the Apple “origami” keyboard case was brilliant. This current Keyboard case seems a step back
When I was in high school, my parents paid a stupid amount for a used Apple IIe that I loved. The iMac G4 was the first I bought for myself. I still have it, and it still boots, and it’s still as beautiful as it was in 2002–if not quite as useful as my current Macbook.
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That iMac G4 is still my favorite Mac for writing, because I can get closer to the screen (vision issues) and I can use MacWrite Pro, still my favorite word processor.
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I bought a MBP for my very non techie wife in '09. I was a tinkerer and I was using and building my own PCs for a while, but she needed something that “just works.” I started to use her computer shortly thereafter and got bit by the apple bug. We’ve been all Apple ever since.
I used to say the PC was the Jeep Wrangler to Apple’s Toyota Corolla. One is great if you like to get in there and wrench on it, the other is best if you need something reliable that barely even needs maintenance.
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Being in IT for many years, I was always Windows-centric, but became disillusioned with it over time. Sometime during 2006, in between jobs, I awoke one morning to news of a new Windows virus. For some reason it made me angry, and I remember muttering to myself something along the lines of “I’m not dealing with this anymore.” I tore down my Windows 2K server with its VMs, and went to Ubuntu Linux on everything for the next 6 years. After I had exhausted the options for mind mapping software, I stumbled upon Curio from Zengobi. It was exactly what I was looking for, and if I wanted to run it, I needed a Mac. Bought a 15” i7 MBP from the Apple refurb store in January 2012 and never looked back.
I moved to a Mac (from Windows + Linux) as my daily driver while I was in theological college (aka seminary). At the time the leading Biblical study software (Accordance) wasn’t available on other platforms and I was tired with the problems in the leading Windows software at the time.
Although Accordance has now been ported to Windows, I’m tied into many other applications which are Mac only.
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I left an an advertising agency in 2004, much of my time there has been spent on both the Intel and Microsoft accounts. After I left I needed a computer for freelancing and bought as far away form Microsoft and Intel as I could - IBM processor and Apple hardware, a 12inch G4 powerbook.
I was literally laughed at in meetings when I brought it out. Apparently it was a toy!
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In 2010 I needed a new computer to use at the office, so I ordered an iMac. I had never touched a Mac before, but I had read a lot about them. After about 3 months, I ordered another iMac, this one to use at home. I’ve never looked back. I’m currently using the keyboard from one of those 2010 iMacs. There were a couple of people in town that I heard were Mac users, so I called them to find out what kind of antivirus they used. One of them hadn’t used a Mac in years. The other said that he didn’t use an antivirus. (I thought that he must need professional help; I was really ignorant in that regard.) I still had to interface with corporations using Windows, so for many years I struggled with VMware Fusion. It was a struggle, worked only so-so. (In retrospect, I probably would have been better off with Parallels.) I work from home now. I use and M1 mini, but I have a Windows LG Gram on hand to interface with corporations and for the occasional times that I have to go somewhere with a notebook.
And I got my first iPhone when the iPhone 4 came out. I had always used Palm, but the G3 convinced me that the iPhone was better, so I waited until the iPhone 4 came out, and it has been iPhone ever since. Later on I got my first iPad, but I don’t use iPads very much. I got an Apple watch SE at a Black Friday sale. It was much better that I expected, but I haven’t yet felt the need to upgrade.
Apple Intelligence doesn’t mean much to me. There are plenty of AIs. I just hope that Apple continues its focus on really great, useable hardware and software. The M chips are amazing.
The SIZE.
It was 5s. So the size and it was on deal (still cost 2.5x more than the Android I was replacing). Literally nothing else.
Privacy (lack of constant tracking by Google) and a bit less distracting than Android came later. And if I leave iPhones (which I might soon) it would the same reason - size. I honestly don’t intend to pay the “premium” while Apple has been consistently killing its sanely sized phone models. I use a 14 and it’s a brick, yeah.
I remember being tasked with replacing one of these systems. I think the secretaries referred to it as ”the S60”? Can’t find it now, could have been System 60, Series 60 or something. They could have been supplied by IBM too, as we were running a lot of their equipment.
Anyway, these were pre-IBM PC and purpose built machines that only did word processing. The ladies loved them and was grumbling for years until PC software finally caught up with the feature set of the S60.
I remember the Wang word processor was very popular in the 70’s into early 80’s. Best to consider these as a massive improvement on the typewriter and, at least for most of their lives, much easier to use than a personal computer for non-technically oriented people.
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In the 1980s and very early 1990s UCLA had a room devoted to full-time staff word processors using the IBM 6580 Displaywriter System, a dedicated word processor that used massive 8’’ floppy discs. Faculty were still bringing old discs with book mss to me to convert the files for new editions in 2008.
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Once I doubled its size and saved it at 300 dpi, that is now my desktop wallpaper!
My first Mac was a used SE/30. After that it was an iBook G3. Oh, how I wanted a 12" G4 PowerBook, @Nick. … Long hiatus, and then I was given a polycarbonate MacBook by my pastor, and it’s been Macs ever since. Windows makes me money, and Macs keep my sanity.
I do have Accordance @funkydan2, and I need to go to a class to learn about it more. If software can get dusty, that one is.
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I remember DECmates! I also tried to use a VAXmate running Windows 2.0 on an amber screen, which was an exercise in futility. I also would like to meet some of my colleagues from DEC, and many of them were DECmates (married couples who both worked at DEC).
I’m a bit late to this thread, but the first Apple device I ever purchased was a 128k Mac I bought in February 1984, just a few weeks after the Mac was introduced. I bought it because I wanted to develop software for the Mac. That’s a long story, but I did write a database program for the Mac that was first available in August 1984, and it’s still available today, 41 years later (in fact I just shipped an update out a few days ago). My second Apple device was a Lisa, because in 1984 you had to use a Lisa to write Mac software - it couldn’t be done on the Mac itself. I still have both machines.
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2003 (I think, maybe 2004?)
12" powerbook g4 867mhz with 128 mb Ram and I think, 40gb hd
3rd gen iPod
canon i450 printer
brenthaven case
all purchased with the college deal. if I remember right not only was it the edu discount but the iPod and printer were both free.
according to online calculators, had I spent that money on stock instead I would have about 1.5 million dollars today.
instead, Dave Ramsey would not be happy that I am apple hardware rich and cash poor.
1993, when I got a Newton. I was excited to get it, but as I recall was pretty underwhelmed in general. Still have it in a closet. The 2nd device was a Quicktake 150, my first ever digital camera that I picked up in 1995. It was laughable by today’s standards, with 1Mb of storage for photos at a resolution of 640x480. This is the first digital photo I ever took with this camera.
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I bought my first Mac in 1984 because it had a beautiful and intuitive interface, which PCs definitely didn’t have.
I feel that, compared to Apple device interfaces, Windows and Android are still ugly, and look like they are about 20 years behind Apple. And if you go down one level, they’re even uglier.
My guess is that the designers are engineers who focus only on function and have no aesthetic goals. The interface is “prettied up” due to customer desire and competition from Apple.
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My mother worked for a computer company that sold the Macintosh to the educational markets. Ergo, my first was a Macintosh Plus, external drive and Laserwriter. Lasted through junior high, high school, college and my first year of law school before finally shooting craps. Borrowed my father’s Compaq (I think) running Windows 95 (again, I think) and absolutely hated it. My first purchase as a practicing attorney was an iMac DV/SE. The Macintosh Plus is slowly becoming a Macquarium.
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