I bought myself an original Macintosh—the one from 1984—this weekend. I saw it on the streets of Williamsburg for $35, almost completely new, and I couldn't resist. Now I want to do something with it.
Now I'm having a dilemma.
Should I download the original system, save it to floppies, and leave it as it is so I can play Crystal Quest? In a way, I feel like I'm in front of some kind of god of the old times, a god that I should revere and keep in its pristine condition forever.
On the other side, I'm itching to make it into something else. Something that doesn't require to break the case in any way, which will allow me to put everything back together at a later date.
I'm thinking about taking all the guts out except the CRT and convert it into a mini-stereo. It should be a simple hack. Get my Apple TV or a big hard drive iPod, wire it to the tube, add a couple of good mini-speakers inside the case, and control it with the Apple remote. Simple and elegant, but I don't know if it's doable or not.
Any DIY expert wants to help? Send me your ideas.
Thanks to everyone who sent in ideas. Many have recommended to keep it as it is, restoring the plastic to its original condition using Retr0bright (thanks for this amazing link, Terance Seitenbach). Looks like the proper thing to do. I don't want to disturb the Gods of Cupertino by gutting their beautiful child—which, by the way, I have discovered that it is an original Macintosh, manufactured at Apple's Freemont factory, on the 28th week of 1984.
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