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Welcome to Macintosh
Remembering My First Apple and Macintosh Experiences
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- 2008.02.08
Bong! . . . :-) . . . Welcome to Macintosh!
It's funny how there are certain things you never forget. Many of us never forget our first kiss, first car, and a lot of other firsts.
In my case, I'll never forget a few firsts: The first Apple I ever used, the first Mac I ever used, and the first Mac I ever owned. Ahhh, memories.

Let's take a little ride in the ol' De Lorean and travel back to 1987.
The Apple IIe
Many were privileged to get to use an Apple IIe in school, and even at home. Many had green screens, and you were really something if you had a color screen. The Apple II predated the Macintosh/Windows era of computing we now know.
In the case of the Apple IIe,
the keyboard, like the II and II+, was built into the computer. You had
one or two 5-1/4" floppy drives, which made their own chugging sound
when in the process of reading and writing to the disk.
There were no menus, no mice - none of that fancy GUI stuff. You put the disk in, flip the switch in the back, and in about a minute your program would load.
I spent many a happy hour with the Muncher series from MECC, the Oregon Trail (which I'm still trying to find a copy of for my IIe), Odell Lake, and many other cool programs. It was the first computer I ever used, and it solidified my interest in Apple and their common sense way of computing.
My First Mac
My first
experience with the Mac came in 1999, when my good friend Sean gave me
his Quadra 650 running System
7.5.3. What a wonderful Mac that was! Stable, user-friendly, it was a
dream compared to Windows 98. This experience led me to purchase my
first Mac, an Indigo
iMac in December of 2000, which I still have. That Mac has served
me well in 7 years time.
Now I turn the
mic over to you, the readers of Low End Mac. What was your first Mac?
What drew you to the Mac?
I'll be doing interviews with everyday Mac users, and I'd like to interview you! Send me an email to thomas (at) lowendmac (dot) com if you'd like to be interviewed.
But most of all, send your stories to me, and with your permission, I'll include them in future Welcome to Macintosh columns.
Tell me about your first Mac....
Recent Welcome to Macintosh articles
- Hooked on Classic Macs, 01.09. Tommy Thomas is back with a renewed focus on Macs that can run the 'classic' Mac OS.
- Apple IIe Nostalgia: A Reunion 15 Years in the Making, 01.06. Sometimes nostalgia is all you remembered, like when you get to recreate your first computing experience from the Apple II era.
- Distraction Free Writing on the Go with the Laser PC6, 10.27. Sometimes you just need a keyboard and screen instead of a full-fledged computer. The Laser PC6 could be what you're looking for.
- Apple's eMate still a great tool in the classroom, 05.09. How one teacher equipped his classroom with eMates with his own money - and plans to keep using them as long as possible.
- More in the Welcome to Macintosh index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 15" 'TiBook' PowerBook G4, Jan. 2001 - A new 1" thin PowerBook design with a titanium case, 15" widescreen display.
- Group of the Day: ModBook List covers the Axiotronic ModBook tablet Mac.
- January 9 in LEM history: 01: Macworld keynote - 02: The new iMac - Redefining Apple's market - 03: Safari shows off the Apple difference - Impressions of Safari beta - 04: The colored iPod mini - 06: Installing 'Tiger' on unsupported Macs - Time to replace 5-year-old PowerBook - 07: iPhone and Apple TV - Axiotron Modbook - Mac vs. PC price comparisons are never fair - Backup to the rescue - 08: 2008 Mac Pro value equation
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- MacBook Keyboard Among Best Ever, Glass Trackpad Less than Intuitive, TiBook Desktop Mod, and More, The 'Book Review, 01.09. Also $179 to change battery in 17" MacBook Pro, argument for an Apple netbook, MacBook Air SuperDrive hacked for any Mac, bargain 'Books from $170 to $2,299, and more.
- BYO $240 Hackintosh, HyperCard Resurrection, USB 3.0 10x as Fast, SlimBlade Trackball, and More, Mac News Review, 01.09. Also the brilliance of the Macworld keynote, businesses embracing Macs, Picasa for Mac available, Toast Titanium 10 ships, and more.
- iPhone Reaches Vermont, 15 iPhone Tips, Apple's iGlove, First Editable Office App for iPhone, and More, iNews Review, 01.09. Also WebEx collaboration on the iPhone 3G, hands-free visor kit from Kensington, portable iPod and iPhone power, new cases from Speck, and more.
- Software Should Come with a Fresh Date, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 01.09. Sooner or later, some hardware or OS update will probably break a program you own. Software vendors should be up front about how long they'll support it.
- Thanks for the IBM PC, Dad, L. Victor Marks, My First Mac, 01.09. Dad, thanks for bringing home that first IBM PC way back in 1981.
- What a Legacy: The Origin of the IBM PC, Tom Hormby, Orchard, 01.09. IBM introduced its PC on August 12, 1981, shaking up the entire personal computer industry. Today even Apple makes its computers IBM compatible.
- Our Debt to the IBM PC, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 01.09. A Mac user looks at the legacy of the IBM PC.
- Heat Management for 'Books and the Last Mac to Run OS 9.1, Phil Herlihy, The Usefulness Equation, 01.08. Tips on keeping a first-gen MacBook Air from throttling back with CoolBook, using G4FanControl with a G4 PowerBook, and the fastest Mac that can boot Mac OS 9.1.
- Surprise, Average Broadband Throughput Is Lower than Maximum Throughput, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 01.08. If a service is advertised as 8 Mbps maximum, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the average speed is below that number.
- A History of Apple's Lisa, 1979-1986, Tom Hormby, Orchard, 01.08. Originally envisioned as a business computer to replace the Apple II, the Lisa brought the mouse and GUI to the computer market - only to be felled by the less costly Macintosh.
- Lisa's DNA Is All Over Modern Computing, Ray Arachelian, Apple Seeds, 01.08. Those who label Apple's Lisa a failure are ignoring the computer's legacy that shows up in every personal computer sold today.
- The Innovative Lisa, Dan Knight, Online Tech Journal, 01.08. Apple's Lisa and how it paved the way for the Macintosh.
- The Lisa Legacy, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 01.08. We should always remember how Apple's innovation paved the way for all future computers.
- Waterfield First with SleeveCase for New 17" Unibody MacBook Pro, Charles W. Moore, 'Book Value, 01.08. Waterfield has a reputation for top quality bags at appropriate prices, and it's already designed a sleeve for the new 17" Unibody MacBook Pro.
- Blackouts and Web Access, Death of a Kanga, the Future of PowerPC Macs, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 01.07. Also another email client suggestion and whether a G3 iMac can handle a 7200 rpm hard drive without overheating.
- The 17" Unibody MacBook Pro Value Equation, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 01.07. The new model is a bit faster, a bit smaller, a bit lighter, and has an incredible 8-hour battery life.
- How Netbooks Impact Microsoft and Apple, Tim Nash, Taking Back the Market, 01.07. Netbooks are keeping Windows XP alive, which may slow adoption of Windows 7, and perceived value keeps the Mac market share growing at the expense of Windows.
- Apple's Worst Business Decisions: Another Perspective, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 01.07. Apple's poor business decisions predate the Macintosh. Let's hope they learn from their mistakes.
- The Ill-Fated Apple III, Jason Walsh, Apple Before the Mac, 01.07. "...not only was the Apple III mind crunchingly expensive, it was made with none of the passion of the Apple II or Macintosh."
- 2 Apple Failures: Apple III and Lisa, Tom Hormby, Orchard, 01.07. Apple's two not-so-great product lines between the Apple II line and the Macintosh.
- Apple III Chaos: Apple's First Failure, Joshua Coventry, Cortland, 01.07. Apple had known nothing but success with its Apple II product line, but when it tried to enter the business world with the Apple III, the learned the cost of failure.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best MacBook Deals, 01.09. Used 1.83 GHz, $595; 2.0 SD, $650; refurb 2.1 GHz, $849; 2.2, $899; 2.4, $949; new 2.1 SD, $945 after rebate; 2.4, $900 a/r; 2.0 Unibody, $1,199 a/r; more.
- Best G5 iMac Deals, 01.09. Used 17" 1.6 GHz Combo, $400; 1.8 SuperDrive, $450; 1.9 iSight, $575; 20" 1.8 GHz, $500; 2.0, $625; 2.1 iSight, $699.
- Best iPod nano deals, 01.09. New 3G/8 GB, $125 shipped; 4G/8 GB, $134 shipped; 16 GB, $175 shipped (most colors).
- Best Apple TV Deals, 01.08. Refurb 40 GB Apple TV, $199; new, $220; refurb 160 GB, $279; new, $320. Prices include ground shipping.
- Best Mac Pro Deals, 01.08. New 2.8 GHz 4-core, $2,099 after rebate; refurb 8-core, $2,399; new, $2,589 a/r; 3.0 $3,398 a/r; refurb 3.2, $4,099; new, $4,099 a/r.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 01.08. Used 867 MHz Combo, $490; 1.33 GHz, $548; 1.5 GHz SuperDrive, $595.
- Best 17" MacBook Pro Deals, 01.07. Used 2.16 GHz Core Duo, $1,190; 2.33 Core 2, $1,400; 2.4, $1,799; refurb 2.33, $1,799; 2.5, $1,899; new, $1,900; refurb 2.6, $2,299.
- Best Power Mac G5 Deals, 01.07. Used 1.8 GHz single, $500; dual, $629, 2.0, $700; dual-core, $929; 2.3, $999; 2.5 dual, $900; 2.7, $1,089; 2.5 Quad, $1,399.
- Best iPod shuffle Deals, 01.07. Refurb 1 GB '07, $39 shipped; new, $43; '08, $45; refurb 2 GB '07, $59 shipped; new, $58; '08, $63.
- More deals in our archive.
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