My First Mac

An Old Friend, Somewhere in Boxes

j6851 - 2000.08.22

My first computer was the Quadra 660AV. It was the first computer I had ever owned.

I remember walking through a store searching for the right computer. I had just earned enough money to buy my own computer. I didn't even have PCs in my mind, because I had never used one.

Of course I knew how to use the Quadra, since I had used Macs before. It had everything I wanted: a nice 14 inch monitor and what seemed like all the trimmings to me - 24 MB RAM, 500 MB hard drive, and even a built-in CD drive.

The first thing I did when I came home was set it up. I was anxious to get home. After that I had three crashes, causing me to reinstall the system software. I didn't know how to do that then, so I had someone with more experience do it.

I used that machine day after day, writing my school reports. I would take the files to school on a disk and ask someone if they could print them for me. They were all willing. I did that until I bought my own printer, an old, but very useful, StyleWriter II.

Getting more into computers, I tore the thing apart. I looked at its external ports. Looking at the video ports, I asked my Dad if I could borrow his video camera for a while. I hooked the camera to the ports and looked for some software to see the camera. I found something on the CD called Video Monitor. That is when I went crazy over it. I said over to myself, I have the best Mac in the world.

For next couple of years I would use that Mac whenever possible. A couple of things broke, but I had no doubt of ever buying a new Mac.

I soon realized this things was getting old. It's slow, and all my programs aren't running the way they used to anymore. After I installed Mac OS 8, things got slow.

The day came. I was sad to see it. I went to nearest newspaper and advertised it in the classifieds. To my luck no one ever came to buy it. I was happy, but in a way sad. I needed a new computer.

A couple of months later I decided to raise money for a new computer and still keep my old friend. I got enough and bought the computer I could afford, a Power Mac 8600/300, with 112 MB RAM, 4 GB hard drive, and I got crazy again and went for a 20 inch monitor.

Now my old friend sits in boxes in the corner. After I got my new Mac, I spent a little more for some more Macs: a Mac LC, Mac LC II, and a Mac IIci.

Sometimes I get my old Mac and set it up and use it for a day or two.