How Apple’s Cheap Camera Failed

I was an apple dealer in the early mid 90s and sold the cowboy shit out of newtons and QuickTake cameras. I still have my old newton.

It’s actually amazing how far we have come with digital photography

Our family had gotten a Performa 550 in Novermber '93 when I was 7 and dad saw the Quicktake 100 the following year and got it for himself as a Christmas present. Later it became mine when he upgraded to a Panasonic. I remember taking it on our roadtrip to Disneyland and using my used Powerbook Duo 2300c I'd saved up for and bought myself, so I was able to download the pictures over that Din-8 Serial and use our Dial-up AOL from the hotels and we sent pictures to family and friends. That was so cutting edge for the time that some of them didn't understand and had to be convinced that we were still gone on vacation lol.

Useless, fun fact, I work in a TV broadcasting center for the US federal government. No idea why, but we have one of the Apple QuickTake cameras in our storage. Our tax dollars at one point paid for that 😂

This is the most inside-out looking shirt ever made.

Great video… but… whenever a young person does a nostalgic ‘olden days’ review, it’s always in contrast to today’s technology. Because you might not have been around, and definitely would not have been working and using this technology it’s understandable. I’m not criticizing or complaining… it would have been like me in the 1980s comparing an electric train to a steam train with my grandparents, so I get it. It’s normal. To understand what I mean, think what’s happening with AI at the moment. That’s what it was like seeing this for the first time in the 1990s... Magic. I was designing magazines, newspapers and books at the time and would have to drum or flatbed scan a print or 35mm slide to use it in my artwork files. This was after waiting 24 to 48 hours to get the film processed, collected and scanned. So being able to shorten that process was nothing short of amazing. The Apple Mac was the only computer that could be used for desktop publishing. It too was also magic… before using it I was using ink pens, grid board, wax machines, bromide machines, French curves and external type setters… laying out artwork for printers, all taking days and days to achieve. So the ‘wait time’ you endured for comedic relief (of course it’s funny now, I agree with you) was like using a Time Machine at the time… it was blazingly fast compared to what we had at the time. Of course today I’m using all the latest gear… seeing this through your eyes was great and reminded me of how far we have all come! Awesome.

11:53 Apple Desktop Bus, not Display Bus.

My parents had a 2000ish version of a camera exactly like this, non-Apple but 32 pics, USB connected, and ran on AA. Honestly one of the best cameras made, the quality was incredible considering, and it was so much fun to just run around with as a kid and take pictures. I’m impressed with the changes made between this camera and that one, really makes our current accessibility to photography something to value.

I remember my Dad's work having one and me being allowed to, "get creative," one summer day with it, and basically the same period correct Mac. My teen self went wild. The edgy shooting angles. The overblown editing. The 90's asthetic was XTREME! When it was all said and done, I got to print out a handful of my creations (in black and white) on a LaserWriter. Thirty years later I realize my Dad was just trying to keep me out of his hair while he worked, and I enjoyed a summer day off from school. Still, it was fun, and a memory I keep with me. Edit: Basically, beside their graphic design person, I was the only other person who figured out all the hardware and software. I just learned it by fiddling around. I remember my Dad kind of being blown away by my, "tech savvy." Edit #2: I don't remember it being this slow... I'm sure it was, but this was so hi-tec!

To be fair I had a QuickTake 100, and it came with rechargeable batteries and an Apple branded AA Battery charger, so the fact it drank batteries wasn't that big a deal. Incidentally, I love how the Mac I'm on right now actually auto-corrected QuickTake to capitalise the T :D

The QuickTake software works a LOT better on a PowerPC mac. In middle school we has one of these in our Digital Imaging class ( it was brand new and i can't believe the teacher actually let us run around the school with it). The computers we were using were PowerMac 6100s and they did things a lot faster that the one you are using.

I remember stumbling upon an old photo album in an SD card from an old digital camera. So excited and opened up only to find... something? Is it a bridge? I think that’s a face... everything is so pink?

I actually used one of these at work in 1996 to take pictures for our very early internal website.

That's where the QuickTake name comes from on iOS's camera now!! Never knew this was a thing...

2:56 that vintage macworld footage is amazing.

ADB was Apple Desktop Bus. But I think this used serial not ADB. Nice video.

Ah…deep thoughts with Quinn at 21:00 lol. Great look at the QuickTake.

Cool video, but the scanline on the CRT kills me, please set the shutter speed to match the refresh rate

The responsiveness of old Mac OS UI seems like responsiveness of modern web sites to me. So much time passed, but we still have to wait.

Brings back so many memories! Not that I could afford that camera, but I certainly lusted after them. And really just that whole era of computing. Slow as can be, but really amazing for its day!