eBay

20th Anniversary Mac on eBay is new-in-the-box

In 1997, I was watching "The X-Files," going to college, and using floppy disks in computer class. In 1997, Apple was showing off with the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (also known as TAM), a sleek and imaginative take on the personal computer.

The TAM was ahead of its time. It was slim, had an integrated screen, and shimmered with metal-flake paint. You can now relive all the excitement of ordering and unboxing your very own TAM by buying one new-in-the-box on eBay.

The eBay TAM's accessory box has been opened to check for damage, but the rest of it is pristine. The substantial user manual is still shrink-wrapped. Not surprisingly, the system is being sold as-is.

The TAM has a 250MHz PowerPC processor, a CD-ROM drive, 32MB of RAM, a Bose speaker system, a 12.1-inch LCD display, and a keyboard with a luxurious Italian leather palm rest. Yes, it has a floppy disk drive.

Those specs won't get you very far with today's software demands, but it's not really about what you can do with it. It's about having one in your personal Apple museum. It's the sort of item you would place on your fireplace mantel and stare at while sipping a cocktail.… Read more

The 404 893: Where we never rub another man's rhubarb (podcast)

The world's most expensive 3G iPad 2 is up for purchase on eBay with a "Buy it Now" price of $620,000...and it comes with a 1:1 replica of the Batmobile featured in the original Tim Burton movies.

On today's episode of The 404 podcast, we'll about the original Batmobile design and get to more stories, including Beyonce setting Twitter records with her pregnancy announcement at this weekend's VMAs, 260 mph paintballs causing problems for plastic surgeons, and a Dominos pizza location on the moon. We also choose sides in the Chris Brown vs. Jay-Z feud!

The 404 Digest for Episode 893

Beyonce's VMA fallout sets record at 8,868 Tweets per second. Beyonce and Jay-Z's baby already has a Twitter page. The original Tim Burton Batmobile is up for sale on eBay. Paintball shot ruptures woman's silicone breast implant. Dominos to open first generic pizza store on the moon.

Episode 893 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Amazon, eBay, Apple among top retail sites visited

Amazon was the most visited retail site in June, according to new data out today from Comscore.

Compared with all other online retailers, Amazon.com grabbed more than 282 million visitors in June, reaching 20.4 percent of the entire Internet population around the world.

Trailing in second place was eBay.com with 223.5 million visitors, or 16.2 percent of the global audience. Across the world, China's Alibaba Corporation (which includes Taobao, Alibaba.com and Alipay) saw 156.8 million people, or 11.3 percent of all Internet users, visit its sites.

In fourth place in June … Read more

Pulled eBay MacBook 3G sports magnetic antenna

Following this weekend's brief, but notable eBay listing of a MacBook Pro notebook with a built-in 3G antenna and SIM card slot, the seller has provided more details on the device, the sale of which never went through.

According to the seller, who posted additional details on the forums of Macrumors, the auction for the prototype machine was pulled at Apple's request for infringing on "copyrights, trademarks or other intellectual property rights."

In a follow-up forum posting, the seller provided additional photos of the device, which sparked interest given that Apple has never shipped a notebook computer with built-in 3G networking capabilities. Of note is the exterior antenna, which in a follow-up photo, is shown to be removable, and affixed to the machine's display only with magnets.

"Reading through the thread the antenna seems to be the hottest topic, mostly how 'ugly' it is. Really in person it seems quite well designed, and not out of place with the rest of Apple's look," the seller, who goes by the name "Evilroot" wrote. "Also after reading the post earlier about the patent application I was surprised to find that the antenna actually follows that exact description: it is attached with a magnet and snaps off!" … Read more

Sell old electronics fast with eBay Instant Sale app

So you bought yourself an iPhone, and now you're looking to turn your old iPod Touch into cold, hard cash. Or perhaps you've got an old laptop you're looking to unload, but don't want to deal with the hassles of selling it at an auction or on Craigslist.

With eBay Instant Sale for iOS, all it takes is a few taps to sell your unwanted electronics. Just search for the device (phone, camera, MP3 player, GPS, etc.), then answer a few questions about it: condition, specs, what's included, and so on.

When you're done, … Read more

Cha-ching! Tetris cartridge has $1 million price tag

There are a lot of things you can buy for $1 million. You could pick up the first comic featuring Superman, a C-X75 Jaguar hybrid supercar, or a copy of Tetris. Wait a minute...Tetris?

Granted, this isn't just any Tetris. It's an original Japanese Mega Drive Tetris cartridge in like-new condition. I can see that you're still not reaching for your stack of credit cards. Let's sweeten the deal. The case is also signed by Tetris creator Alekséi Pázhitnov.

A seller in Spain going by the eBay handle "shinsnk " is auctioning this extremely rare version of Tetris. His ad claims that only a handful of the cartridges are known to exist around the world. Better go check the boxes of old video game gear in your closets, folks.… Read more

PayPal carries eBay to strong second quarter

E-commerce giant eBay turned in a strong second quarter as its PayPal unit delivered its first quarter with more than $1 billion in revenue.

eBay reported second-quarter earnings of $283 million, or 22 cents a share, on revenue of $2.76 billion. Non-GAAP earnings were 48 cents a share. Wall Street was looking for earnings of 46 cents a share on revenue of $2.61 billion.

As for the outlook, eBay projected third-quarter non-GAAP earnings of 46 cents a share to 47 cents a share on revenue of $2.85 billion to $2.95 billion. Wall Street was looking for … Read more

NAD 3020: Vintage hi-fi that still sounds great

I recently bought a NAD 3020 integrated amplifier on eBay for $66. The little amp was a smash hit in 1980 and instantly put NAD on the map. While the amp made its reputation as a giant killer, it's not very big--just 16 by 3.75 by 10 inches. And the look is bare-bones basic. The sound is something else again; as soon as I fired it up I remembered why budget-minded audiophiles bought more than a half million 3020s in about three years, making it the best-selling integrated amp of all time.

It was rated at just 20 … Read more

eBay buys Zong for $240 million

eBay announced today it has agreed to acquire mobile payments provider Zong for $240 million in cash to bolster its PayPal platform and reach.

Zong provides a mobile payments platform that facilitates carrier-direct billing for digital goods and services. Users pay for their purchases by entering their mobile phone number and payment is billed to the customer's wireless service account.

The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company helped develop Facebook Credits and has partnered with many of the social gaming and virtual worlds' biggest companies, including Zynga, IMVU, Walt Disney's Playdom, and IAC's Zwinky.

The company claims a … Read more

Precious Google+ invitation on eBay: 99 cents

I am sure that Google+ is the next coming of, well, at least Facebook.

Should I get an invitation, I will definitely invite Sen. Harry Reid, Dick Cheney, Col. Ghaddafi, and Metta World Peace (formerly Ron Artest of the Los Angeles Lakers) to my Solving the World's Problems Circle.

However, I am still feeling a touch skeptical about Google's claim that demand for an invitation to the network is so "insane" that it has had to close it off to newcomers.

You see, fine economists believe that when demand is vast, this vastness is immediately reflected … Read more