_{RETRO COMPUTING} And One Mouse to Rule Them All _{By Tom Owad}

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How Tom tames his computers.

1. HP Scanjet with automatic document feeder

2. PowerBook G4 Titanium (display broken off in mishap) 3. PowerBook G4 12" Aluminum 4. Dell UltraSharp 2001FP 20.1- inch LCD 5. Color Classic (running System 7)

6. Finger Works TouchStream LP keyboard

7. Acer Wireless ADB keyboard 8. RackMac TZ ( running Mac OS 9)

9. GatorBox Local Talk-to-Ethernet adapter (hidden from view) 10. Replica I (a replica of the Apple I, hidden from view) 11. Apple IIGS (with all the extras)

 

The computers are stacking up. They’re on my PowerBook. The Color Classic, of course, has its
desk, behind my desk, in the attic, in the basement, own internal display.
in the garage. Ideally, I’d like to have one monitor, This approach eliminates the need for a desk full
one keyboard, and one mouse on my desk, with all of monitors, but it leaves the keyboard and mouse
my computers hooked up through them. problem. I use a Finger Works TouchStream LP
What’s the most efficient setup for a workspace keyboard/gesture pad with my PowerBook. Since I
with a range of equipment spanning 30 years of connect to the Replica I via a terminal session, this
technology? I began with a 1970s DEC desk with a also works with the Replica I, but leaves me with
built-in, three-foot rack. Desks like these are hard to three ADB systems needing keyboards and mice.
find nowadays. It’s much easier to find self-stand- ADB switches are extremely difficult to find. In lieu
ing, three-foot racks, which can then be crafted into of this, I decided to use infrared keyboards. I chose
a custom desk. an Acer Wireless ADB keyboard.
This desk’s rack contains my Apple IIGS, Replica I connected an infrared receiver to each of the
I (an Apple I replica), RackMac TZ, and GatorBox ADB Macs and positioned these on my desk. I stow
Local Talk-to-Ethernet adapter. Sitting atop the desk the keyboard in an open slot in the rack. When I
is a SCSI-based HP Scanjet with Automatic Docu- want to work with any of the ADB Macs, I slide the
ment Feeder, which I use to scan documentation on TouchStream aside and pull out the Acer Wireless.
the RackMac. The two PowerBooks and the Color Communication from the keyboard to the receiver
Classic are on the desk. is one way, so if I have all three machines on at once,
In trying to find a monitor that would work with all three will receive the same keyboard and mouse
all these, I came up with the Dell UltraSharp 2001FP input. I keep a piece of tinfoil handy to cover the
20.1-inch LCD. This display supports DVI, VGA, other receivers, if more than one is active.
S-Video, and composite video. Switching modes With one display, a handful of video switches, and
occurs at the push of a button, so it’s easy to rotate infrared keyboards, there are very few computers
through multiple systems. The 12" PowerBook con- that cannot be incorporated into this setup.
nects via DVI, the RackMac via VGA, and the Apple

IIGS via composite. I access the PowerBook through the Mac OS X server tools and have a serial interface,

Tom Owad ( owad@applefritter.com) is a Macintosh consul-
^{via USB adapter, for the Replica I, which allows me} tant in York, Pa., and editor of Applefritter ( applefritter.com).
to control it through a terminal window on my 12" He is the author of Apple I Replica Creation (Syngress, 2005).