APPLES FOR THE TEACHERS
ALTHOUGH APPLE COMPUTERS featured exclusively on the Isle of Man’s computer bus - remarkably the first piece of ICT kit to find its way onto the bus was this Viewsonic G90F 19" CRT Monitor (LEFT). This was bought on to the bus during conversion to test that it was possible to accommodate a bulky cathode ray tube monitor and keyboard on the narrow benching as the plans had suggested it was - just.
However, the generous sponsorship from Manx Telecom offered the opportunity to consider the only very recently introduced LCD Apple Studio Displays - which took up far less space, were lighter, used less power, and produced considerably less heat. They were also considerably more expensive at around £1,500 each.
As a computer the state-of-the-art Apple Power Macintosh G3/300 was chosen to go with the exotic displays. This was chosen as being relatively future proof (they were to last over 10-years in service after redeployment). As well as the dreaded floppy drive, they also offered zip drives and a cd reader/writer.
The Ethernet connectivity also worked perfectly with the cabling on board the bus - and with that in the schools once a cable had been draped out of a window and plugged into a nearby classroom socket.
Mounting the displays was easy. In those days it was easy to dismantle the blue, plastic case with a standard screwdriver, and a couple of drilled holes in the baseplate allowed bolts to go through holes in the desks. All very neat and invisible.
The mini towers were a different matter. Initially strapped to the legs of the benches with cargo straps and sat on a foam pad, after a couple of months DEXION racking was installed beneath the benches - probably in January 1999. The straps had to be retained however, as the bumpy roads would cause the machines to ‘bounce’ out of their frames - fortunately to no recorded ill effect.
