Yesterday, to my
infinite delight, a
UPS truck delivered my
G4 to my front doorstep. I ran inside, took it out of the box, and began to set it up.
Now, thanks to Apple's popularity, the
Apple Studio Display I had ordered to go along with it was
backordered, so while the G4 was here, the
monitor was not. Of course, I didn't think that would be a problem. I have plenty of older Apple
MultiScan monitors, and, assuming that like all previous
Macs, the G4 was in possession of a
DB15 Mac monitor port, I swung the cable around to the back to hook it up.
Much to my dismay, I realized that aside from the ADC (Apple Display Connector, for the new-fangled Apple display that had not yet arrived), there was only a VGA port, which has three offset rows of five pins, and most obviously did not work with a DB15 connector. Of course, looking back, it made sense: since all Apple was now producing was their ADC-compatible line, and all other monitors (i.e. PC) seem to be geared towards the VGA port, it made sense.
However, this was not going to do me any good, considering that I was holding a DB15 cable in my hand, with no way to hook it up. So, naturally, I had to go look for an adapter.
And, after calling every electronics store in Santa Cruz (including spending half an hour explaining to some technician what a VGA port looked like), and an hour of searching on the web, I discovered that the particular adaptor was almost nowhere to be found, despite the fact that Apple advertises its existence in their setup guide.
On the following day, I finally found an adapter, thanks to the actually knowledgeable salespeople at MacWarehouse, and it should be here tomorrow. But, I ask, why couldn't they have sprung the minimal amount of money and stuck on a DB15 for older monitors as well - or at least give you an adapter with the accessory kit? Just because there are a lot of new monitors on the market doesn't mean the older ones will disappear - and there are still plenty of Apple MultiSync 17s out there with DB15 connectors, which, with a G4, are more trouble to hook up than they're worth.