# FREAKY AWESOME & RARE POWERBOOK!



## BlingBling 3k12 (Mar 14, 2002)

okay, this could be put in either the "Thoughts Non-Technical" or "PowerBook" sections, but i decided to post here...

seems Apple made a special version of the PowerBook specifically for the "Independence Day" movie... while being a bit curious with the features of my new XBOX DVD Playback Kit, I decided to zoom in on the product title of the laptop that Jeff Goldblum used... seems it would be a *PowerBook XXXX*.

YES THAT'S RIGHT KIDDIES!

Apple produced a heavy-duty and quite kick ass version of their PowerBook series that seemed to do things no PowerBook could do of it's kind in 1995-1996 (year(s) of film production).

God you've gotta love Apple now... this is a rarety and it will be my lifelong quest to find this wonderful machine!

I mean really... with a product name of XXXX, it's gotta be awesome!

(BTW.. i'll take a screenshot when I pop the DVD into my PC to show you... right now i'm having fun with my $30 remote control that was 100% absolutely required to watch DVD's)

_also... please notice the sarcasm used during the production of this message..._


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## RacerX (Mar 14, 2002)

Also lets remember that _Independence Day_ and _Mission: Impossible_ were both used by Apple to bring their new PowerBook series to the public. Lets also remember which PowerBook we are talking about... the 5300 series (which was still being called the 5400 in preproduction, and Apple may not have wanted a notable model number because they had not decided on the final number by that time). So what was it about this PowerBook that made it seem like it could do things that no other PowerBook could do?


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## Boyko (Mar 14, 2002)

It made it look like Jeff Goldblum could act.


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## Koelling (Mar 15, 2002)

I don't know who all has read the artical that ran on macslash.com a while back but it was about goodguys using macintosh and baddies using other. A good example of this is in Buffy the vampire Slayer (so very gorgeous she is) and of course ID4 and Mission Impossible. You see it everywhere and it even forshadows a traitor if a supposed goodguy is using a dell computer. Just some food for thought.


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## homer (Mar 15, 2002)

Hmm, this may put the show "24" in a different light (admitted 24 junkie here).  There seems to be plenty of Dells AND Macs scattered around their HQ. 

food for thought


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## BlingBling 3k12 (Mar 15, 2002)

> _Originally posted by RacerX _
> *So what was it about this PowerBook that made it seem like it could do things that no other PowerBook could do? *



I dunno for sure, but it seems that they just didn't have the power to do what they did back then...

like in the movie Antitrust, when they showed computer screens, most of it was generated AFTER the movie had finished and placed during Post production...

while watching the movie and Goldblum & Smith were about to go into space in the Alien Aircraft, Goldblum opened the PowerBook and hit like, 15 keys for it to say "Good Morning Dave" which had to have been done in Post Production and shouldn't have required that much effort to do such a simple task..

so my guess is that it all was mostly generated by a company and then placed on the screen during post...

but that's just my guess


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## mrfluffy (Mar 15, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Koelling _
> *A good example of this is in Buffy the vampire Slayer (so very gorgeous she is)*


yeah did you notice willow didnt use her ibook when she went bad??


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## Trip (Mar 15, 2002)

The list of TV shows and movies using Macs is pretty much endless (I could list a few, but I'm too lazy) which just comes to conclude:

"A Mac makes the movie better"


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## RacerX (Mar 16, 2002)

> *while watching the movie and Goldblum & Smith were about to go into space in the Alien Aircraft, Goldblum opened the PowerBook and hit like, 15 keys for it to say "Good Morning Dave" which had to have been done in Post Production and shouldn't have required that much effort to do such a simple task..*



On my systems dating back to about 1991, they all talked using HAL's voice. On startup, I would get a screen (better than the one in ID4) with HAL and he would (in the middle of startup) say _Good morning Dave, I am fully functional and ready to work with you_. He would say something different for all sorts of functions, all of which was made using a sound editor I had and the video tapes of 2001 and 2010. And this was on my Macintosh SE/30 which was a small fraction of the speed of the PowerBook 5300 seen in that movie (which is a small fraction of the speed of today's systems). 

Given a 5300 (though I would rather have a 2300 actually, even though they are about the same speed) I could make it seem far more advanced than the same system in the hands of an average user. It all has to do with what you know about the system, and what you can actually get out of it.

Also, consider this, that system was at best running Mac OS 7.6. You have Mac OS 8.1 install on your system. You could learn how to do all the same things that could have been done on the ID4 system on yours. I think that you should try a few of the things I have brought up here on your 8.1 system. (I'll actually e-mail you the parts you need to do them and the directions).


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## AdmiralAK (Mar 16, 2002)

hey guys, in M:I, in langley, the main frame, who thinks it was a mac.  The UI of it strongly hints towards a mac  -- thoughts ?


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## BlingBling 3k12 (Mar 16, 2002)

i just saw a commercial for some credit card company where they used a Dell Inspiron, used the Windows bar (the thing on top where it has the 3 boxes on the right) but for the scroll bar in IE, it used one from Mac OS 8 and had other elements...

A few months ago i saw an ad for Compaq where they placed a screenshot of OS 9 on a monitor for their Presario line of systems...

If these companies like the elements from the Mac, why don't they just use them?!

(i know compaq can't, but DAYUM wouldn't it be great if Apple bought them out instead of HP... give compaq like $5 billion and then turn it into an all Mac venture!)


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## googolplex (Mar 16, 2002)

Does everyone know the store IKEA? Probably. Anyways they use lots of Macs in their displays, but they have been using some 'PCs' with a mac desktop pasted on the screen. I put PCs in quotes because they aren't real computers, just empty shells with nothing isde them.

Its just strange. They have a few iMac shells as well...


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## BlingBling 3k12 (Mar 16, 2002)

looks like they use real computers

or are you talking about instore displays?


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## martinatkinson (Mar 17, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Koelling _
> *I don't know who all has read the artical that ran on macslash.com a while back but it was about goodguys using macintosh and baddies using other. *



Hello!

Anyone seen "Left Behind: the movie" yet?  Well, here is one situation where what Koelling said is not correct.  If you look in this movie Nicholae (the antichrist) is using a PowerBook while the underground Israelie army base is run on a Windows based computer system (or so it seems since the whole system locks up in the middle of WWIII)  Just thought I would point this out but yet Koelling, I have noticed that what you say is correct for the majority of the movies.

It is alot of fun to notice macintosh computers being used in movies (old iMacs in "Touched by an Angel", an old iBook in "Princess Diaries")  I think it would really rock if they could sneak in a 2002 iMac into a good movie  

Have a great day!

Albert


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## googolplex (Mar 17, 2002)

blingbling: i'm talking about the in store displays.


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