Radius 81/110
January 22nd, 2012 at 10:52 pm by Dr. Drang
This old warhorse has finally come up lame.
It’s a Radius 81/110 one of the Mac clones that Steve Jobs killed off when he returned to Apple. This one aped the Power Mac 8100. It’s been in use in my company’s office since 1995. At first, it was my computer (my last Mac before going Linux), then it got relegated to accounting, where it’s been since 1997 or so. Runs System 8 and FileMaker 4.
A few years ago, I migrated almost everything off of it, but it’s still our main machine for one infrequently accessed database. Or at least it was until Friday.
I noticed it was running when it shouldn’t have been and the screen was faded (more faded than usual—its monitor may be older than it is) and streaky. After a bit of investigation, I learned that no one had turned it on; some fault in the system now causes it to run continuously as long as it’s plugged it. I turned it off by switching off the battery backup after selecting Shut Down from the—do you remember?—Special menu.
The faded and streaky video is, I’m sure, a symptom of its decline and not a problem with the monitor, but I can’t test that theory as we have no other monitors with that old DB-15 connector.
I could’ve sworn there once was a Radius logo on the front of the machine.1 It must have been stuck on with an adhesive that eventually gave out. But the logo is still on the keyboard.
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I put the Apple sticker on the side as kind of a joke. Not an actual joke. Actual jokes are funny. ↩
January 23rd, 2012 at 12:28 am
It is worth noting the passing of machines. There is a G3 in my office that serves FileMaker DBs, and it will make me really unhappy if it goes before I get that data off of there. But honestly, I’ll be more sad about the Sun boxes. The Ultra 2 is an amazing machine, and 12 years on, is a fine mail server. The E450 hasn’t aged as well, because storage has changed. but I do appreciate four processors next to 20 disks. The game has changed, but it was a good box.
Is Apple the last maker of hi-end workstations? I know there are various Linux things, and vertical Windows-based industry specific tools. . I’m talking about soup-to-nuts workstations with an OS, like it used to be.
January 23rd, 2012 at 10:37 am
You know I’m not looking forward to the time my LaserWriter 8500 dies. It’s hanging off my airport with ethernet and works quite well as my network printer. I have one more toner cartridge besides the one that’s in it. I love this printer. Anyway, that keyboard shot also made me think how sad I’ll be when my Apple Extended Keyboards give up the ghost as well. I’ve tried newer mechanical switch keyboards but I keep going back to those old beige classics. Thankfully I have a spare or two around.
February 21st, 2012 at 7:56 pm
I’m restoring a Radius 81/110 currently for my old mac collection, and if this one is going to be junked, I would love to have it for parts.
Please let me know if its still available, and if you would consider that.