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My first Mac experience was with some compact Macs in the university
computer labs back in the fall of '88, where I typed up chemistry
reports. I eventually ended up buying a DOS-compatible PC (whopping
8 MHz CPU, 1 MB of RAM, and Windows v1.0), simply because
I could not afford a Mac.
Over the years, I owned several PCs, running various OS's,
including Windows from 1.0 to 98, two flavors of Linux, and the
Intel version of the Solaris Unix operating system. Rarely did I
buy a brand-new machine, instead opting to upgrade until the case
was maxed out.
Then, about three years ago, I got a job back at the university
where I first used a Mac. We have a surplus store (actually a
storage space used as a store) where old university
equipment is sold. There I purchased my first Mac, an SE HDFD. I had fun playing around with
it and started buying accessories to go with it - and then other
Macs to cannibalize for parts.
I currently have a collection of low-end Macs that are gathering
dust, probably soon to be donated to a local group that refurbishes
old computers to give to people who can use them. Until yesterday,
my highest-powered Mac was a Performa 6360 that was a little sluggish
surfing the Web, but it wasn't too bad.
Until a couple of weeks ago, my main computer was a CTX laptop
with an AMD 300 MHz CPU running Win98. The only times I ever had
trouble with that machine were when I decided to repartition the
hard drive and found that my backup was only partially good.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, it died completely. The best I
could figure was that the motherboard or the CPU had gone. Instead
of trying to find a new motherboard and/or CPU on eBay
(CTX stopped dealing in laptops not long after I bought mine, so
new parts are not easily acquired), I decided to get a new one. I
had been looking at iBooks and
TiBooks for a while. Yesterday,
my first brand-new Mac showed up, after a shipping delay while they
waited for parts.
I'm currently typing this on my
so-new-you-can-still-smell-the-plastic-fumes 600 MHz iBook with
combo drive. I'm still getting used to
OS X, but so far it's not too bad. Being a Unix professional,
I love the fact that it's got Unix running under Aqua. I happen to
be one of those strange people who believes that a person should
get the computer that they want, not "go with the crowd."
My iBook can handle the type of games I like to play (mainly
Civilization), as well as the word-processing and spreadsheet work
I need to do, and the Unix underneath will allow me to better
interact remotely with the Unix boxes I administer at work. For the
few applications that I absolutely cannot get a Mac version of,
I've ordered a copy of Virtual PC, so I should be all set.
Before I go, I would like to thank Low End Mac for helping me to figure out
what I was doing with all those used Macs I've bought and showing
me that there are a lot of other resources out there for older
Macs. Not bad for a site that I literally found by chance
two-and-a-half years ago.
Share the story of your first Mac experience by emailing with "My First Mac" as your subject.
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storage space used as a store) where old university
equipment is sold. There I purchased my first Mac, an 
highest-powered Mac was a 
still getting used to
OS X, but so far it's not too bad. Being a Unix professional,
I love the fact that it's got Unix running under Aqua. I happen to
be one of those strange people who believes that a person should
get the computer that they want, not "go with the crowd."
