds. There are still some aftermarket kits to retrofit the fan in place :) Been still thinking about buying one to run Mac OS PPC Classic apps...

everdrive 6y ago

10.4 was such a beautiful operating system. I really believe that Apple had the best operating system out there for the short window that 10.4 was around.

masklinn 6y ago
10.4 was OK but for my money 10.6 was better.
- everdrive 6y ago
  It was, but the rest of the world had caught up quite a bit by then. Recall that when 10.4 was in its prime your options were Windows XP pre-service pack 2, aka, Swiss cheese Windows. The ecosystem of available operating systems really put 10.4 well above the competition.
abrowne 6y ago
I agree, 10.4 seemed "complete" (besides lacking Time Machine, which I didn't know I wanted until it was added).
Wowfunhappy 6y ago
I played with 10.4 for the first time relatively recently. I was using VMWare Fusion, which isn't supposed to support OS's prior to Leopard, and Tiger crashed frequently as a result. So I can't fairly evaluate stability, although it was definitely speedy. But, in terms of visual design... I don't think it's as pretty as Leopard, but what I find intriguing is how well it matches the hardware design of the era. On a Powerbook or PowerPC iMac, I can imagine how the contents of the screen would perfectly match the hardware that framed it. I don't think Apple has done anything quite like that since...
mfarris 6y ago
I still use 10.4 on a 2005 PowerMac several times a week for various creative projects. The ease of use is so much higher than recent MacOS versions it's not even funny.
- everdrive 6y ago
  What software are you using? Is the machine connected to the internet?

FriendlyNormie 6y ago

Stopped reading when you said Mac OS 9 was slow. Compared to the current Mac OS on modern hardware, OS 9 was blazing fast even on that old hardware. Most things being single threaded also meant that even if your machine was lagging, you could queue a bunch of keystrokes and clicks and they’d all execute in perfect order exactly as expected as soon as the lag stopped. Nowadays all those keystrokes and clicks just fucking vanish.

Wowfunhappy 6y ago
> Most things being single threaded also meant that even if your machine was lagging, you could queue a bunch of keystrokes and clicks and they’d all execute in perfect order exactly as expected as soon as the lag stopped. Nowadays all those keystrokes and clicks just fucking vanish. Actually, on the rare occasion when OS X freezes up, I have experienced this. For a solid minute I mash keys and click my mouse in vain, and then boom, the system wakes up and all of my keystrokes and mouse clicks execute at once.

klodolph 6y ago

I don’t remember Mac OS 9 being slow—was it? I remember everything else—it was certainly unstable. Windows XP was introduced about a month after the G4 Cube was discontinued. If you bought a PC during the time the G4 Cube, it would have likely come with Windows ME.

armadsen 6y ago
Mac OS 9 was very responsive. e.g. Clicking on something and seeing the results of your click tended to be very fast. Comparatively, early versions of Mac OS X running on the same hardware were incredibly slow/unresponsive. They improved that with subsequent releases, and of course the hardware caught up too.
- abrowne 6y ago
  I installed the Mac OS X public beta on my family's eMac. The computer had 64 MB of RAM while the requirements listed 128 MB IIRC. But I wanted UNIX! It was so unresponsive, I had to learn to use the terminal.
  - mattkevan 6y ago
    Oh man, that brings back memories of trying the beta on my parents’ 1st gen bondi iMac with 32mb ram and a 4gb hdd. Looked like it was warped in from the future. Moved at dialup pace.
    - abrowne 6y ago
      Now that you mention your iMac, I think it was also a 32 MB iMac (2nd gen, blueberry) that I first tried …
  - bluedino 6y ago
    I had a Bondi iMac and a friend had a Pismo, even after maxing our RAM and HD, we’d go back and forth between OS 9 and OS X Because one was crap and the other was terribly slow
- 6y ago

nickbauman 6y ago

I don't really know what it was trying to accomplish. What needle is being moved here from a "personal computer" perspective? For example: What I really want is an end to the laptop form factor altogether. Take an RPI4 form-factor with a projection keyboard and a flexible fabric display I can roll up into a map tube and a few cables. Now THAT would be a game changer.

kergonath 6y ago

I love my Cube. It is one of the best designed device I’ve used. Just opening it to look inside is delightful. As you say, the keyboard/mouse/monitor/speakers combo is gorgeous. But you’re right, it was badly let down by the OS at the time. And by the time OS X had matured, it was close to obsolete. Such a missed opportunity.

WWLink 6y ago
I feel like the last Mac Pro was similar to the cube in spirit, but not nearly as good looking. It's still tempting to buy one of them sometimes.

atkailash 6y ago

So you’re saying buy one on eBay and install 10.4...