The G4 Cube (2019) (Patreon)

In June 2019, I was actually getting cold feet about releasing this 10th video to a subscriber base of nearly 2,000 people. At 40 minutes running time, I was expecting a lot from the audience's patience, considering I wouldn't even touch on the internals of the machine. It was the first Macintosh model I had attempted that was already 'well-covered' by other 'content creators'. In the end, it was warmly received.

Above: One month after release

The G4 Cube was one of those "wow" moments when Steve unveiled it. In this video, I wanted to discover what went wrong, determining Steve got lost in the concept and his 'savior' status. He was not seeing the business reality of the Cube and chose to be ignorant of recent lessons Apple learned with the TAM and the HDI-45 video port.

I ended up using the music Apple had composed for the TAM introduction video as the end theme for this video. I had fun trying to bring the video to a premature end, using the music to play the video out.

I cover the efforts Apple put into selling the Cube, resorting to Oil Museum tactics. I show how the legacy of the Cube is still with us in the footprint of the Mac Mini/Mac Studio, and also the shape of the upcoming Mac Pro (Early 2037).

Speaking of the Mac Pro, my favourite jokes that no one commented on included putting a ridiculous clip from one of my 80's videos in the iMovie 2 intro, and the Earthlink spokesperson telling me that I can share sound and video on the Internet.

My focus on the 17" CRT monitor got a lot of comments. This was one of the purchases I made for the video, costing me $60. I had also purchased a very non-functional 15" Azul LCD monitor. A great example of those colourful translucent plastics Apple used before the iMac came along.

Also featured:

A look into Apple Display Connector, the In-Store demo, the design flaws, bundled software (that should have included Starship Titanic), and showing how the 'Jobs Regime' had really messed up the simplified product strategy that Amelio started.

The potential sequel would include a review of the internals and maybe an unboxing... if I find someone with one in-box. The guy who sold me the Cube asked if I wanted the box. I said, 'Yes." To my disappointment, he returned from the basement with a box for the Apple IIe UniDisk. Damn! That's not even close!