"Talk about a labor of love," exclaims Jim Hamm. "Read how a guy updated a 27-year-old MacPlus computer http://www.keacher.com/1216/how-i-introduced-a-27-year-old-computer-to-the-web/
"And the speed was, well, it took 4 minutes to load a simple page after he finished. Quite an interesting process, though, and far, far beyond my skill level."
Remembering Those First Macs
Prompted by Jim Hamm’s memories of that “first Mac” Don and I reminisced, too. I found some papers in my file, dated 12-16-84, our first Mac, a 128K, only $1,695.00. Of course, we needed Image Writer, surge suppressor, diskettes, numeric key pad, computer cover and ribbon, so that brought the price up to $2,953.37.
Macintosh was my brother Ed’s recommendation, and he went on to become head of the high school math department, computer whiz, teacher at the community college, and on-line instructor, as well. By 1986 Don and I upgraded to 512, then to the SE, Centris, PowerMac, and on to G-4 and G-5. Amazing to us, how slender — yet full of memory — our MacBookPro is now. It's been fun, learning and using Macintosh computers.
Mac II Was 25 Years Ago
"Say a big Happy Birthday to the Mac II, which was released twenty-five years ago," exclaims Jim Hamm. He goes on to reminisce, "If you bought one then with a color monitor, you'd have spent $7,100 — over $14,000 in today's dollars! Wonder who had enough money to buy a Mac II then? Heck, that was probably my annual salary back then. Zee would never have let me have a Mac then, let alone two (which I have now and, of course, really need)." Jim closes with a grin and a link to this article with photos of early Macs.
Earliest Laptop?
"Thought this might cause a little head scratching," declared David Passell. His email contained this graphic which resembles someone using the earliest laptop known to man. Has this been photoshopped, I inquired. No, the truth is out. The caption states, "Email from the past? Not an ancient Greek laptop, but a writing tablet on a vase from 470 BC."
It's from a BBC news article. Thanks for the smile, David.
Apple Makes the Front Page
Today's entire front page of the CSMonitor and the feature article is devoted to Apple! David Passell sends us these links. The opening article by the editor , the article itself, and finally a whole bunch of YouTube links on the Origins of Apple, including the original hammer-girl commercial.
Fascinating History of Mac
If you're interested in the history and development of the original Mac read the article sent by Allen Laudenslager. He says, "The article was written by the son of one of the original Mac developers and quotes extensively from notes and memos that his father made at the time. A unique insight into how Apple formed its strategy that leads directly to some of the features of the iPad and iPhone! Fascinating."
Look at Mac's Early Days
A nostalgic look at the early days of the Mac comes to us from Art Gorski. He comments, "My favorite part of this promotional video is seeing Bill Gates with a Mac on his desk!"