David Pierini for Cult of Mac:
The Apple Lisa computer was a colossal failure. It was also the most important machine in personal computing history.
You can try to argue that last claim with John McLearan. He believes it. And he offers his restored Lisa 2/10 — loaded with modifications to make it a 21st-century workhorse — as proof that the computer’s reputation needs a considerable upgrade.
McLearan bought a $500 junker off eBay and restored it… McLearan added a custom hard drive emulator that works off two preprogrammed Compact Flash cards, the type of storage cards photographers use on DSLR cameras. His Lisa also runs fast. The original Lisa’s CPU ran at 5 MHz; McLearan’s CPU clocks in at 18 Mhz. The original Lisa 2/10 came configured with 1 MB of RAM; his packs 12 (and a SCSI startup disk).
MacDailyNews Take: John’s is the McLaren, er… McLearan of Apple Lisas!