This second round of Blog Club brings back such memories. Apple computers will always hold a special place in my life for the memories they have given me over the years.
Our family’s very first computer was an Apple IIe, a hand-me-down from an aunt and uncle, because they had upgraded to the latest. I loved that computer. It was set up on an old desk in the living room, and we fought over who would use it. Everything was on those massive three inch floppy disks (which really were floppy!) and we inherited a bunch of games for it. I remember writing a fifth-grade paper on in about Manatees, and the printer going crazy. I must have printed that thing ten times.
Over time, we stopped using. We had grown tired of the games, and there wasn’t much else we could do on it. Eventually we finally got our own new PC, and the Apple IIe ended up in the junkyard.
Fast forward to junior year, and I’m in the newspaper class. All our computers are Apples (like they have been for every computer lab of every school I’ve ever attended), and all of my articles had to be turned in on disk. My grandma comes to the rescue, finding me an old Mac Classic at a yard sale. I think I loved that computer more than I loved the first one. The Mac Classic was a cute little thing, and it was all mine. I used it to write everything until I graduated from high school. I miss that computer.
If I could, I’d be using an Apple computer right now. I can’t particularly afford one, but I want one. I read the Apple blogs, and get so jealous when a new app comes out that is only for a mac. I read Paul Stamatiou far too much for a person who doesn’t have a mac.
For example, every time Paul writes about Boot Camp, it makes me want one just a little more. It’s like a tiny jab in the side saying “yes, you can have a macbook and still play Sims2.” And yes, playing Sims2 is a major reason to why I love my current laptop.
Another Apple blog I love to visit would be The Uber Geeks, which is always funny, and often has good material. And again, they are often posting content that makes me scratch my head and wonder what they’re talking about. All of the Apple blogs remind me that I’m not as geeky as a lot of people out there.
Also, I really appreciate that it’s not always “all Apple, all the time” over on these two blogs, which means that occasionally I’ll learn something I can actually use.
There are a few other blogs in the Apple Community, but I don’t read them often, if at all. Not to say that they are bad, but I really have to limit my Apple intake as I won’t be able to afford a new computer for some time yet.
I have had fond memories of circa-80’s computers too. We were in the Commodore camp though. I remember sneaking up on weekends while my elder sister was still sleeping, just to use her 64.
My best friend had a Commodore 64. It had a 5¼” floppy drive (the one with the flip-down lever to hold the disk in.) We mostly played Pong and some other game where you had to select which house the burglar was going to rob. <geezer-speak>I can’t imagine that entertaining today’s crop of youngsters.</geezer-speak>
Just the other day my friend told me of a machine that used 8″ disks. Wow. That’s like a record encased in a plastic sleeve. How would you transport a behemoth like that? I suppose that’s what the cargo pants craze was all about back then.