I generally avoid questions that can be answered with a polite, yet firm, “no,” but I’ve received this one often enough that answering it here may save some wear and tear on my Inbox. Reader Susan Billings is the latest to ask:
Is there a way I can convert an old iMac for use with the new Mac mini?
No.
And, by “no,” I really mean “Oh, perhaps, but why bother with tracing the iMac’s video cable, figuring out which pin-outs go where, hacking together some funky cable, and risking electrocution in the process when you can buy a VGA CRT monitor for next to nothing?”
I’m enough of a geek that I welcome descriptions and pictures of such an iMac/iBook/PowerBook hack from those who just can’t help themselves, but those of you who weren’t born with a soldering iron in hand should find more productive (and safer) ways to spend your time.