The recent Apple craze led John Markoff of the NY Times to contact Beat-era poet Gary Snyder and ask him to pen a poem reflecting on “the milestones of the digital age” . The result is a delightful read. You can read more about Snyder in the NY Times article and I recommend that you do, because the man sounds even more fantastic than his poem: Why I Take Good Care of My Macintosh By Gary Snyder Because it broods under its hood like a perched falcon, Because it jumps like a skittish horse and sometimes throws me, Because it is poky when cold, Because plastic is a sad, strong material that is charming to rodents, Because it is flighty, Because my mind flies into it through my fingers, Because it leaps forward and backward, is an endless sniffer and searcher, Because its keys click like hail on a boulder, And it winks when it goes out, And puts word-heaps in hoards for me, dozens of pockets of gold under boulders in streambeds, identical seedpods strong on a vine, or it stores bins of bolts; And I lose them and find them, Because whole worlds of writing can be boldly laid out and then highlighted and vanish in a flash at “delete,” so it teaches of impermanence and pain; And because my computer and me are both brief in this world, both foolish, and we have earthly fates, Because I have let it move in with me right inside the tent, And it goes with me out every morning; We fill up our baskets, get back home, Feel rich, relax, I throw it a scrap and it hums. Between this poem and the old-school gadgets , I’m getting lost in a nostalgic daze today. And absolutely loving it. [ NY Times ] Picture by blakespot

Dear 2010, you’ll bring the iSlate, Android 3, Natal, iPhone 4, and whatever other cool things we can’t foresee now. But now you’re too young, geeky, and cute. Don’t worry, you’ll get there. Happy New Year , everyone. [Thanks David Keyes]

Sadly, obsolete gadgets have to be replaced. Happily, change is good. This is what happened to Jerry Seinfeld ’s ever-present classic Macintosh which, after all these years, has been replaced by a new iMac. It happened in the “Seinfeld reunion” episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. The iMac seems to be from the previous generation, not the 16:9 model. Jerry’s classic Mac was only replaced once before, during the last season, with an Apple Macintosh 20th Anniversary.

The iMac revived Apple after a decade of sickly malaise. The name is so obviously iconic. So it’s shocking that Steve Jobs hated it and wanted to call it something so awful it would “curdle your blood.” That’s according to the man who named it, Ken Segall , who talked to Leander at Cult of Mac. He worked at Apple’s agency TBWAChiatDay, and not only christened the iMac, but was the man behind Apple’s pitch-perfect “Think Different” campaign. It’s ironic that Segall, who knew iMac was the perfect name and pitched it to Jobs over and over after being rejected again and again, thought that the computer itself was stupid: “We were guarded.

Duh, this old school Mac is way too ancient to surf the web for porn! Stupid dog. [ Ads of the World via Copyranter ]

Would you like to write a saga about a spaceship with a womanizing captain, an awkward scientist/philosopher, a maniacal doctor, a drunk engineer, a voluptuous communications officer, a communist pilot, and a gay helmsman? Well, this Macintosh 128 won’t help. If your name were Gene Roddenberry , however, that would have been a piece of cake. Still, if you are an Star Trek fan, you may be interested in bidding for this original Macintosh 128 with serial number F4200NUM0001, owned by the sci-fi genius himself. According to that number, it was the 776th Mac 128, manufactured during the 20th week of 1984 in Fremont, California. It’s exactly like the one I have —including the Macintosh team signatures etching inside—except mine was manufactured on the 28th week of 1984.

I really liked the iPhone as designed by Leonardo t-shirt , but I absolutely love this one, showing the original— and still my favorite —1984 Macintosh in the same style. Pretty: Nice to have as a $20 alternative to the classic exploded Mac 128K . [ Exploded Store ]

Print Liberation has a new “Great Moments of the 20th Century” series of shirts, and the latest is of a gigantic Macintosh. Perfect for displaying your roots and less likely to get you fired than some other options . [ Print Liberation ]

Ah, nostalgia… As Jack London would say: “Darn the wheel of the world! Why must it continually turn over? Where is the reverse gear?” I don’t know, Jack, but here’s a great t-shirt. Remember these? The good old Mac SE, the iMac, the smurf/grey G3… I loved all of them.

“Once upon a time, she loved me. I remember when I helped with her photos, took care of her music, edited movies together. And now… now she left me here, in the coldness of NYC.” Oh poor you, you sad Macintosh you. You were left to dream the eternal slumber on the streets of the city that never sleeps. Here you you are, all alone, out of your old happy, cozy home, freezing under the cold night, alone, with no purpose or meaning whatsoever