Steve Jobs built the ‘coolest computer ever.’ Then it bombed

PLUS: The best WIRED stories from this month a year ago.

View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter subscriptions 07.22.21 This month marks the 21st anniversary of the Power Mac G4 Cube, which debuted on July 19, 2000. It also marks the 20th anniversary of Apple's announcement that it was pulling the plug on the device. When it came out, Steve Jobs said Apple had created "the coolest computer ever." So what went wrong? Read Steven Levy's post-mortem on the Cube, plus more of the best WIRED stories from this month a year ago, below.   21 Years Ago, Steve Jobs Built the 'Coolest Computer Ever.' It Bombed The Power Mac G4 Cube, released in 2000 and discontinued in 2001, violated the wisdom of Jobs' product plan. The Best Stories From This Month, Last Year The Dark Virality of a Hollywood Blood-Harvesting Conspiracy A centuries-old anti-Semitic myth is spreading freely on far-right corners of social media—suggesting a new digital Dark Age has arrived. DoNotPay Unsubscribes You From Spam—and Tries to Get You Paid There's finally a way to get off of email lists with your privacy intact. Hummingbirds Can See Colors We Can't Even Imagine When humans see purple, we're really seeing a blend of red and blue light. Hummingbirds see purple plus ultraviolet—and lots of other nonspectral colors. It's Time to Defund Social Media The algorithmically warped information crisis can't be fixed with half-measures. Follow the Money: How Digital Ads Subsidize the Worst of the Web From Covid conspiracies to election scams, automated advertising software plays a large—and largely unseen—role. How to Outrun a Dinosaur If, through some scientific malfunction, you found yourself transported 70 million years into the past, you might be safer from certain hungry reptiles than you think. GET WIRED Summer Sale! Ending Soon: Get WIRED for $10 $5. You can't see into the future, but you can subscribe to WIRED. Subscribe now.     This e-mail was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book.   View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe or manage your newsletter subscriptions   Copyright © Condé Nast 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.