Internet Service Providers For Mac OS 7 - A Word of Advice

Internet Service Providers For Mac OS 7 - A Word of Advice

I recently learned, to my amazement, that there are people out there looking on search engines every day, trying to find Internet service providers that work with Mac OS 7 (which, if you want to get technical, is actually called Mac *System* 7 since Apple stopped using the name "System" many years ago and switched to "OS" starting with OS 8 -- short for Operating System 8).

The reason this amazed me was that it's really pretty surprising that there are that many computers old enough to run System 7 even working still, let alone enough of them for there to be enough searches being done to even make a blip on the search engine trends.

On the off chance that you're one of those people who is looking to find Internet Service Providers for Mac OS 7 (System 7), I've written this article for you.

First I'll briefly try to answer your question, and then I strongly suggest you read my article on the hidden dangers in keeping old computers. Mac System 7 was replaced over 11 years ago, in 1997, which is a *very* long time ago in computer terms.

It's really a very very bad idea to try to keep using computers that old, and I go into more detail in that article.

So here's the thing. If you still have a working computer running System 7, in theory you might actually be able to use it with most ISPs (Internet Service Providers).

Maybe.

Now if your computer only has a dialup modem, then you may be out of luck. Most ISPs have an absolute minimum speed requirement of a 28.8kbps modem, which your computer may or may not have, depending on exactly how old it is.

If your computer has a network port built into it, which a fair number of Apple's early to mid 1990s-era Macs actually had (which was fairly unusual at the time), then you might have a little more luck.

But the thing is, either way, you're not going to get any tech support from the ISP, and you'll basically have to lie to them about your computer's "specs" and tell them it's something more modern, or they'll tell you it won't work.

Several years ago, I was hired by a client with a mid 1990s Mac running System 7 or OS 8 (I forget now, it has been a few years) and they wanted to get DSL.

The phone company had told her she couldn't do it, but when she called me and told me the exact computer she had, I said it'd theoretically be possible to do, since she had a built-in network port.

I was able to hook up the DSL connection and go into her Control Panel settings and set the TCP/IP control panel to use DHCP, which is really the only setting that has to be made. The computer connected, and was able to check email and browse *some* websites.

But don't get your hopes up *too* high -- again, this was probably 5 years ago, and 5 years is a long time in computer years -- the Web has moved on a lot since then, and while she may have been able to visit a fair number of websites then, the number has been dwindling year after year as web sites move on with newer technology.

So the basic answer here is yes, it *may* be possible, but it will work poorly at best, many websites will just not work or may even crash your computer, and in my opinion, it's really not worth it.

It's like trying to drive an old and rickety horse-drawn carriage on the Autobahn -- theoretically it might work, but in practice it's probably not a good idea.

And I'm not exaggerating with that comparison, either; it's all due to something called Moore's Law, which I talk about in my article on the dangers of keeping old computers for too long.

So again, if you're still using an old computer from the mid or early 1990s that's running Mac System 7, get a new computer now.

I'm serious, and I really mean this as genuinely good advice that I really hope you'll follow: a computer that old will break down soon; it's only a matter of time. And while it's working, you won't be able to do most of what a modern computer can do, and what you can do will work slowly and poorly.

If you have any important files on the computer, you're already going to have trouble moving them to a modern Mac, and if the computer breaks down, you might have no chance of saving your files at all.

I don't want to end this article on a down note, but please do read my article "The Hidden Dangers of Keeping Old Computers For Too Long" to learn more about this, and please heed my advice or you will end up regretting it.

I really do hope you listen.

How Does Wireless Internet Work - A Simple Explanation

In this article I'll help you understand the answer to a computer terminology question I find a lot of people asking: "How does wireless Internet work?".

Before I can answer this question, I have to mention that there are two basic types of wireless Internet: a wireless Internet connection through a device called a router (this type of wireless Internet is called WiFi), and then there is wireless Internet access through the cell phone network.

Wireless routers are very common in homes, offices, and "wireless hotspots" like you find at coffee shops, airports, and elsewhere. These are basically just small electronic "boxes" that hook up to your Internet connection so you can share the connection between several computers, or simply to give you the freedom to place your computer wherever you want, and not just next to the cable or phone outlet.

The cell phone data network (wireless Internet through the cell phone network in other words) of course is very widespread -- pretty much everywhere where you can get a cell signal -- and can be used not only with a cell phone but also with a growing number of computers.

Now if you want to get really technical, these two types of wireless Internet work differently. But in a general sense, if you simplify things and explain them in a basic way that will make sense to the average person, they both work along the same general lines.

So how does wireless Internet work? One way to think of it is by comparing it to a portable phone.

With a portable phone, something most of us have in our home, the phone has two parts: a handset and a cradle.

The cradle gets plugged into the phone line -- the connection to the phone network -- and takes that connection and broadcasts it via radio waves more or less in all directions.

If the handset is within range of the signal, it picks up this signal and relays the telephone connection so you can make or receive a call.

Wireless Internet, whether its via a cell network or a wireless router, works the same basic way: you have a connection to the Internet, which is sent out wirelessly to a receiver of some sort, very much like a portable phone cradle sends out the telephone connection to the handset.

The broadcast can come from a wireless router hooked up to a cable or DSL Internet connection, or the broadcast can be from a cell phone tower hooked into the cell phone network and relaying the Internet connection.

On the other end you have a "handset", which is a receiver in a computer, smart phone, or other device. This could be a WiFi card in a laptop or desktop computer for the one type of wireless Internet, or a receiver in a cell phone or laptop using the cell data network.

So that basically answers the question "how does wireless Internet work".

Connecting With People through Computers

Connecting With People Through Computers

Back in the eighties, it wasn't that usual to have a modem in your computer, if you even had one. These days, there are different kinds of modems - cable modems, DSL modems, and dialup modems like I used to have.

Even though dialup modems seem incredibly slow these days, compared to "broadband" connections like DSL and cable, they are amazingly fast compared to the ones you could get back in the 80s.

I remember that when I got my first dialup modem for my first computer. Back then, most computers didn't even have modems; modems have been standard in most computers for years now, but are starting to get phased out because they're so out of date.

The dialup modems you get now, while much much slower than "broadband" (high speed) connections like DSL or cable, are incredibly fast compared to what you could get in the mid '80s.

Back then, the modem in my PC ran at "1200 baud" (as opposed to current dialup modems which are about 50 times faster). Some of my friends had 300 baud modems. They were so slow, that if I went to read an email online, I could actually read faster than the words would appear on the screen, letter by letter, line by line.

Later, when I shelled out over $200 for a whopping 2400 baud modem, I was amazed that the words appeared too fast to read!

Of course, it was still so slow by modern standards, that if I'd tried to download even a picture like you'd find on a website of today - even a very small picture - it could take hours.

And a dialup modem these days costs less than $20.

So times change. Especially when it comes to computers.

Of course, the great thing about that is all the cool stuff you can do now that would've seemed like science fiction back in the '80s.

But really, I think the best thing about the technology we have today is how it can bring people together. These days we think nothing of sending an email across the world and have it arrive in moments. Back in the '80s, it was possible to do that, but it was a lot harder to do, and much more expensive.

And of course most people hadn't even heard of email back then.

One of the best ways people can connect, either for business or with friends or family, is video chats. Video chats have been around for years, but only fairly recently have gotten good enough to be like the video phones on the old Jetsons cartoons.

I moved out to Hawaii in 2001, about five thousand miles from where I grew up, in Ithaca, NY. My parents still live there, and while my brother is a little closer, he's still a long way away in California.

One of the ways we keep in touch is with video chats - if you don't know what I'm talking about, you've probably been in an electronics store where they have a camcorder hooked up to a TV so people can wave at themselves when they come in.

With a good chat program, a good quality web cam, and a fast internet connection, the picture can look almost as good as that.

So it's about the next best thing to actually being with friends or family, when they're a long way away. It's almost like I get to visit with my parents, or hang out with my brother.

Plus in the winter, my parents can point the camera out the window and I can see the snow fall, and I can make them jealous by showing them my view of the sun shining off the deep blue sea.

It also doesn't cost a thing, so if you talk long distance a lot, it can really save a lot of money.

There are a lot of chat programs that let you do free video or audio chats (audio chats are like regular phone calls, and in some cases you can even call from your computer to a regular phone).

You can use programs such as AOL Instant Messenger, Skype, and Yahoo Messenger for audio and/or video chats. There are versions of these programs for both Mac and PC, but the majority of Mac users use iChat AV (which is what I use to talk to my family and friends), which comes on all Macs made in the last few years.

One of the best choices overall, in my opinion, is Skype. While I personally think the program is a bit of a "resource hog" (in other words, it can bog your computer down while it's running) it does let basically any type of computer -- Mac, Windows, or Linux) talk to each other without compatibility problems. Other programs either only work on one type of computer, or don't work as well between computer types.

Skype also has some other nice features, like "Skypeout" that lets you call regular phone numbers, not just other computers running Skype.

But the main thing is, computers give us amazing possibilities to connect with others, more quickly, easily, and inexpensively than ever before.

It's a pretty amazing time we live in.

Until next time, enjoy,

Worth Godwin