October 6th, 2011 in Misc
My first experiences with computers were with Apple, during Jobs’ period of estrangement from the company. The early models like Macintosh Plus, II, IIe, Quadra, Centris, the amazing 16 lb. Mac Portable and first Powerbooks… all thanks to my Dad’s job in education. I remember the 5.25″ games vividly: Bubble Bobble, Wings of Fury, Carmen Sandiego and a “Who Framed Rodger Rabbit” floppy that was damaged so I could never finish it. Later it was Sim Life, Sim Ant, Sim City 2000, tray-loading cd-rom drive, Myst, Doom II, the Sierra Games line up… then the Internet.
Probably my most formative early computing experiences came from HyperCard and MacPaint. If it wasn’t for Hypercard I’d probably never have become interested in web design or programming in general. And I do remember the distinct quality of enjoying time with a computer that was not networked in any way. Back before we largely considered computers to be useless without the internet. Before internet machines.
Being able to grow up using both mac and pc made a huge difference for me in terms of learning the in’s and out’s of computing. Since that point I felt and still firmly believe in being platform independent – being able to understand and use any device to its full potential. We had an old IBM pc as well, but I’ll always remember the Mac first even if it was due to the software.
Lately Apple has cranked out (and versioned) a lot of stuff that I honestly don’t care much for. Though, whether I use these things or not, I respect the effort involved. So thanks, Mr. Jobs, however indirectly, for caring about, encouraging and supporting a side of the industry that cares about making a quality product.
