Your Apple history.
I was intrested in knowing what everyone's Apple history is. What I mean is, what was your first Apple computer (or Mac). When did you decide to switch, if your a switcher. Why do you stick with the Mac. And overall how much you love your Mac. I'll get it started.
My first Apple was just that, the AppleIIPlus in 1979. Great computer, still runs. Next was the MacPlus 1986, still runs as well, is used for simple word processing to this day. Next was the Mac LC in 1991 which also still runs like a dream. After that, I got a PowerMac 6400 in 1996 which also still runs very well and is used quite frequently for word processing and games. Than in 2000 I got the G4 Cube that I am typing this on, and my Dad got a G4 tower for use at school (even though his school is entirely wintell, he and one other teacher still use Macs)
My plan for my next mac: an iPod and a G5, but I'll have to wait till I get a little more money. I have never owned a wintell computer, and I really dislike using them. I'm a Mac guy from birth and will always be. I love Macs and I think they are the greatest computers in the world. I'm gushing now, so I'll stop.
My first Apple was just that, the AppleIIPlus in 1979. Great computer, still runs. Next was the MacPlus 1986, still runs as well, is used for simple word processing to this day. Next was the Mac LC in 1991 which also still runs like a dream. After that, I got a PowerMac 6400 in 1996 which also still runs very well and is used quite frequently for word processing and games. Than in 2000 I got the G4 Cube that I am typing this on, and my Dad got a G4 tower for use at school (even though his school is entirely wintell, he and one other teacher still use Macs)
My plan for my next mac: an iPod and a G5, but I'll have to wait till I get a little more money. I have never owned a wintell computer, and I really dislike using them. I'm a Mac guy from birth and will always be. I love Macs and I think they are the greatest computers in the world. I'm gushing now, so I'll stop.
Comments
I wrecked the Mac SE when I scratched some tracings on the MB while trying to upgrade something or other. So I got a Performa (68020 chip) of some sort ... later I upgraded to a newer performa (68040 chip).
That lasted untill the iMac was released ... I called Macmall tho order the 233 iMac and they told me there was a brand new 266 model with 6 MB of vid mem ... so I jumped on it. I'm still using that one with no modification other than increased RAM (and Jag). I also have an iBook SE (466).
As soon as Panther is shipping with it (or a coupon for free Panther when it does ship) I will order a G5 1.8 .... later this week ???
I programmed in Basic and assembly on that thing and played so many cracked games. A good friend had a friend that ran a BBS with a 10 MB Harddrive! I remember waiting hours to download Autoduel on a 300 Baud modem.
Hey, I was a kid, I didn't know.
In 1984 a different friend's dad bought a Mac. I was awestruck. I was already amazed at what could be done with a computer, but the Mac was just lightyears ahead of the green and white screen.
Ultimately my school went to a ][GS, and then my high school used Macs with Hypercard. I was always in touch with the Mac side of things. By college I had to program with PCs, but I couldn't believe that a decade or more later I had to go back to a command line.
I eventually got a free PC for school programming and things, but had a close friend that was always in the Mac world so I continued to be up to date on Mac news through the rise and fall of Power Computing. During the darkest days of the Mac, I opted to make my first computer purchase a PC. I got a generic. I did it because I wanted to wait until Apple pre-Return of the King Jobs could figure out what it was going to do.
Ultimately Apple found it's way, I passed my computer on to my brother and I've bought at least six Macs in the past six years.
My first Mac! 25MHz 040, 8MB RAM, 230MB hard drive, 1MB VRAM, 2x CD-ROM (with caddy), 14" Apple Triniton display...keyboard and mouse sold separately. Came with System 7.1 and ultimately made it up to 8.6 I think.
But I loved this machine. It's where I learned Illustrator and Photoshop (still learning, of course). It's where I first experienced "being online" (via AOL at first, eventually Earthlink). Had it for 6 years, with several cross-country moves (SoCal, Virginia, back to SoCal, Tennessee, back to SoCal). Never failed, never sputtered.
2. Apple iMac DV ? February 2000-March 2002
400MHz G3, 384MB RAM, 10GB hard drive, 8MB VRAM, DVD drive (slot loading), FireWire, Ethernet, AirPort, etc.
Pure, 100% joy. My little orange jellybean. I loved everything about it. It's currently with a friend but she and I have an arrangement: when she goes to buy a new computer, I get my little tangerine buddy back! This is where I first installed and used OS X (the public beta and everything since). IMO, the greatest computer ever made on the face of the planet...but I'm a bit biased. And it WAS my color, so...
3. G4 iMac ? March 2002-Present
800MHz G4, 512MB RAM, 60GB hard drive, 32MB VRAM, SuperDrive, 15" LCD, FireWire, Ethernet, AirPort, etc.
My current Mac. I like it fine, but it honestly never took hold of me like the orange DV iMac. I love it and it's a great machine, but I have no real connection to it, it seems. But it's solid, never crashes or acts up and is a great performer. And people dig it quite a bit when they first see it, so that's cool.
That's it. Oh, I forgot: for about a 6-month period during the time I owned the tangerine iMac DV, I also had a second-hand Rev. B tangerine iBook (300MHz G3, 320MB RAM, 6GB hard drive, etc.). But it was more a pain in the butt having that AND the iMac. It was overkill and I was constantly manually updating/syncing the two. I sold it to a co-worker for what I had in it, so it worked out well.
In about a month or so - give or take - the above list will be updated with a PowerBook of some sort. 12" or 15", I have no idea. Gonna see what Paris brings...
My first Mac. I got it just before the Pismo's came out and I was ok with that. But in April, I found a deal on a 500mhz Pismo for a sweet price, so I sold that powerbook to a friend (who still uses it to this day, despite the battery being worthless).
April 2000 - May 2001: Bronze Powerbook (Pismo) 500mhz
I loved this computer. I took it everywhere with me and it treated me well. This is the computer I first started using OS X on and I've never looked back.
May 2001 - present: iMac 400mhz (Indigo)
I bought this computer when Sears was closing out their Mac stuff. I got it for $500. For a while, I toyed with re-selling it because I didn't need a desktop. I decided to hold on to it and gave it to my little sister as a birthday present. It's still my family's primary computer and serves as the house's wireless server. It's worked like a dream since I got it and it rarely gets turned off.
March 2001 - August 2003: G4 Cube, 450mhz, 17" Studio Display (CRT)
This computer was purchased as a server for my dissertation project. My major professor actually bought it, but I was hoping I'd inherit it when I graduated. Unfortunately it was stolen last month after a year of disuse because I was gone on internship. I'm still mourning the loss.
May 2001 - March 2002: iBook, dual USB (500 mhz)
pearly* STILL hold a place in my heart. I loved this computer to death. She was my first Airport experience and I'll never forget her. I took her to Egypt and Germany and worked on my master's thesis on her. Unfortunately, I succumbed to spec-envy and sold her to finance my 15" powerbook. Since I sold her, I've regretted it. I TRIED to get my fiancee to take it and sell her Dell desktop, but she wouldn't do it. We still go back and forth about it (I rub it in when she laments having to sit inside to work on her dissertation when it's nice outside).
November 2001 - September 2003: iPod, original 5gig
I got the iPod when it was $400 for the 5giger and I never regretted it. I purchased a TAP at compusa and cashed it in recently. I replaced it with another 5giger and got some other stuff on the side. It's a good size for me, so I've not missed a beat.
June 2002 - present: Airport Basestation (snow)
My first ABS. Still using it after all this time. Even after a rather bad fall off a tall bookshelf (my cats knocked the WHOLE THING over), it's still working without a hitch.
March 2002 - January 2003: 15" TiBook, 667mhz, VGA
I never really connected to this computer. Maybe it was the resentment of parting with my pearly*. Maybe it was the size. I don't know. I didn't get too upset when the miniPB came out. It was my iBook reincarnated with a G4.
January 2003 - present: 12" mini-PB, combo drive
I love this computer almost as much as I loved pearly*. It's been good to me. The only complaint I've got is the heat. I have sweaty palms, so it's a problem from time to time. I think this one will stick around for a while. I've got a 17" monitor, keyboard and mouse to make it feel like a desktop when I'm at home and it's ultra-portable - something that's really important to me. Her name is minnie. She's sticking around for a bit.
Soon - who knows: G5, 1.6ghz
The verdict is out on this one. It's going to be a replacement for the Cube that was stolen. I'm sure I'll be happy with it.
Whew. That was a lot of work. This history doesn't count the 2 iBooks that passed through my hands on the way to my brother and sister-in-law. I've gone through a lot of Macs in under 4 years. I've gotta stop for a while...
In high school programming class: Mac running System 6 w/MacBasic :-)
In college: Performa 636 CD (now in my old room at my folks' house)
Now: My PowerBook (see below)
Next (?): I'm saving up for a G5 PowerBook
We inherited an LC II a few years later- 1995 or so. It was nice to have a colour monitor. The LC II only had a 40MB hard drive (same as the classic) which was a major pain, so we got a zip drive (later, in 1998 or so)
In 2001, I graduated from high school, right when my parents bought a refurb iMac. We also picked up a couple of old machines from my uncle's mac graveyard - a 630 which acts as a floppy disk drive and a print server so that the iMac can connect to our old StyleWriter II, and a Quadra 605 which became my computer for first year university.
Summer of 2002 I got a job selling computers. At the end of the summer I bought myself an eMac 700, which is serving me quite well
At work right now I'm using some version of RedHat linux (thank goodness they didn't make me use WinNT). I find it *fairly* useable, but that's cause I'm doing unixy stuff all day long. On the other hand, I just discovered how to remotely use X Windows from my mac over ssh, so I'm a happy man.
2.) Amiga 500+ (68000) - Ahh swapping floppy disks in form period in high school... It baffles me now as to how they used to fit sooo much into 800K.
3.) Amiga 1200 (68020 - 68060) - OMG an Amiga with a hard drive!
4.) iMac DV - My first Mac. I ran upto 8.6 then used the OS X beta mostly
5.) Dell Poweredge (Tumbleweed blows across the screen) Nuff said!
6.) iMac 17" FP 1Ghz. - Typing on it now.
SE/30 - Shufflepuck Cafe, Carmen Sandiego, Cosmic Osmo, Manhole, Tetris
IIcx - All of the above plus some old color games like Munchies, Brickles, and I can't remember any others.
Quadra 610 - This was a big step up. It had a CD drive and a 68040 which REALLY helped matters. I played all my old games, plus Escape Velocity (got it on a MacAddict CD when it was at version 1.0.1), Rebel Assault, F/A-18 Hornet (I got a joystick for christmas!), and other really cool games.
In 1997 or so I got a PowerMac 7100/80, which lasted for years and years. This was the first machine I ever got on the internet myself, when my family got DSL in 2001. I still had this machine then. This machine introduced me to more flight-sim type games, like X-Wing and TIE Fighter (I was a big Star Wars fan back then). My joystick is so worn now!
One winter night in 2001 I decided I wanted to upgrade the 7100/80, with its tiny 700 MB hard drive and only 40 MB of RAM. I decided to start with my family's print server (used with StylusRIP software so my mom's Blue G3 could print PostScript on her Epson printer). The print server was an 8100/100 with 112 MB of RAM (it had a lot because the server software required lots) and a 1 GB hard drive. Not a huge improvement, but a little better. This was the computer I had when I really got into Apple and everything. I already had used computers for a long time but I was never really part of the Apple community until I got this one. Around then, for some reason, I started really getting into computers.
I used the 8100 with a 17" CRT and my big stereo system hooked up to it. I installed OS 9 on it and even themed it to look like OS X (which I hadn't really heard of until a few weeks prior). It was really really slow but I liked it anyway. Bought a 4.3 GB SCSI hard drive and installed it because I was running really low on room, and days later my dad got a PowerBook G4/550 and gave me his old PowerBook G3 in April of 2002
The PowerBook G3/233 Wallstreet was pretty good too. It introduced me to OS X, iTunes, and the need for large hard drives. When I got it, it only had 160 MB of RAM and a 2 GB drive, so I replaced the hard drive with a very loud 12 GB from a Pismo, and I ended up putting 384 MB of RAM in it before I sold it. I also bought a Firewire PC card for use with my iPod, which I bought as soon as I got the computer. OS X ran terribly slow on it, but I did learn to appreciate the awesome technology it offered. I still booted into OS 9 often because of how fast it was compared to OS X. I sold the Wallstreet in September of 2002.
After I sold the Wallstreet I bought a dual 500 MHz G4 to replace it. That was a super fast computer. I put two hard drives in, the stock 40 GB and an 80 GB. I also upped the RAM to 640 MB and bought a 17" ADC studio display CRT and a Combo drive. I loved this machine because it was so fast, but I visited home often (it was my first semester in college) and I had some real problems trying to set up a PowerMac 7500 as a machine for use at home to check my email. I realized how much I used the Wallstreet as a portable computer, so I decided to sell the G4 for an iBook in December. Around that time, I gave my iPod to my mom as a gift because I rarely used it, and my music collection was too big for it anyway.
So, last December I bought this iBook, an 800/Combo. It did basically everything the dual 500 did. After maxing out the RAM (running with 128 was impossible), it was a nice little machine. My school gave me an Airport card which I used with the school's wireless network, allowing me to bring the iBook to the library and surf the web between classes. Recently, though, I've been getting really frustrated with the speed, and I haven't been visiting home nearly as often (maybe once or twice a month). Also, I never use the iBook's mobility for my classes, it was always for between-class entertainment. So I'm selling the iBook and buying an eMac (1 GHz Combo). The iBook is getting picked up sometime this week, and the eMac should arrive about the same time. Hopefully the eMac will be enough for me, and I think it'll last more than a year like the iBook did.
Also, last spring I bought another iPod because I missed my old 5 GB one. This is a 10 GB third generation one, which is quite a bit larger than my music collection (excellent, some room to grow).
I first saw Macs when I came to work at a pre-press bureau in 1994. Then I worked on a Quadra 650. Since then I sought Mac-only jobs and bought myself an iMac DV 450 in 2000.
Yes, I, too, am a convinced switcher.
Then he showed me to use the logo based stuff and using the turtle on the ][e to draw really cool images on the screen using simple little commands. I don't know how many hours I spent running that thing around.
In 94 my dad picked up a LC 575 (or performa, whichever you like to call it). Me and my brother would literally get into fights over who's turn it was to play Vector Challenger or Spin Doctor which came bundled. I even remember that about a week or two later he picked me up from school and opened a little case revealing a freaking 32 Mb chip to go in that beast. He couldn't help but break into a smile and tell me he got a special price through one of his students who's dad happened to work for Apple. I think it still cost him like $300!!
In late 2000 My family got an iMac DV/SE+ 500 Mhz. That thing was a speed daemon compared to the performa. I couldn't take my hand off that mouse. iMovie made me feel all powerful. Finally, the world seemed to be in my hands. Mwahahahahaha!
Then in Late 2001 I thought I was going nuts when a brand new Top-O-The-Line Dual 800 Quicksilver G4 arrived on my doorsteps. Damn that thing was sexy. This thing has definitely been put through its paces. I'm typing on it this very moment and can only smile thinking back over the years how lucky I've been.
Within the next couple weeks, I'll be typing away on a brand new topped out eMac at college.
Here's to all the years past that our Macs have brought us through those rough times that seemed could not or would never end.
* Raises his glass of Root Beer *
(Heh, I'm still not quite old enough to legally take the "root" out....
I was into computers before I moved to that school but not in a major way.
The computers at the school were by no means new, but were a great introduction and proof that you can put old computers to work without needing the most powerful specs out there.
The majority of Macs there were Classics and later on ranges of IIcx,IIci and LC's mostly running System 6 with about a third on early System 7. In my second year there I bought a second hand IIci which was my first computer of my own. Before I had occasionally played with my dad's Acorn, a 486 and an Amstrad.
The IIci was great, I started reading Mac magazines and getting into it. I'd get hold of whatever software I could on floppy's and eventually bought it a SCSI CD-ROM drive and then was able to install software from magazines when the decided to put on 68k software. The machine could only read HFS CD's though. It had 30MB RAM and a 250MB HDD. I upgraded it to System 7.6 and recently gave it away to my High School because I had bought a new computer and given the computer I had after the IIci to my sister
The iMac DV+, iMacs changed everyone's perceptions of what was possible with computers. I remember seeing my first one in the flesh and I had to have one, so I scrimped and saved for about a year and waited for Apple to speedbump them. The DV+ had features I could only dream about on the IIci, DVD, firewire, even ethernet was a long reach on the IIci (I'd have had to have installed in thorugh a NuBus card which I didn't know where to get). That computer took my right through from OS 9 to jaguar, I bought it an external CD writer and it still stands as an excellent machine.
But I now need something portable, so I got a 12" PowerBook, it's still in it's infancy and same as torifile:
The only complaint I've got is the heat.
But I love it, it'll serve me well I think for many years to come and i'm sure it's DVD-R drive will come in handy.
Oh and G-Dog? You wanna come here to the UK, legal drinking age here is 18, which makes me legal **clink**
Why do I stick with Macs? The whole PC world seems pretty intimidating sometimes, Macs have a certain personailty that other computers don't. Everything looks good rather than simply functional. I feel comfortable with a Mac whereas on a PC I feel as if i'm in a country where I don't have a proper grasp of the language (oh I get by, I can ask for a drink and where the post office is better than most, but I don't feel like a native).
Firstly it was a Mac Plus, after using Apple ][ 's at school. Then we had an SE, followed by an SE30.
Power was purchased in early 1991-92? with a IIci. 33Mhz of processing power under the hood. I still have it, unfortunately the screen is dead and resurrecting it is low on my priority list (but still on it!).
Out of the game for a long time (as is no computer - NEVER went to the dark side) then splashed back with a TiBook 15" 667Mhz about a year ago.
How people can use something else I do not know. Every time I turn on my crappy Dell at work I think "plastic piece of fecal matter" or something to that effect.
Eyeing up a G5 but want the portability. Luckily my PB is trucking along nicely. It still turns heads even though in computer terms it should be dead!
Mac Classic in college - upgraded to 25 MHz 68030 and 4 MB of RAM-wonderful!
Performa 550 right after college - COLOR and CD!!!
Performa 6200CD after that.
PowerMac 7300 upgraded to 275 MHz G3 with 768 MB RAM, 2 GB + 9 GB internal drives, 4 GB external drive, USB + FireWire PCI cards = awesome! It's now my print server for my LaserWriter Pro 600 and my only floppy drive.
Beige G3/300 DT, 40 GB HD, 768 MB RAM, Zip, USB + FireWire cards, CDRW - the bf's daughter has it now.
B&W G3/350, 1 GB RAM, 12 GB + 80 GB ATA HD, 9 GB SCSI HD, Zip, Radeon 7000, USB 2.0 card, CDRW, DVD-ROM, Epson Perfection 1260P scanner.
Work: Sawtooth G4/450 with 20 + 30 GB hard drives, 1.25 GB RAM, 19" CRT, DVD-ROM, Zip, FireWire CDRW, Canon LiDE 30 scanner.
Never owned Wintel, never gonna.
Macintosh Classic - Bought this 2nd hand
PowerMac 7100/66 - Bought this brand new with money I saved whenI was in school.
PowerMac G3/266 - This is now a G4/500 and still in use. I will find a way to install Panther on it. This Mac is a workhorse and keeps up w/my G4/500 AGP at work.
Macintosh Color Clasic - Even though I couldn't do any real work on it, I bought the CC at a Mac show. When I was looking for my 1st Mac, I looked at a CC but it was too expensive. I've always thought they were just plain cool.
12" PowerBook G4 - I've had this since May. Great little machine!
I never used nor had a Mac, I just like to hang out at these forums and stare at you silly people talk about fruit inspired computers. Yeesh
My IIe . I was just a child when my dad brought this home. B
Moving up in the world. My IIcx.
My performa 6400/200mhz. This thing blew my bind with speed. Games were so fast it was silly. Got my first CD burner (scsi). Was the cool kid who could make CD compilations. Well maybe not cool.... har har.
Graduated highschool. Picked up a G3 266.
G3/400 maxed out for when i built my home recording studio. I actually bought this a week after the G4's came out. Got a great price on it.
Just picked up a dual 1.25Ghz that still boots OS 9 (i cant afford to lose my protools plugins by switching to 6.1 yet) for a rediculously cheap price through Apple educational. This is the first machine running OS X at least half of the time and I'm loving it.
Have had a great history with Apple for the past 20 years and look forward to another 20.
1. LCII 4/80 in 1992. Later upgraded with a 32 MHz 030 upgrade, and more RAM bigger HD, great for wordprocessing and Hellcats. Marathon was terrible but I persisted until... ( The LCIII really was what the LCII should have been as the LCII offered no performance gains at all compared to the original LC)
2. PM7200/90 in 1995 I was totaly blown away by the brutal speed of the powermac (way better than the 6100/60 I also used). Now I could use Graphic Converter and Marathon, gigabytes of Marathon maps... It still lives on, got a 7500 motherboard and a 200 MHz 604E CPU and later still even a G3/350 and OS X...
The best mac I have ever had
3. G4/400 in 2000. Not as impressed by far as I was with the 7200, stupid thing did not have CDRW even as a BTO. A ATI 8500 card helped the gaming a bit but the CPU is even less impressive now than then. I just might get a GigaDesign upgrade to hold me out until 2004 for a dual G5 8)
Great computer. Quiet, fast, small. The keyboard and mouse are great. I bought it in June 2001. It sits on my desk at eye level.
2. There is no number two
Well, maybe you can count my brother's new eMac(that thing is loud), but its not mine.
I also own an Aiport Extreme base station, and am looking at an iPod because my school is going on a lot of long trips this year.
2. LC520
3. Performa 6200CD
4. iMac rev.D
5. LC
6. iMac 350 slot loading.
(the slot loading iMac is new... well new to me... and it only runs linux... i have no system cds)