APPLE OF MY EYE

I had no problem with the mouse.

Although I had thousands of hours ‘in’ on this mechanical word processor called a typewriter, when I first started using a computer it was 1984.
I recall that it was in September of 1984 that my friend Pilch hauled The Macintosh out of a closet and gave it to me. At the time it was about a $2,400 gift, and, in 1984 those many hundreds of dollars was an unimaginable sum for mw, Pilch’s slack-to-a-fault long haired pal. But he had no use for it. He was a programmer doing project work for Burroughs and I have no idea what he was using for a computer. Still, his setting the Mac 128k given to him aside soon enough became my unbelievable gain.

It’s hard for me to relate to what the original Mac platform offered–me–even though I used it for eight years. As a user you would stick the system floppy into it, load in the system into temporary memory and follow on with the program disc, do the same, do your work, and save to a third floppy. The 128k ram is one eighth of a megabyte, and the Mac floppy had a capacity of 400k. On this machine you could process words, draw, paint, play the first version of Sim City, and, a few years later, desktop publish on Adobe Pagemaker and print to a laser printer. One would shuffle floppies in and out with a satisfying click and whir and sound of the drive stylus.

Apple 128 k

In 1986 I was shuffling into the computer lab at Middlebury College and using their Mac Pluses and, later, Mac SE. In 1989, my new boss proudly showed me his new Apple Cx, and highlighted it’s staggering complement of 16mb of Ram. Returning to Cleveland in 1992, my mom handed down to me her Mac Plus when she bought an LC II. In 1995 I glommed a lot of time on my girlfriend’s new Performa 638; well as much as I could when she wasn’t using it to do graduate school work. It was a PowerPC, and was the first computer I ever upgraded when I stuck a 4mb Ram chip in it to double its memory.

Finally, in January of 1998, I bought my first brand new computer, a G3. $1,900. It was a saga too because I bought it online from L.A. Computer Center and it turned out to be a grey market machine. Apple wouldn’t register it, and the shysters at LACC wouldn’t take it back without a restocking fee. I held onto it. Eventually I did a lot of upgrading: new processor, lots of ram, faster CD, and bigger drives, and, an RME sound card. I used my beloved G3 for seven years, made my recording, In Khorasan on it, and moved it about five times. In 2000 a friend gave me a Powerbook 140; today its the only machine I can use floppies on.

Then, in 2006, I bought a three-year old G4 MDD, (2 x 1.25ghz) because I had to preserve my investment in system 9 audio software while slowly transitioning to audio (ie. music-making,) on OSX. It, the last so-called dual-boot machine, sits on the floor next to me. I’m using it right now. I’ve booted into system 9 zero times in the last two years. Still, the now five-year old G4 has proven to be a real workhorse. In fact, after checking today what a used G4 MDD costs now, about $400, I learn that a 2.88/8 core Mac Pro refurbed by Apple costs $2,400! The first generation is really hard to find as a used machine because their power user owners are holding onto the 2-and-a-half year old Mac Pros.

I use Garageband for all my studio sketches. I suppose I’ll fire up Logic Express one of these days, but OSX is a great audio platform with Garageband, and I haven’t run into any resource crunches on the five year-old G4 while making music.

Finally, I picked up a black old version refurbed MacBook in December. The main reason was to be able to sit with it on my lap in the living room. My wife appreciates this because now she doesn’t have to share her Macbook. Also, I will use it for assembling videos, a task the G4 just cannot handle.

Eight Macs, 23 years on, I make the following report: none have broken, none have ever experienced a hard drive failure, and I survived loosing the floppy disc drive with the G4. (In the basement are two boxes with several hundred floppies in them.) And this record of reliability is over seven computers, only three of which were new.

I’ve steered a lot of people to Macs although I wouldn’t count myself a holier-than-though macista. Although it is a no brainer in most respects, especially given the hostile trojan/worm/virus environment of the internet, I don’t have any major gripe against Wintel machines other than the ones I’ve had to use at the office crash a lot.

I’ve successfully trouble shot every problem I’ve ever encountered, so much so that people call me for assistance. One of the most likeable things about Macs is how easy it is to cure most of their troubles.

Happy birthday Apple and thanks!

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