@NanoRaptor Who was it named after

@NanoRaptor What in the world is this? Is this a real product?

@NanoRaptor this has the vibe of early photostudio/photofinish-gear you had to process instant prints in the 1980ies when you went for quality portraits.
Not sure if i would expect a KODAK or a AGFA logo on it.
(where can i purchase a greyscale rubic's cube?)

@NanoRaptor "the room is filled with computing promise" 😄

@NanoRaptor I would still pay a large amount of money for that computer. I love it every time you post it.

@NanoRaptor Reminds me of the Razer project Christine concept from a while back. Kinda sad it never became a thing.

@NanoRaptor This is a brilliant render, the rainbow paper organizer really catches the eye while running away

@NanoRaptor

Victoria's booooook!! :ablobcatheart: :ablobcatheart: :ablobcatheart:

@NanoRaptor The narrator voice is perfect for these vignettes. Please continue.

@NanoRaptor Acorn did an actual PC like this, you could stack up to 9 'slices':

@NanoRaptor I was ready to believe the hardware, but that grayscale Rubik's Cube could only come from Hell itself.

@NanoRaptor how delightfully cursed!

Helmut: Gimme sidecar!

shows him expanded IBM PCjr

Helmut: Not enough sidecar!

shows him expanded Amiga 1000

Helmut: MOAR SIDECAR!

shows him fully expanded TI 99/4A

Helmut: GIMME ALL THE SIDECARZ!!!

behold the new 100% sidecar computer... the Apple Jonathan!

@NanoRaptor Around 8 AM for Apple employee n°8 (nice touch with the badge on the left).

@NanoRaptor How have I been following old tech this long and not known about this concept.

Also I need the Rubik's Cube.

@NanoRaptor you grab a coffee. It's ok. It's still booting.

@NanoRaptor Top-tier alt text ❤️

@NanoRaptor how much inflation adjusted computer are we looking at? 60k$?

@NanoRaptor that is so amazing, there'd be nonstop 1980s synth music playing forever

@NanoRaptor It’s like a TI-99 expansion system designed by people with taste

@NanoRaptor i want this

@NanoRaptor As much as I dislike Apple (for their attitude towards the FLOSS ecosystem), the Jonathan was an awesome concept.

@NanoRaptor

I'd love to see 8-Bit Guy or LGR do a review of that beast. WOW!

@NanoRaptor mmm i really wanna steal this conceptt.....

@NanoRaptor a thing of beauty

@NanoRaptor i want those speakers

@NanoRaptor
This image is fake! The real one I owned in 1974 had flip-out metal handles on each module, the monitor was on rails, and the position-input device was a rolling ball floating upside in a cradle.

@NanoRaptor damn I love this modular design

@NanoRaptor Yum, Apple Jonathans

@NanoRaptor The Zip drives are a nice touch. Oh those memories (the ones lost on dead Zip cartridges and their ilk, especially…).

@NanoRaptor 1. I want to know ALLL about that Roland module. 2. Flashback to the 90s when the place I worked actually had something like this, but they weren't Apples. Wish I could remember the name; searching gets me nothing. Had it's own weird OS. *Really* cool word processing software, more like DTP. I'd be very happy to be able to use that program now…

@NanoRaptor I googled the book hoping it was real 😭😅

@NanoRaptor@bitbang.social The Co60 rod… runs

@NanoRaptor
"The room and desk is calm, and filled with computing promise."

Taken from the image description. Love it.

@NanoRaptor an IWM _and_ a PowerPC-module? *tugs collar*

@NanoRaptor Is that John Carmack's id card?

@NanoRaptor I remember the days, though I've never seen an actual setup like that. Still very fond of my Apple II+ 😀

@NanoRaptor the descent of personal computing into generic beige boxes for a decade was such a loss.
Also top points for the B&O phone tucked away in the corner!

@NanoRaptor the writing on this post: <chef’s kiss>! Also love the Roland module. Wish I could read them all.

@NanoRaptor
I was inspired by Apple's "Knowledge Navigator" video of 1987...a view of the world of computing 20 + years into the future.....

The video & audio quality aren't brilliant...but...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umJsITGzXd0&t=43s

@NanoRaptor Sooner or later I will officially ask you the permission to use this image to update the "opening of the Panora vase), i.e. my post about the Jonathan Computer: https://www.storiesofapple.net/the-jonathan-computer.html

@NanoRaptor I love the orange display panel on the Roland module.

@NanoRaptor

Thats a thing of Beauty, inspiration for my next custom build i think

@NanoRaptor Wonderful render.

@NanoRaptor Degaussing, I almost forgot that we did that.

@NanoRaptor as a sidenote I almost miss the days of having computer speakers on the desk

@NanoRaptor I literally can hear the hard drive scratching.

@NanoRaptor hard to believe this isn’t real

@NanoRaptor I want it

@NanoRaptor I would assume there would some kind of extended SCSII interface holding those all together (bad memories of managing SCSII Ids on classic macs back in the day) [why am I trying to suss out the tech behind an imaginary machine?]!

@NanoRaptor Mmmm. Degaussing... 🥰

@NanoRaptor @finestructure this is clearly the mid 90s given the PowerPC and zip modules. Love it.

@NanoRaptor I really love what you are doing here

@tlockney I don't know what that is but it's bad ass!

@NanoRaptor The descriptive text on the photo may be even more beautiful than the text of your post.

@NanoRaptor love the alt-text of your images! It sometimes brings out details or nuance I had not seen in the image.

@NanoRaptor that’s a gorgeous setup.

Makes me miss my NeXT slab

@NanoRaptor this is the d i g i t a l product we deserved

@NanoRaptor I miss the noises a CRT would make when powered on...

@NanoRaptor Interesting computer. Must be very rare these days like the IBM Thinkpad TransNote.

@NanoRaptor

Reminds me the 1983's Burroughs B25

@NanoRaptor Is the book real? The only writer named Victoria Scott I could find was born in 1982 so she would be anachronistic there.

@NanoRaptor Each Jonathan module had between 4 and 64 kilobytes of ROM or EEPROM space, containing an ID header, 68000-compatible boot code, and any leftover space was filled by a distinct audible "chime" which played after the Jonathan started up, as it enumerates.

@NanoRaptor Moments after you power on the screen, your let your fingers hover a millimeter from the screen in a delightful storm of energized electrons

@NanoRaptor Backplane computing was a very nice thing (still is, with big iron), but the costs of all the metal/plastic/chips for each discrete component still makes it "bank or uni or other $$$ entity" expensive.

@NanoRaptor So much love to this, not just revival of that project, but also so many names I recognize from long ago.

I was wondering if a modern incarnation could ever happen, and then thought about blade computing and raspberry pi compute modules

@NanoRaptor
...then you look at it wrong and the RAM falls off.

@NanoRaptor You are seriously making me pine for days that never existed. This is actually gorgeous and I love the concept.

I had NO EARTHLY idea such a beast existed! I particular love the "Roland" module with a million connector jacks coming out the front :)

This is too cool for school :)

Was this before OSX landed? So did these things run MacOS 8 or 9? Did debugging extension crashes drive you to drink?

OK I'll stop babbling incoherent questions at you now but I am totally bowled over by this :)

@NanoRaptor The Jonathan would have been an amazing machine. I'm also a huge fan of that machine in the wall idea for the Lisa

@NanoRaptor I want one.

@NanoRaptor it's really beautiful

@NanoRaptor
Don't go giving Apple any ideas. If they thought people would love to pay for every piece of a computer seperately, they would do it again in a minute.

@NanoRaptor This one is a relief to see.

@NanoRaptor oh wow, I want that machine.

@NanoRaptor @mindtheink @mindfad Jones, this some amazing stuff! Reminds me of “the old” days.

@NanoRaptor it's like Project Ara for the desktop, except it also didn't happen!

@NanoRaptor Hi. I love what you are doing. I did not realize what was going on the first maybe five time I saw reposts of your images. I am extremely impressed by your work. Just amazing.

@NanoRaptor Despite being somewhat of an Apple fanboy, I had never heard of this!

https://www.storiesofapple.net/the-jonathan-computer.html

@NanoRaptor I thought for a fraction of a second how cool it would be to set up a computer system like an old school stereo tower, but realized that literally just a standard server rack.

@NanoRaptor this reminds me of the #ComputerInABook and the #PCjr...

https://youtu.be/TXNKkx_ZcaQ?t=103

@NanoRaptor I remember a weird Lisa with a bunch of modules at Alan Kay & Larry Yeager’s secret office that probably inspired that image. Thanks

@NanoRaptor I remember how much I coveted that DayStar Digital module!

@NanoRaptor Love the 6 colour in-trays!!

@NanoRaptor I CAN HEAR THIS IMAGE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAgmGZ9iQ2Y

@NanoRaptor Last week, as I switched between CPU architectures and relocated my modular backplane, leaving the legacy module enhanced with an eGPU — I did stop and wonder:

Jonathon, is that you?

@NanoRaptor do they have a din rail at the back. the only way this could be better

@NanoRaptor great Bang & Olufsen phone detail too!

@NanoRaptor I would honestly love it if computers were really like this. :blobcat3c:

@NanoRaptor A vision from a better world.

@NanoRaptor A modular computer like that. impressive ^o.o^

@NanoRaptor Nice, a Roland in the middle. Have to get that MIDI music!

@NanoRaptor @gc pretty sure this is pornographic writing.

@NanoRaptor Wow, as long as I've been in the orbit of Apple computers, (since the early 90's) and this is the first time I've ever seen one of these. o.O

@NanoRaptor The letter tray in six colors is perfect.

@NanoRaptor I've never seen a Jonathan, looks impressive. Do you know if this is the maximum configuration that was possible or was only the width of the desk the limit? 🤔😅

#applejonathan #apple #jonathan

@NanoRaptor 🥰