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Category Archives: Joe’s Garage
The End of the Adobe Era: Reclaiming My Creative Life with Vintage Macs
After three decades with Photoshop — from floppy disks and beige Macs to monthly subscriptions — I finally hit cancel. Here’s why I’m happily back to my old software running on old hardware, and how I reclaimed my creative life. Continue reading
Posted in Blast from the Past, Computers, Curious Clutter, Joe's Garage
Tagged 1990s computing, Adobe, Adobe subscription, analog to digital, beige box, cancel Adobe, Creative Cloud, creative freedom, death by a thousand cuts, digital minimalism, drafting table, future proofing, Mac Mini, Mac nostalgia, Macintosh IIci, old Mac, old software, Photoshop, Photoshop CS4, Power Mac, pre-subscription Photoshop, retro computing, subscription fatigue, vintage Mac
2 Comments
Digital Doodles
I’ve mostly set aside my real world drawing tools as an obsession with old computers has been burning through me since around Halloween. I’m trying to frugally future-proof my family’s digital life by gutting and re-configuring computers that have long … Continue reading
Forward to the PAST!
When tech giants rely on subscription software and planned obsolescence, the only direction I can go in is Forward to the Past! Continue reading
Posted in Blast from the Past, Computers, Joe's Garage
Tagged Adobe CS4, Adobe rental, anti-subscription, dual boot, Frankenstein Mac, internal storage upgrade, Linux Mint, Mac mini 2009, Mac Pro 2009, Mac revival, MacBook Pro 2010, mechanical HDD, offline software, old Macs, OWC, OWC Data Doubler, PCIe SSD, planned obsolescence, retro computing, right to repair, Snow Leopard, solid state drive, SSD upgrade, subscription software, SuperDrive replacement, tech nostalgia, used Macs, vintage Macs
2 Comments
Party Like It’s 2009!
Last week I wrote about upgrading a Mac Pro tower with a Solid State Drive or SSD plugged into a Peripheral Component Interconnect express card which I placed into one of the PCIe slots within the Pro’s enormous aluminum chassis. … Continue reading
Posted in Computers, Curious Clutter, Joe's Garage
Tagged 2001, Adobe, computer, Joe Williams, Low End Mac, Mac, Mac Mini, tear down, upgrade, USA, vintage
2 Comments
It Lives Again!
Wherein I rummage through the graveyard of my old computers and try to cobble together a monster that will serve me in this modern age. Continue reading
Posted in Computers, Joe's Garage
Tagged 2009, Apple, Carbon Copy Cloner, Mac, Mac Pro, PCIe, SSD, upgrade
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A New Slipcase for my Sketchbook
Never knowing when inspiration is going to strike, I always carry a sketchbook with me. I carry a few different cases of pens and pencils. I also carry hard drives and flash drives and cords and adapters and tools and … Continue reading
Posted in It Came From the Sketchbook, Joe's Garage
Tagged cardboard, cheap, glue, protect, sketchbook, slipcase, sturdy
1 Comment
Reviving an Old iMac? Elementary, My Dear Watson
Similar to my Mac Minty which I have written about here and here, I have brought new life back to an otherwise ignored iMac in work with the installation of a Linux operating system. This time the Linux Distro I … Continue reading
Posted in Computers, Curious Clutter, Joe's Garage
Tagged Apple obsolescence, cheap hardware upgrade, dual boot Mac Linux, Elementary OS, external SSD boot, free software alternatives, GIMP Inkscape, iMac revival, late 2013 iMac, LibreOffice, Linux on old Mac, Mac Minty, OWC Mercury enclosure, sustainable computing, Thunderbolt 2
2 Comments
My Half-Assed iMac
I’ve been tinkering with my Mac Minty which I also refer to as my “Half-assed iMac.” It’s a 2012 Mac mini running Linux Mint, bolted to the back of a 21.5″ Asus VS228H-P monitor with a $9 VESA mount adapter … Continue reading
