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Bonaventura Di Bello
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Bonaventura is Italian and has been using Macs since the late '80s.
I would never have imagined the giant step that in the early '80s
took me from "home computers" to what then was a real "monster
machine," a Mac SE.
I was a game writer for those fascinating "interactive fiction" games called "adventure games" in the early '80s. At twenty-something, in the full spring of home computing, small but nice little digital creatures, called Sinclair Spectrum, Commodore 64, and MSX, I created games for people of all ages to enjoy the challenge with their own computers at home.
I wrote more than 70 of those games and earned a big bunch of money, for the time and the age I was in. Then the trend stopped, as it usually happens in computer trends, and I was left with no job at all.
Then the unexpected happened: the publisher for whom I wrote the games asked me if I was able to "make a whole magazine" for him. That was the early season of desktop publishing (DTP), a very confused and confusing one, indeed. I had heard of a computer called Macintosh, and watched a TV serial about it, but it was like a dream to me, such a beautiful thing.
I browsed all the magazines of the time, looking for articles about DTP and "making pages on a computer." Most of the articles pointed to those Macintoshes. All I had to do was to say Yes to the publisher, accept the challenge, and take him to a shop to buy "everything we need to accomplish the goal" (his words).
Needless to say, we bought the most powerful system we could get at that time: an SE (no SE/30, just SE) with 2 MB of RAM, a 20 MB hard disk, and an external Radius A4 "pure black and white" (yes, no grayscale) monitor. And a LaserWriter Plus, of course. And, thanks God, the DTP program I asked for was Quark XPress (1.0!!!) and not the awful PageMaker the reseller tried to sell us. I had one month to understand how all that stuff would do the DTP job the publisher asked for - guess what?
In less than one month I was able to layout a whole magazine, and it wasn't the only job I did (I also translated it and wrote some articles).
Just one final note about that adventure: the magazine was about video games, and it became two magazines, later. I had young people writing about and on all sort of computers, from the old 8-bit Commodore 64s to the new 16-bit Atari STs and Amigas.* I managed to connect all of those beasts in such a way that all the typed articles ended up on my powerful SE. Later on I bought a Mac II for myself, with a LaserWriter II NTX and an Apple 16 grays scanner (ugh!) and an Apple Two Page 21" grayscale monitor. I started working at home, and went on like that all the following years. I still am, doing DTP, Web layout, translations and multimedia.
- * The Atari ST and Amiga lines both used the same Motorola 680X0 family of processors as the Macintosh. ed.
I've bought two Power Mac 6100/60s, and one still works, well souped-up. I also bought a beautiful iMac, the machine everybody in my family loves. Shame its price dropped down so dramatically only after 2 months I had bought it at full price! :(
I've been using also PCs during these years, and I still use them networked to the Macs. My dream is a portable Mac powerful enough to emulate a PC for the "basic tasks" I cannot do as comfortably as I do (or I'm used to do) on my Compaq Armada 1700. And not more expensive than this one, actually. Maybe the iBook will do, with Blue Label or Virtual PC and 128 MB of RAM. Or maybe Apple will just throw in a "software ROM" which you can choose at startup to fully emulate a PC using the powerful G3 hardware. Maybe.
I will wait, and maybe my next computer will be a "lollipop clam" (as the envious PC fans call it ;), so I can leave my iMac to the rest of the family, and stop fighting. Let's hope, and think positively different.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 'Sawtooth' Power Mac G4, Aug. 1999 - Available in speeds from 350-500 MHz, 'Sawtooth' introduced AGP video to the Mac.
- Group of the Day: G4 List is for those using Power Mac G4s or G4 upgrades.
Recent Content
- The Long Term Value of a High End Mac, Andrew J Fishkin, Best Tools for the Job, 11.21. Low-end Macs are more affordable up front, but the flexibility and upgrade options of a top-end Mac can make it the better value in the long run.
- iPhone #1 Worldwide, Google Voice Search for iPhone, iPhone 3G Battery Pack, and More, iNews Review, 11.21. Also British accents throw off Google voice search, lots of new iPhone apps, universal USB car charger, new protective cases, and more.
- 15 Reasons Macs Are Better, Quad-core iMac in January?, USB 3.0 Spec Finalized, and More, Mac News Review, 11.21. Also 25 years of Macs, 'Snow Leopard' in Q1?, SimpleTech's faster and greener hard drive, Hyperspaces, StarOffice for OS X, and more.
- DisplayPort Copy Protection, Trackpad Update, Netbooks Not to Be Taken Lightly, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.21. Also Apple set for record sales, 4-finger gestures on original MacBook Air, MacBook Apple's best consumer notebook to date, Cricket laptop stand, bargain 'Books from $490 to $2,299, and more.
- Virtualization Shootout: VMWare Fusion 2 vs. Parallels Desktop 4, Kev Kitchens, Kitchens Sync, 11.20. Both programs do the same thing, but one runs Windows XP smoothly alongside Mac apps, while the other bogs down everything but Windows.
- Just Right: Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear MacBooks, Charles W. Moore, 'Book Value, 11.20. Some people like small and light notebooks, others prefer huge desktop replacements, but the best value tends to be in the middle.
- Apple Caves to Hollywood with DRM on iTunes Videos, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 11.20. HDCP on the new MacBooks means that you may never really own those videos you buy from the iTunes Store.
- Leopard Runs Very Nicely on PowerPC Macs, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 11.19. Some claim that Mac OS X 10.5 is so optimized for Intel Macs that it runs poorly on PowerPC hardware. That's simply not the case.
- No High Definition iTunes Video for You, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.19. The October 2008 MacBooks are preventing users from viewing some high-def iTunes content from being viewed on their external displays. Poor form!
- Every Working Computer Is Useful to Someone, Allison Payne, The Budget Mac, 11.19. Whether it's a PowerBook 1400, G3 iMac, or Power Mac G4, it could be all the computer someone needs.
- 3 WeatherBug Options for Apple Users, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.19. Have instant access to current local weather conditions with a Dashboard widget, iPhone app, or Firefox plugin.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.20. Used 400 MHz, $50; 733, $100; 800, $199; 1.25 GHz, $300; 800 MHz dual, $200, 867, $300; 1 GHz, $350; 1.42, $400.
- Best iBook G3 Deals, 11.20. Used 300 MHz clamshell, $150; 366, $199; 800 CD, $180; 600 CD-RW, $240; 700 Combo, $290; 900, $369; 14" 600, $360; 900, $449.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.20. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best iMac G4 Deals, 11.18. Used 15" 700 MHz Combo, $243; 800 MHz, $280; 1 GHz, $380; 17" 1.25 GHz SuperDrive, $400; 20", $549.
- Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.18. New 1.6 80, $1,150 after rebate; 120, $1,744 a/r; 1.8 80, $1,794 a/r; 1.6 128 SSD, $2,150; used 1.8 64 SSD, $1,500; new, $2,200 a/r; 1.86, $2,398 a/r.
- Best Mac OS X 10.0-10.3 Deals, 11.18. Mac OS X 10.0.3, $30; 10.1, $20; 10.2, $60; 10.3 CD, DVD, $100; CD, $119; 10.1 Server, unlimited users, $58; 10.3 Server, unlimited, $150.
- Best iPod nano Deals, 11.17. Refurb 3G/4 GB, $79; new, $114; refurb 8 GB, $99; new, $125; 3G/8 GB, from $134; 16 GB, from $189. Prices include ground shipping.
- Best Titanium PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.17. Used 1 GHz with SuperDrive, $478 plus shipping.
- Best Xserve deals, 11.17. Used G4/1 GHz, $999; G5/2 GHz, $1,288; new 2.0 4-core Xeon, $1,900; refurb 3.0 4-core, $2,599; 2.8 GHz, $2,499; 3.0 8-core, $3,499.
- More deals in our archive.
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