Rick's World

Today, I picked up an Airport Extreme card for my PowerMac. Why? No particular reason. I bought it as a toy. The Airport Extreme card is a small card that you install internally into the Powermac that gives it wireless network capabilities. This is not your typical card that goes into a PCI slot. It's a small card, only about 2 inches square, that goes into a custom slot on the motherboard. When I first looked at the card, I noticed that the bottom of the card was split into two sets of connectors that were the same size. Usually cards like this are designed with the two connectors having different sizes. This prevents you from plugging it in the wrong way. I'm looking at this thing for a moment thinking 'How the heck do I plug this thing in? Which way does it go?" It was easy to figure out where on the motherboard it went. There was a metal frame in one location that looked to be the same size as the card. Right below the metal frame was the slot on the motherboard that looked like the right one. And right next to that was a small wire that led to the external antenna. The plug on the wire looked like it fit the card. On the card itself was a small plastic tab. This tab was attached to the top of the card... All the better for grabbing a hold of this tiny little card. So, I just guessed and tried to insert the card into the slot. It wouldn't go in... I couldn't get it to fit through the slot on the metal frame. Ok, so maybe it's the other way. I flip it around, and insert it. It slides in perfectly. The card goes right into the slot perfectly. The metal frame and the card were keyed to only let it go in the proper way. The wire that leads to the antenna was right next to it. You didn't have to even think. This was the easiest, most obvious way to install a card I've ever seen.

Man, I love how well Apple designs their computers! They are a joy to work on, instead of a nightmare. And yes, as soon as I fired up the Mac, the new wireless card worked perfectly. :)