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Governor May Veto 68 oz. Bottle Tax Bill

Governor Linda Lingle may veto SB 3181 which would apply the 6¢ bottle tax to 68oz. containers. The beverage container tax program which was started in late 2004 puts a surcharge of 6¢ on every beverage container under 68 oz. That means canned sodas, juices, bottled water and more are taxed an extra 6¢ on top of the 4.16% general excise tax paid on all goods sold in Hawaii. Consumers get 5¢ of the 6¢ back if they return each container. Consumers lose a penny per container after they redeem them. The penny is applied cover "administrative expenses" due to the state for running the recycling program.

When the tax was implemented it forced me to change my purchasing habits. I like many others simply stopped buying beverages that came in smaller containers.

Fortunately, if the Governor holds true to her stated intentions, by July 11 the threat of the bottle tax being applied to 68oz. containers will have passed for this year.

From the Governor's press release, her rationale on the probable veto to this bad bill:

SB 3181: RELATING TO SOLID WASTE

"Explanation: This bill would expand beverage container fees to containers up to 68 ounces in size, but provides no mechanism to allow the orderly implementation of re-labeling and replacement of non-labeled product before the bill takes effect. Further, the bill would likely have a disproportionate impact on families who buy these larger containers. Additionally these larger containers cannot be recycled using reverse vending machines and have not been shown to make up a significant portion of litter along roadways, beaches and other public areas."

Overall, the Governor plans to veto 28 bills in addition to the 5 she already vetoed earlier this year. These potential bill vetoes include the ban on commercial opihi selling (SB 2006) and the ban on the public from using the Kaneohe Bay sandbar for recreational purposes (SB 2004). A number of bad labor bills are also on the probable veto list.

Cigarette smokers better be leary of the increase to the cigarette tax, as the bill (SB 2961) to increase it was not on her list.

Good news for the anti-Kakaako Makai development people. HB 2555 which puts a ban on residential development of Kakaako Makai is not on her veto list. Supporters of this bill were fearful that the bill would be vetoed. The "Save Our Kakaako" coalition staged an 11th hour rally this past Saturday on Ala Moana Boulevard to publicly voice their opinion against residential development and the sale of the last ocean-front, open space lands in Honolulu to a commercial developer.

More information:

• Governor's Press Release - Potential Bill Vetoes (6-26-06)
• Hawaii State Legislature - A good place to do bill research.

The Ugliness of Collecting the New GE Tax

An article appearing in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin indicate that the collection of the new general excise tax for the island of Oahu is going to be nothing short of "ugly" and "complicated." It will certainly add more economic burden and paperwork on businesses who have to closely keep track of sales generated on Oahu and those on the neighbor islands if they are doing business off-island. Just more headaches all around.

"The new Oahu tax definition gets complicated because of business sales between different counties. For instance, if a business on Maui sells something to a customer on Oahu, it generates a 4.5 percent (4.7 percent with compounding) excise tax, while sales to customers on Maui remain at 4 percent.

"You are going to have to do segregated accounting; also, you will have to keep a paper trail of sales," Lowell Kalapa, president of the Hawaii Tax Foundation, advised."

Consumers on Oahu will be whacked big time as the GE tax rate will be at 4.7%! The increase may also apply to neighbor island businesses and consumers who buy goods and services from vendors on Oahu. The state is still figuring out the rules.

The tax increase is supposed to take effect on January 1, 2007. State officials are unsure when the start date for the tax collection will begin. They are still working on the details involved with the collection. More than likely if the collections start late, businesses are still going to be required to pay for the increase retroactive to January 1.

The tax of course is to be used for funding Honolulu's multi-billion dollar fixed rail project. What a waste of freakin' money this will be. Rail sucks. As so do taxes.

Mel's Internet Universe Website Graph

Mel's Internet Universe Website Graph, originally uploaded by macprohawaii.

Sometimes you can find the geekiest things by reading someone else's blog. From the Bytemarks blog published and written by Burt Lum came an entry regarding websites as graphs. I guess this is computer art taken to a new arena as your website is represented in a graph such as the one shown here for my main website, Mel's Internet Universe. All you have to do is go to the Websites as Graphs page and enter the URL to your website or anyone else's. Very simple. All you do next is wait for the javascript to map out your site. After that they encourage you to make a screenshot of the resulting graph and post it to Flickr.com and tag the image file with "websitesasgraphs."

Rail: Expensive & Ugly!

The city revealed its plans for the proposed rail transit system. Critics are already calling it "ugly" and "expensive." From today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin:

"There's no hiding of a concrete structure in the middle of the road," said Toru Hamayasu, the city's chief transportation planner.

"Why does it have to be so ugly?" asked Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, who represents Moiliili and Manoa and was shown a computer simulation of a 60-foot-tall rail transit structure that is being proposed to run along University Avenue to the university.

"That's one of the last photos they showed me before they ran out of my office," Kobayashi chuckled. "I was just shocked when I saw it."

Yes, more concrete in the middle of your neighborhood. The computer renderings revealed in today's paper are mostly seen from afar. Up close I have to assume the structures will loom even larger. One thing they forgot to include: The potential of taggers getting to this structure and making your neighborhood even more ugly by spraying and painting graffiti on them. It is bound to happen.

Oh yes, let's not forget the more elevated structures you build, the more free and ugly homeless shelters you have. A great potential for the homeless to set up shop underneath these behemoth structures.... Oh yes, and let us not forget the drug problems that go along with some of the homeless people.

Last year State Senator Les Ihara spoke about the rail line tax proposal (he ended up voting for it I believe) stating that an elevated rail line will divide neighborhoods and communities. You will literally end up with neighbors who live "on the other side of the tracks."

What is the most appalling aspect of this proposal is the cost to build it, now estimated to be around $3 billion! I won't hold them to that because in the end the cost of this thing will certainly rise to at least $6 billion. No one is mentioning how much it will cost to maintain or whether additional taxes will be needed.

Preliminary estimates show that construction of the proposed 23-mile rail transit line between Kapolei and the University of Hawaii at Manoa will cost more than $3 billion, and initial ridership figures show that such a system could attract 120,000 to 150,000 riders per day. But the city warns that those numbers could change as more precise numbers are crunched and such things as environmental, economical, social and other cost impacts are factored in.

You rail supporters really want our tax dollars wasted on these elevated concrete structures?

I wonder where the city is getting their ride estimate figures.

Strangely no one has mentioned the possibility of people's property being taken away through eminent domain in order to make way for the expensive train. Folks, it's coming and it will suck you out of house, home and business.

There will be a series of public meetings on the following days and times for this:

Tomorrow, 8:30-10 a.m., at Kapolei Hale.

Monday, 5:30-7 p.m., Mission Memorial Auditorium (near Honolulu Hale).

Wednesday, 6-7:30 p.m., Aliamanu Middle School cafeteria.

Links to more information

• Artist renderings (from HonoluluAdvertiser.com - flash presentation)
• Rail System Cost Estimate: $ 3 billion - Honolulu Advertiser
• Rail Line Renderings Ring Alarm Bells - Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Graphic above: as posted to Honolulu Star-Bulletin website, University Ave. near King St.

Snippets from the SBH Mid-Year Conference

Small Business Hawaii held their Mid-Year Conference today (June 22) at the Ilikai Hotel in Waikiki. The conference featured speakers from the government sector including heads of the Department of Labor, Commerce & Consumer Affairs and the State Tax Department. Several political candidates made 2 minute speeches stating why the small business community should support them. Business speakers spoke on the recently suspended gas cap law and the restaurant services industry. The keynote speaker was State Attorney General Mark Bennett, who spoke on tough crime measures that were passed this year as well as a bad constitutional amendment question that voters will have to consider this fall.



State Tax Director Kurt Kawafuchi touched upon the upcoming general excise tax issue stating that neighbor island customers may not have to pay the extra .5% of the Oahu county surcharge to the G.E.T. under certain conditions. This was news to me.



Barnaby Robinson, owner of Kahala & Nimitz Chevron reminded conference goers that Hawaii consumers are presently enjoying a break from having to pay General Excise Tax on a gallon of gasoline. That break will come to an end at the beginning of 2007 when the GET will be reinstated to gasoline purchases at the higher rate of 4.5% for Oahu consumers given the fact that the county surcharge to pay for fixed rail will also kick in at the same time. This will increase the cost per gallon by at least 15 cents he says. OUCH! Rail sucks.





Two 2nd congressional district candidates showed up at the SBH conference. State Senator Colleen Hanabusa currently representing the Leeward Coast of Oahu is making a bid for the 2nd congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Representative Ed Case, who is going head to head this year against U.S. Senator Dan Akaka. She along with State Senator Bob Hogue from Kaneohe, are two candidates running in this race who actually live in the 2nd Congressional district. The crowded field of candidates include several who do not reside in the 2nd district but still making a run for the seat because the law says they can. We'll see what happens this fall.



State Attorney General Mark Bennett touched upon the judicial triumphs this past legislation session that included the passage of tougher laws that punish criminals including the "three strikes" statute that mandates a 30-year prison sentence for repeat offenders, a stronger wiretap law and increased emphasis on prosecuting sexual predators, especially those who use computers to entice and commit a crime. He also warned conferees about the judicial mandatory retirement age repeal law that is being proposed as a constitutional amendment this fall. This amendment is a Democrat party proposal to stave off mandatory retirement of certain judges that were appointed before Governor Lingle took office in 2002.

Ramming Rail & Taxes Down Our Throats

Fixed rail in Honolulu may become a harsh reality in about 10 to 15 years. The rail proposal was kicked into high gear last year after Governor Linda Lingle let a bill to increase the general excise tax to pay for rail pass without her signature. This was done after she had signed the Americans for Tax Reform "Tax Pledge" during her 2002 campaign to promise us, her supporters, the voters and the state not to increase taxes.

Letting that bill become law was a huge disappointment to me and many others who oppose more tax increases and fixed rail.

Upon that action, the City administration under Mayor Mufi Hanneman along with 7 members of the City Council implemented the city's authorization to collect that tax for the funding of rail or whatever mass transit proposal they finally agree on.

Today the harsh reality of that tax kicking in on January 1, 2007 came closer as the mechanics of actually collecting the tax surcharge was tentatively agreed upon by the city and state. In the end, the state will become the reluctant player in this scheme to actually collect the tax from every business and person that does some kind of financial transaction within the City and County of Honolulu. This also includes those individuals, businesses and organizations on the neighbor islands who also make transactions with firms located on Oahu.

I have long been an opponent to any tax increase and an opponent of rail transit. Rail is 19th century technology that is not needed for the island of Oahu. This is the United States of America and frankly, most of us are married to our cars, trucks, vans and SUVs. Most motorists will never give up their vehicles to suffer through the unpleasantness and inconvenience of using public transportation such as a train or bus.

Studies and estimates through several decades have indicated that about 5% of the public will actually use mass transit and that promises of a train reducing traffic congestion is nothing but a lie. The city and state can do better by not sucking more money out of our pockets and halt all proposals to have an expensive and ugly rail line built in Honolulu.

For more reading:

• Mayor Says Compromise Reached with State on Collecting General Excise Tax Hike for Rail
• Transit Tax Impasse Ends
• State, City Make Transit Deal
  
• The Tragicomedy GE Tax Collection Squabble
• Governor Lingle Rescinds Decision to Veto Tax Increase
• HonoluluTraffic.com
  

Photo: Concept of fixed rail as published at HonoluluTraffic.com website.

Small Business Hawaii's Mid Year Conference

One of the organizations that I am active in is Small Business Hawaii. The 30 year old business advocacy organization will be holding its 2nd annual Mid-Year conference this coming Thursday, June 22 at the Ilikai hotel. Here is their press release announcement:

The second annual Small Business Hawaii (SBH) Mid-Year Business Conference, "The 2006 Legislative Impact on Small Business-and Opportunities in the 2006 Elections" will be held this Thursday, June 22 at the Ilikai Hotel in Waikiki, Pacific Ballroom, 9 am to 1:30 pm. Rick Hamada of KHVH radio will be the program M.C.

The conference will include a review of the past legislative session-including the gas cap, taxes and labor issues- by top state officials who deal with business and tax issues, and State Senators Colleen Hanabusa and Sam Slom

Conference speakers will include Melissa Pavlichek of NFIB and the Western States Petroleum Association, Barnaby Robinson gasoline retailer and state administration leaders, Nelson Befitel, Department of Labor & Industrial Relations; Kurt Kawafuchi, Director, department of Taxation, and Mark Recktenwald, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. These most important agencies dealing with your business will talk with you!

Restauranteur Bill Tobin, of Tiki's Grill & Bar Waikiki, will discuss "Hawaii's Restaurant Industry; Challenges and Opportunities."

Between 11 am and noon, candidates for federal, state and county office, were invited to make brief statements and distribuite campaign material. 20 candidates have confirmed. Malia Zimmerman of HawaiiReporter will moderate.

At noon, the keynote speech is by state Attorney General Mark Bennett.

For reservations, questions or more information, call Darlyn Evangelista, SBH, at 396-1724 or SBH@lava.net.

Cost is $40 for SBH members and their guests (in advance); $50 for non-members, and at the door, if space is available. Fill out the reservation form below and send it in to SBH with your payment today. (Email: SBH@lava.net). Reservations made in order received. No tickets mailed - pick up at registration desk June 22. Your guests are welcome at member price. Refunds until June 20.

Advanced Paid Reservations Required by June 19 Complete Business Forum, Luncheon and $3 Validated Parking (Ilikai Hotel Parking Garage).

The reservation form is online at SBH's website: http://www.smallbusinesshawaii.com.

Spinning Vinyl

One of the technologies that I haven't given up on is vinyl. While I am the owner of thousands of CDs, countless numbers of digital music files, I still hang on to older music technology like records and tapes. I probably have about 500 record albums in my collection split between two islands. About 300 live with me in Honolulu and the remainder with my parents on the Big Island.

Occasionally I find the time to trot out these old albums and 45s and give them a spin. Today it was time for the album "Blood, Sweat & Tears" by the group of the same name. This record came out around 1968 and has a jazz-rock sound to it featuring big brass and the vocals of lead singer David Clayton Thomas. This band is known for several hit singles, three of which appear on this album: "Spinning Wheel," "You Make Me So Very Happy" and "When I Die." The band Chicago is similar to BS&T as both were on the same label, Columbia in the late 60s and the 70s.

I have to remember to reset the camera to get rid of the day/time stamp.

Are You GO! for $39?

The big news for the traveling public in Hawaii is Go!, a new interisland air carrier that started flying paying passengers on June 9 with their fleet of 3 CRJ 200 50 passenger mini-jets. Go! is owned and operated by Mesa Airlines which does business on the mainland under a number of monickers for other airlines.

Go! made their announcement with a big splash in March when they unveiled a $39 one-way fare for travel to any island on their schedule. Both Hawaiian and Aloha Airlines quickly matched the $39 fare with Island Air not too far behind into the fray.

Days before Go!'s launch, they again upped the ante in the "fare war" when they introduced a $19 promotional fare, which was quickly matched by Hawaiian Airlines only. A day before Go! started flying paying passengers, and after they had supposedly sold all their $19 seats, Aloha Airlines dropped "da bomb" by giving away 1,000 free ticket vouchers to customers who waited in line at Honolulu, Lihue, Kahului, Kona and Hilo airports on the morning of Go!s launch.

Needless to say Aloha Airlines won the P-R battle that morning as the local TV newscasts gave live coverage to all of the people standing in line at Honolulu International Airport eclipsing Go!'s debut.

You gotta love capitalism. Hawaii residents haven't seen this kind of interisland fare pricing in years. Surely it will be tough for all of the interisland airlines to maintain the low fares while trying to pay the bills and stay profitable. Seriously, Go! is probably here to kill off one of their competitors. Time will tell what will happen.

In the meantime the public and myself gets to enjoy the ride!

Links to Hawaii's interisland airlines:

• Hawaiian Airlines
• Aloha Airlines
• Island Air
• Go!
• Pacific Wings

Graphic above: Go!'s website advertising their current low fare.

Honolulu's Kamehameha Day Parade

Honolulu's Kamehameha Day Parade, originally uploaded by macprohawaii.

I shot more than 100 photos at yesterday's 90th Annual King Kamehameha Day Parade which started in Downtown Honolulu and proceeded its way through the Kakaako, Ala Moana and Waikiki areas before ending at Kapiolani Park. More details on the parade is covered in today's Honolulu Advertiser. A few more photos that I shot are posted below. If you click on any of the photos here, you will see larger versions at my Flickr photo website.

What's a parade without a beauty queen? This is Mrs. Hawaii... sorry I don't know her name.

There weren't many floats in the parade. This entry from Hawaiian Airlines was one of the nicest.



KITV's Paula Akana was this year's Pa'u Queen.

You can view more photos by going to my Flickr photo website.

Akaka Bill Dead

The momentum for the Akaka Bill (S147 or S3064) came to an end yesterday after failing to pass a vote on cloture in the United States Senate by a margin of 56 to 41. Supporters of the bill needed at least 60 votes in the Senate to have the bill heard and voted upon on the Senate floor. With the cloture vote failing to pass, the bill is dead for this year.

Democratic U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka spent the last 6 years trying to get this bill through Congress with yesterday's vote being the closest it ever came to actually being heard on the Senate floor. The bill had the full support of Hawaii's Democrat congressional delegation, Governor Linda Lingle, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) and many others including some Republicans in the U.S. Senate with whom supporters lobbied heavily in the weeks preceding the vote.

Detractors of the bill are many. Two of the most prominent are Bill and Sandra Burgess who have long been critics of raced based programs and who publish the website Aloha for All which is one of several that track the progress of the Akaka Bill and similar issues. Other detractors include The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, some Hawaiian sovereignty groups and many, mostly silent individuals.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a report in May calling the bill "discriminatory and divisive". The "legislation that would discriminate on the basis of race or national origin and further subdivide the American people into discrete subgroups accorded varying degrees of privilege."

The United States Department of Justice issued a statement which also called the Akaka Bill "unconstitutional and divisive."

Supporters of the legislation see the bill as a way to ensure that programs exclusive to Native Hawaiians, such as the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) and the Kamehameha Schools continue and be protected. Senator Akaka himself acknowledged "that secession or return to a Hawaiian monarchy could occur with this legislation." This was reportedly stated again by Senator Akaka on the Senate floor yesterday.

The prospect of Hawaii's secession from the United States of America while remote, is chilling. Ever since Hawaii became a territory and a state, all of the people including Native Hawaiians have enjoyed the full protection and benefits of being bonafide United States citizens. That should never be changed by turning the clock back more than 100 years.

Beside the secession issue, the Akaka Bill has some other serious flaws that include:

• Authorization of a "race-based" government that would benefit Hawaiians not only living in Hawaii, but throughout the United States.
• Creating a new "tribe" out of the Native Hawaiian population, which the U.S. Supreme Court has stated that Congress cannot do.
• Violation of the 1959 statehood act in which Native Hawaiians would not be treated as a separate racial group and not be transformed into an "Indian tribe".
• Possible complications and inequality among the population in Hawaii in relation to taxpayer issues, land trusts and government jurisdictions.

In the end, everything should remain as is. Hawaii is functional with the governance we now have. It is not perfect and certainly can be improved.

As United States citizens, ways to allow the Native Hawaiian population to prosper within the confines of our laws and system should continue to be explored. The creation of more bureaucracy and especially more government in terms of establishing a new Hawaiian nation is not an option that should be legislated into law.

For more reading:

• Akaka Bill Deader Than Dead, by Malia Zimmerman, HawaiiReporter.com
• Criticism of Akaka Bill is Outrageous, by U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye, HawaiiReporter.com
• Despite a 'Yes' Vote on Cloture, I am Unequivocally Opposed to the Akaka Bill, by U.S Senator John McCain, Arizona, HawaiiReporter.com
• Majority of U.S. Senators Supports My Akaka Bill, By U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka, HawaiiReporter.com
• President's Administration Slams Akaka Bill, HawaiiReporter.com
• Akaka Bill Leaves the Constitution and Basic Civil rights Up to a Negotiation Process, by U.S. Senator Jon Kyl, HawaiiReporter.com
• Akaka Bill Debate Tops U.S. Senate Agenda Today, by Malia Zimmerman, HawaiiReporter.com
• More Links to the Akaka Bill Issue, at HawaiiReporter.com
• Akaka Bill Falls Short in Senate, Pacific Business News
• Lingle Resolute After Akaka Bill Dies, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
• Akaka Bill Fails, Akaka Vows to Try Again, Honolulu Advertiser
• Residents React to Akaka Bill Defeat, Honolulu Advertiser
• Comments on the Akaka Bill, Discussion topic at HawaiiThreads.com
• Aloha4All Website, Published by H. William Burgess
• Akaka Bill Falls Short in Senate, Office of Hawaiian Affairs
• Office of Hawaiian Affairs Website (OHA)
  
• Let Us Vote Hawaii, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
• The Real Akaka Bill Bias, by Don Newman, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
• U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Report, May 2006
• Inouye Stumbles Over Akaka Bill, By Bruce Fein, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
• White House Opposes the Akaka Bill, By Tim Chapman, Townhall.com
  
• Race Based Governing Looms, by Tim Chapman, Townhall.com
• Apartheid for Native Hawaiians, by Michelle Malkin, Townhall.com

Please note that some links will go out of date as this article ages. None will be updated.

Updating the Hawaii Radio & Television Guide

One of the websites that I publish is the Hawaii Radio & Television Guide. It originally started out as a site where only radio and TV stations are listed, but has grown over the years to include news links, a message board and archive. Today for the first time in several weeks I managed to update a few of the news pages. Hopefully I'll have more time to update the listings since people still send me URLs that they want to have the site linked to.

What I really need to do is revise the layout of the site and perhaps go with a blog interface for the news pages and find an easier way to keep the dial listings up to date. If anyone know of an easy to use, Macintosh friendly database program that can easily port data to the web tell me about it. Also it has to be free or of reasonably low cost. Leave a comment if you know.

Other than that, here are some of the news items I posted to the main site.

PAUL UDELL LEAVES KITV CHANNEL 4: In what appears to be a bombshell announcement, Paul Udell veteran news anchor and reporter for Honolulu ABC affiliate KITV announced his resignation and retirement from the station effective at the end of his vacation period. More details: StarBulletin.com | Discussion Topic

FORMER ISLAND DJ FOUND DEAD: Steven B. Williams, a former island disc jockey and voice talent was recently found dead in the waters off a California Beach last month. Police detectives have ruled his cause of death to be a murder. Details on the killing are still under investigation with no suspect found. Williams was 59. While in Hawaii he was on radio stations KKUA, KIKI, KAHU, KULA, KQMQ and KDEO. More Details at the following links: Denver Post | StarBulletin.com | Discussion Topic

STATION OWNERS MAKE SWAP: Owners of radio stations KORL 690 and KHCM 1180 will be swapping frequencies this summer but retaining call letters and formats. Salem Communications Corp and Hochman-McCann Hawaii Inc. have agreed to the deal to a price of $1 million. The agreement is pending FCC approval. More details: StarBulletin.com | Discussion Topic

LOW POWER AM FROM UH HILO: The University of Hawaii has its first radio station. Low power AM radio station URH (UHH Radio) at 1640 on the AM dial started broadcasting this spring. The non-profit radio station features a format of free form music similar to what is offered at KTUH at the UH Manoa Campus. The volunteer disc jockeys pick the music. A station spokesperson said that they aim to go to 3KW like their UH Manoa counterpart in the future. The station is also streaming their content at their website: http://radio.uhh.hawaii.edu/#

Of course more of this content is at the main site:

http://www.hawaiiradiotv.com.

Updating Mel's Macintosh Universe

One of several websites that I run is Mel's Macintosh Universe. It is one of those "my favorite computer is a Macintosh" type of site where I focus mainly on the models I currently own. I have owned several.

Anyway after a period of long inactivity in terms of updates to the site, I finally got around to doing it this weekend by adding a new iPod page and adding the Powerbook 3400 essays that I published here to the site there. So now items on running a Powerbook off a compact flash card and turning the thing into an MP3 jukebox now reside where it should.

I also updated the Power Mac G4 Quicksilver page and the main home page. If you go to the main page you can participate in the ongoing poll I have about "what Macintosh do you use".

With the introduction of the Intel based Apple Macintoshes, the end to the long running Power Mac G4 line of computers came to pass last month. The last Power Mac G4 was the G4 iBook and G4 Mac Mini. Those were replaced last month with their updated siblings running on Intel chips.

So are the Power Macs using G3, G4 or even G5 chips obsolete? Far from it. These machines will be useful for years to come as long as you don't need the latest and greatest software. I use my Power Mac G4 for all of my major daily computer tasks including writing to this blog, webpage building and maintenance, desktop publishing, sound playback and management through iTunes and other programs, photo imaging editing and a lot more. About the only thing I haven't done with my aging G4 is make a full on video, though I suspect this machine can, albeit a little slower than a G5.

One of my favorite things about running this older G4 is that it is dual booting. I can boot into OSX which I use about 95% of the time and also into Mac OS 9.2.2 which I need for some projects. You can't boot into Mac OS 9.2.2 with an Intel Mac. Those new Macs don't even support classic mode. Fact is many Macintosh owners and users still rely on classic applications for their workflow. I suspect these old Macs will continue to be workhorses for several more years.