Blast From the Past: the Apples of My Eye

I just got my computer back from the shop (I have a Mac Mini) where I finally got more memory installed. Thank Jebus because attempting to run Firefox, iTunes and iPhoto simultaneously was slowing it down so badly I could walk around the block before all the programs would load. Which means I might be able to write a blog post in under a half hour now. Whee!

This got me to thinking about the computers I've had. For the record I have only owned Macs my entire life. If that makes me an art snob so be it, but I hate Windoze - it's bad enough I have to use it at work. My earliest computer memories are of the Apple IIe in grammar school. With that, anyone of a certain age should enjoy this:





That comment about loving the game because it got you out of class is soooo true. I swear I looked forward to playing it all week (we only had one hour of "computer class" a week). They didn't have color monitors though when I played it so the screen was all green. Jeez I am dating myself.

I saw this on a t-shirt once and regret not buying it. It's readily available on the internets though - perhaps some day.

I'll never forget when my grade school friend got her first computer. It had a full color monitor!
It was a Macintosh Color Classic and in a way was a precursor to the iMac. We used to play a game called "Uninvited." I don't remember much about it, but I did find a screen shot below:

Actually this game might be the reason I like those point and click flash games so much now.

I didn't actually own a computer until my first summer home from college (!!) which was in the mid 90s. My high school only had a few computers and those were used by the "business" classes - basically all they did was run Lotus 1-2-3 on them. I learned how to type in a Keyboarding class during the summer - on a typewriter. In fact I think I used a typewriter for all of my papers until I was well into high school. I finally starting using one of the computers at my mom's work to do my word processing. Well, when I went away to college, there was this whole new thing called the World Wide Web and I got my very own email address. I used Pine for my email, irc to chat and Mosiac to surf the web. I'll never forget when Netscape 1 came out. You Could See Pictures! OMG! Anyway, when I came home from school that first summer I finally decided to drag my family into the 20th century and get a computer.

I got a Performa 6290 PowerMac. With a 28.8 modem. Smokin! (I did eventually upgrade to a 56K). This computer is actually still at my parents' house and my mom used it to play games until fairly recently. It did the trick nicely, but shortly after this came out Apple released the iMacs and G3s. About five years later I did another upgrade:

That's a Graphite G4 - it was pretty hot shit when I got it. I bought it as a reward for my first promotion at the book store. It was a pretty cool computer. The monitor was a bitch though. It was bulky, heavy as hell and the plastic stand broke shortly after I got it. The stand was pretty much stuck to the monitor so I propped it up with a stack of post it notes - no joke. I think I moved that thing at least four times - it really sucked. Currently both pieces are living in my closet. The computer flat out died on me (I think it was some sort of power source issue) and eventually I will get around to getting the data off of it. Since the stupid monitor wasn't compatible with any of the newer computers at the time, it meant a whole new system which leads us to the present day:

So there's my new and improved Mac Mini - I love it because it is so small and the monitor weighs next to nothing as well. I know the inevitable upgrade will come sooner or later, especially if I want to put things like Aperture on it and possible start video editing again. I'll probably end up with an iMac with those beautiful displays, but since those cost a bazillion dollars, here's to my Mini hanging in there for a good while.

Well, it's been nice having a hockey break for a couple days especially after the drama and angst from the weekend. Tomorrow the Hawks start it up again - for what I hope is the last series of games on the west coast this year. Those 9pm CST starts just kill me at work the next day. We'll see what the boys and their patchwork D can come up with on the trip. We'll just see.