Maybe you just bought the latest Mac on the market and have your old one lying around doing nothing. Take a look at your “old” Mac — does it still work? Does it have a G4 processor, at least? Well, here are five quick ideas as to how it may be put back to work around the house.
Media center. On how you setup the Mac as a media center will depend on how old it is. If it’s too old, you may as well forget about Apple’s Front Row. Luckily there are other solutions: iTheater, CenterStage, OS X XBMC, and Media Central, which are some that come quickly to mind. Just find out what’s the best way to connect your Mac to the TV, and you’re good to go! Optional: wireless remote… and maybe some popcorn.
Storage server. The idea is simple: keep one Mac on 24/7 so that any other computers in the network can access it and upload/download whatever you like. The possibilities can go from a media server, to a work server, or just a backup server.
Digital picture frame. If your Mac is capable of running iPhoto, then this might be a great opportunity to put your old Mac back to work! Just have all your digital pictures in slideshow mode and you’re good to go! There are some Mac models that make outstanding digital picture frames too — like the old G4 “lamp” iMac, thanks to its small footprint and fantastic “floating” LCD!
Mod it! By saying mod, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to crack open the case and switch out the components. Modding a Mac can be as easy as just painting or “pimping out” its case. For some good examples of Mac mods, check out MacMod.com.
Macquarium. This one’s only for Macs with CRT displays, obviously. If you’re capable of taking out the CRT and innards (warning, be sure that you know what you’re doing, as an electric discharge may occur even from a disconnected Mac!), you can just as easily add a small aquarium inside it. The perfect Mac models for this task are the classic, colorful iMacs.
Pascal on June 21st, 2008 at 3:40 pm says:
You could also use ScreenRecycler to use your old mac as an extra display on your new one.
It is not extraordinarily fast, but it does the job very neatly.
Frank on June 23rd, 2008 at 12:18 am says:
Excellent suggestion! Thanks.