1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,920 The iBook is among the most influential computers in computer history, and it's not because 2 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:14,520 of how it looks, unfortunately. I really wanted one of these as a kid. 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:20,200 Because it actually pioneered a technology we take completely for granted these days. 4 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:26,200 It's Wi-Fi. This laptop and its companion router were the first devices to bring Wi-Fi to the masses 5 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:31,360 after Apple in a move that solidified Wi-Fi as the standard wireless networking technology 6 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:35,080 pushed the competing standard into obscurity. 7 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,320 So Apple gave us Wi-Fi right up until they abandoned it. 8 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:44,160 Now this video is sponsored by ASUS because they provide what Apple won't anymore. 9 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:47,840 And I've got the whole history of airport routers and I'm going to show you what they 10 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:54,280 could do and why that's not good enough anymore. 11 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:59,360 We just upgraded our internet here at the house to one gig, which is amazing. 12 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:04,840 But this decade old airport network can't handle it, which is too bad because it's 13 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:11,200 pretty sweet. Upon their release in 2013, the airport extreme router supported the latest draft AC spec 14 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:16,320 which denoted a theoretical throughput of up to 1.3 gigabits per second, which is close 15 00:01:16,320 --> 00:01:21,520 enough for me. It even supported mesh networking before all the other kids started doing it. 16 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:25,920 I have an airport express in the living room that provides a lower latency wired connection 17 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:28,920 to the TV and airplane music to the stereo. 18 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:33,360 And in the basement, I installed a two terabyte time capsule to help up speeds there and provide 19 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:38,840 local and convenient backups for my MacBooks without having to pay $10 a month for iCloud. 20 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:42,440 But unfortunately, that's not going to do because I'm not getting anywhere near the 21 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:48,840 advertised speeds. The fastest speeds I'm able to get is around 500 megabits per second and in this age of 22 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:53,240 countless wireless smart home devices crowding your network and home internet speeds reaching 23 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:59,840 up to 2.5 gigabits per second or beyond, using the latest Wi-Fi technologies is critical 24 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:05,920 and Apple doesn't offer them anymore. It's a shame really because it was Apple who pushed for the Wi-Fi technology we know 25 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:11,920 and use today. They made it happen and well before the term Wi-Fi was even a thing. 26 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:12,920 Let me explain. 27 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:18,720 Back in the late 90s, things were a lot different. 28 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:23,400 Apple was a struggling company that had fallen from glory and the internet was this new whiz 29 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:28,120 bang thing that would bring the world's information to our fingertips. 30 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:32,680 That's what the i in iMac is for because not only did it have a telephone internet modem 31 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:38,920 built in, it also had Ethernet, which was common only on business PCs at the time. 32 00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:42,800 Ethernet is amazing, but the executives at Apple recognized a problem. 33 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,480 Constantly plugging in a laptop was never going to work, even if there were ports at 34 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:50,720 every corner, which wasn't possible anyway because retrofitting centuries of asbestos 35 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:54,600 filled building construction, especially in schools, was not something Apple could do 36 00:02:54,600 --> 00:03:00,280 or expect to happen quickly. The answer, of course, is wireless. 37 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:04,520 The most viable seeming wireless standard at the time was called HomeRF, which is being 38 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,880 developed by a consortium that included Intel, Motorola and Siemens, among others. 39 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,920 It had momentum and according to John Rubenstein in an interview with the Computer History 40 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:18,120 Museum, the HomeRF team was pushing the FCC standards to make it work for them. 41 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:21,280 Better for HomeRF versus, you know, not as good for Wi-Fi. 42 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:24,680 Sounds good enough. Well, Apple didn't go with HomeRF. 43 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:29,720 Okay, so one thing I really wanted to try is the first ever network, so I got the first 44 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:37,680 devices that used them and it was a huge pain to get this iBook to work. 45 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:41,720 There was another technology called Waveland that was developed by a team at NCR in the 46 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:47,080 Netherlands. Today, under the leadership of Vic Hayes, known as the father of Wi-Fi, turned the technology 47 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:52,000 into the first IEEE standard 802.11 by the late 90s. 48 00:03:52,000 --> 00:04:01,280 In that first standard, things were still being figured out, but Apple saw potential. 49 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:05,360 The technology was being used in industrial and commercial applications, so it was expensive, 50 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:10,360 big and inefficient. But Apple, using their muscle, essentially pushed for the technology to be scaled down 51 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:17,040 to a $100 PC card and $300 airport base station, leading to the implementation of the 802.11 52 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:21,200 B standard they introduced to the mainstream in 1999. 53 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:26,160 What I've seen, many of the executives talk really fondly about the airport project, whether 54 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:31,320 it was bringing the technology to market or marketing it at the iBook launch keynote. 55 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:37,560 They made Phil Schiller jump off a scaffold onto a mat in front of everyone. 56 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:42,920 You might not have the momentous reputation as the iMac, but I'd argue that it was more 57 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:47,040 impactful to our daily life. And Apple really committed to Wi-Fi. 58 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:50,520 From then on, every Mac that was released incorporated Wi-Fi intent is to make sure 59 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:57,320 anyone could simply adopt Wi-Fi when they were ready just by plugging this card in. 60 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:04,880 I tried so hard to get this to work, but unfortunately I just can't get the base station to connect 61 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:11,400 to the internet. And even if I could, I probably wouldn't even be able to get to a speed test website 62 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:17,760 to verify the 11 megabits per second throughput that this supports. 63 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:24,320 This uses Wi-Fi 1. The final airport setup only supports the draft version of Wi-Fi 5. 64 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:28,200 Now Apple devices released in the past year support 6e. 65 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:33,320 That includes the new MacBook Pros, iMacs, iPad Pros, and iPhone 15 Pro. 66 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:35,360 So that's why this video is sponsored. 67 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:43,000 This is the top router from ASUS, their ET12. 68 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:51,880 It's very beautiful. It and their spider looking AXE7800 support the current Wi-Fi 6e standard. 69 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:57,280 7 is still in development, though ASUS has a router for that too. 70 00:05:57,280 --> 00:06:03,040 We've come a long way, three wireless bands with a backhaul for the mesh network and speeds 71 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:10,120 of almost 10 gigabits per second. Yep, looks like we're getting the full gigabit speeds just about anywhere in the house. 72 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:16,560 But there's more too. These routers support 2.5 gig Ethernet, meaning you can connect the latest high speed network 73 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:20,560 attached storage and be ready for future internet speed upgrades. 74 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:25,400 There are advanced features at no extra cost, like a simple to use network setup app, built 75 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:30,840 in VPN, security, and family profiles to manage the young ins internet usage. 76 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:35,360 One thing I really like is how you can add any AI mesh-supported ASUS routers to your 77 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:40,040 wireless network should you need more coverage, and you can find out all about it in the link 78 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:45,360 below. Now, Apple was also doing mesh before and early too. 79 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:50,040 Back when Wireless G, now called Wireless 3, was released, Apple was right at the front 80 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:56,120 lines with this airport extreme, and in 2004 they released this very handy airport express. 81 00:06:56,120 --> 00:07:00,360 It could be used as a standalone router, of course, but it could also connect and expand 82 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:05,600 your existing network, while also serving as a printer, server through the USB port, 83 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:08,800 and music through the audio output and airplay. 84 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,920 Though that was called air tunes at the time. 85 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:16,600 And that does mean you'd have to place your printer next to your speakers, doesn't it? 86 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,880 Nevertheless, if you were outputting from iTunes, these supported multi-room audio at 87 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:25,640 the same time as the plucky startup Sonos. 88 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:29,320 For the next decade, Apple kept up with the wireless technologies releasing models that 89 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:33,200 supported the faster wireless N, Wi-Fi 4 standard. 90 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:37,480 They also introduced the convenience and security of local backups with the time capsule, which 91 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:40,680 was an airport extreme with a hard drive built into it. 92 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:44,760 Yes, airport routers were one of the more expensive options at the time, but if you 93 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:48,920 were an Apple user, you got a pretty simple and reliable setup with technologies the 94 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:52,600 mainstream didn't adopt until years later. 95 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:58,560 So what happened? Well, in 2013 Apple released their final suite of routers. 96 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:03,960 Later they disbanded the entire airport team, and then in 2018 they discontinued and sold 97 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:08,040 off the long, old models. 98 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,160 You don't have to throw out these airports, by the way. 99 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:16,040 The last airport Express actually supports the current AirPlay 2 standard, and the time 100 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:20,600 machine can be connected to any network just like any device to still be used to back up 101 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:27,600 your Macs. So that's nice. But if you want the fastest speeds and latest technologies, you have to look elsewhere. 102 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:31,840 Like these ASUS routers. And thanks to them for sponsoring this video. 103 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:38,240 Thanks for connecting to this Mac Address wirelessly. I'm curious in the comments below when you got your first Wi-Fi router, and if you want 104 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:41,720 to check out another video we did, check out the one where I left an air-tagged backpack 105 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:44,200 on a train and then had to go find it again.