My mini Apple Store museum

Normally I don't post stuff unless it's perfect/complete but everyone wanted to see how it looks at night so here ya go. The MacTV is undergoing surgery.

Thanks for the pictures of the cooler.

Do you know the history behind ?

If you find a small flat screen TV, you should have your PowerCD doing its standalone VCD player routine. SShowing (panning and zooming) clips of details or some of your collection that's not on display at any given time would rock, sort of a moving slide show. That feature was one of the reasons I bought my PowerCD back in the day, but I never did get around to setting it up.

Thanks for the pictures of the cooler.
Do you know the history behind ?

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No idea of any history on that item. I picked it up for a song because when I purchased it the item wasn't working. It was listed as having a corroded battery pack that was also physically broken. Having done this enough now I knew it probably just need to be replaced. I purchased a few units of amazon for .99, spliced the wires on the first one that arrived to make sure it work, and it did. I then found the one that was the closest fit, took it to work, chucked it up in the vice, milled it down to the size I needed and was good to go. I've found one picture of another one online but never seen anything past that. I'd guess it was sold at the corporate store at some point.

On an aside, I had the first visitor to my mini Store yesterday. I was humbled and honored to have Al Kossow, the Curator for the entire Computer History Museum come by. He came over after I spoke with him about my prototype Lisa and seemed very curious. He come over with a profile drive loaded with BLU and dumped by hard drive. I showed him the machine, the differences between a stock Lisa and mine, the E87 as the ROM profile, F/B versus symbols on the back, smooth back vs. textured, and some other small things. He said it was absolutely 100% prototype and should never have left Apple. Al worked at Apple from 1980 to 2004 so now I know it’s legit (yay)! My prototype keyboard wasn’t working so he took it apart and showed me what I needed to purchase to fix the unit, which was so nice of him. Al is an amazing guy and extremely helpful. He's so intelligent I felt it was almost hard for him to talk to someone 1/100th as technical as him. I thought I was technical but after talking with him it showed me how noob I am. He told me about a 20MB prototype Widget Lisa drive that was frozen and I think we came up with a solution to attempt to break free the needle. I said if he broke the top open, the slightest amount of IPA and a bend hypodermic needle that he could probably break the oil down enough to spin the head free. I hope it works since it’s a 1 of none piece.

I then asked if he'd ever seen a G4 Cube prototype other than when he worked there, or if the Computer History Museum had one? He said to his knowledge none have ever surfaced. I smiled, tried to contain my enthusiasm and said "would you like to see one?" He raised an eyebrow and said huh? I said "that’s one right there." I pulled it out and started to show him everything. I nearly forgot to show him the speaker and he literally fell silent. He said he'd never seen one with a speaker, EVER. I told him about the chip and the very strange BootROM on the machine. He smiled and said that's sure a one of a kind piece you have there. I nearly peeded my pants.

Overall the Lisa dump was successful, not sure if there were any files under Lisa 3.0 but we’ll see.

I thought I had seen that colored pencil set before. Apple sells (or sold at least) them at the company store. I picked up a set when I went back in June of 2012.

This thread is just freaking awesome.

Museum's updated. Here's the new setup. Any inputs always appreciated.

I like that silver TAM prototype!

Also, talk about a collection of prototype iOS devices! In the 4th pictures, that silver looking iPod touch/iPhone front panel, what is that?

That TAM is SERIOUSLY cool. The inside is bronze and there's not one thing about the TAM that shipped and that prototype this is the same.

You've got quite an eye there. You always ask about the good stuff! That could be one of the rarest pieces I have. Those are iPod touch Instron (machine that measures pressure/pull strength) samples. Engineers would use the machines to push with a certain force to be able test the force required to break a screen. The lines were used to measure where it cracked, how large the crack was, etc. Those units passed the force required for the spec.

The other one that looks entirely black (iPhone 4 back w/no writing) is for swapping antennas which is pretty cool.

Its interesting to see these devices come out of Apple. We get to see what happens and what it takes before a finished product hit the market. I'm guessing the iPhone 4 you are talking about is directly to the left of the iPod touch?

That TAM does look really cool! I guessing you bought that from a friend?

Also, the Death Star iPhone 4 is pretty sweet. Imagine rocking the back of that phone on a stock iPhone 4. "What's that?" "Oh, another lost iPhone 4 prototype"

Hap, you definitely have one cool collection!

Yeah that's the one.

The TAM I did pick up from my buddy. Broke the bank at a grand total of $100 } It was in REALLY bad shape when I got it though. The plastic was so brittle breathing on it made me nervous. I was able to help restore some of the oils to the plastic and am very careful.

I've got a couple of those Death Star backs, 3 to be specific. They are so so rare I grab them every time their offered up. People around here would assuredly tap me on the shoulder to ask if I rocked it. I'm trying to secure a case, but Apple made clear Death Star iPhone 4 cases that went along with the back as well. I really want one of those.

Thanks very much for the kind words. It a fun little project to keep up with and very rewarding. I appreciate everyones comments, input, and guidance. Hopefully one day, if any of you are in CA (SF bay) your welcome to check it out in person.