Possible uses for a Summer of 2000 iMac G3?

[LOLZpersonok]

I have a 350MHz Slot-load iMac G3 that I don't have much use for. What it does most of the time is sit by my desk and collect dust, I just recently set it up on my desk but I want some ideas on what I can use it for.

No, I am not going to rip it apart or turn it into a cat bed. I'd buy a broken one for that. I want it to remain functional.

It's specs are:
PowerPC G3 @ 350MHz
384MB of RAM
40GB HDD
Typical ATi Rage graphics with 8MB of video memory
Mac OS X 10.2.8 (I'm not removing that unless I'm upgrading it)
Slot-loading iMac

I do not have disks to upgrade it any further but I do have a disk for Mac OS 9.

Any ideas?

 

[eyoungren]

I have a 350MHz Slot-load iMac G3 that I don't have much use for. What it does most of the time is sit by my desk and collect dust, I just recently set it up on my desk but I want some ideas on what I can use it for.

No, I am not going to rip it apart or turn it into a cat bed. I'd buy a broken one for that. I want it to remain functional.

It's specs are:
PowerPC G3 @ 350MHz
384MB of RAM
40GB HDD
Typical ATi Rage graphics with 8MB of video memory
Mac OS X 10.2.8 (I'm not removing that unless I'm upgrading it)
Slot-loading iMac

I do not have disks to upgrade it any further but I do have a disk for Mac OS 9.

Any ideas?

My typical response to such a question is, use it as an Applescript server.

We have an AS server at work. Due to the scripts I wrote for it and folder actions it files any new email attachments saved by date. It processes photos in to four color or grayscale depending on which folder they are dropped in to and it moves ad proofs and editorial pages into the correct server folder when complete.

Is there any routine or monotonous kind of thing you'd benefit from automating? Put it on your network and put it to work. This does not require a lot of ram or processing power either. The AS server we have at work is running Tiger with 128mb of ram and a 20GB hard drive, a G4/400. The Mac we were using for this before was a PowerMac 7200/233 with a 4GB hard drive and 48mb of ram.

 

[happyfrappy]

eyoungren, if the OP's iMac was bundled with GraphicConverter like most G3/G4 systems that solution would work very well. For Linux duty the OP could install Wine and automate IrfanView and do batch convert with Photoshop filters too

Best option for iMacs of that age is slap Xubuntu/Lubuntu onto it since you don't need to worry about any model specific power/thermal enablers like iBooks/PowerBooks, you'll have more memory headroom to handle multiple server tasks & many updated software(newer Firefox & OpenOffice)... my old iMac 333mhz collects dust as it has a wimpy 160mb of memory, WebStar crawls under moderate load

OS 9 gives a few basic options:
--Retro games that won't run under OS X, for example Spaceward Ho, Simcity 2000/3000, SimAnt, SimEarth, SimFarm, etc
--iTunes Jukebox
--MacOS Fileshare
--Install WebStar for a full webserver

 

[eyoungren]

eyoungren, if the OP's iMac was bundled with GraphicConverter like most G3/G4 systems that solution would work very well.

LOL!!!

I laugh because Graphic Converter is what we are using at work. I have a FAS (Folder Action Script for those that don't know) that calls either a Grayscale or CMYK batch file. Graphic Converter is set to process silently in the background. Drop in a bunch of photos and it converts pretty quick.

 

[Intell]

I suggest putting in a CompactFlash card or even keeping the current hard drive, installing Tiger and using it as an iTunes jukebox. The speakers on those are fairly good and they work really well when paired with an old iSub. You'll have to install Tiger as that's needed to run iTunes 9.1 to be able to connect to shared iTunes libraries as Apple changed the shared libraries and iTunes Store with the release of iTunes 9.

 

[skateny]

LOL!!!

I laugh because Graphic Converter is what we are using at work. I have a FAS (Folder Action Script for those that don't know) that calls either a Grayscale or CMYK batch file. Graphic Converter is set to process silently in the background. Drop in a bunch of photos and it converts pretty quick.

Love Graphic Converter, though I haven't needed it in years. Discovered and began using it on OS 9.

 

[rabidz7]

A small web server.

 

[eyoungren]

Love Graphic Converter, though I haven't needed it in years. Discovered and began using it on OS 9.

I'll tell you it was way easier to script it then it was Photoshop! And in this instance, since it was the Mac doing the work it didn't matter which app it used as long as it did the job correctly. Found a guys script that would do batch convert for Graphic Converter and was able to modify it to work with a folder action.

Photoshop didn't seem to want to process images dropped into a folder, even though the script fired.

The only issue I have is that I have to reopen the batch file every time I reboot. Otherwise ".tif" doesn't get tacked on to the end of the filename. That's a problem because we're on a Windows network and the PCs don't know what to do with files that don't have extensions.