Friday, October 7, 2011

What Steve Jobs Did For Us

by Mike -

In 1985 we decided to buy our first computer. There was pressure to buy an IBM compatible PC running DOS because that was the computer of choice for most companies and I was an engineering manager in a technology company at the time.



After reading a marketing book by Regis McKenna in which he described the Apple Macintosh we decided to buy a Mac.

This is it, the Macintosh 512K, our first computer - the number refers to the memory size - 512K bytes of memory. And it does not have a hard drive.



After I opened the box it was simple to figure out how to set it up and get going.


This box has not been opened in more than 20 years and today is the day to open it and remember.



The cables were labeled with icons that matched the icons on the back of the Mac so there was no guessing where to plug things in.


I was operating our new computer within minutes of opening the box.

Since then my wife and I have owned many Macintosh computers plus we now have an iPod, iPhone and iPad each in addition to the three Macintosh computers that we still use.

Our storage room holds several old Macs that we don't use anymore in addition to this Mac 512K.

The Apple Macintosh gave us the ability and the freedom to create content that we could not have done on our own with any other equipment at the time.


Steve Jobs did this and then Apple continued, over the years, to deliver capabilities that no one else offered or had even thought about.

Thank you Steve Jobs for enriching our lives.

Click on the images for a larger view.



4 comments:

  1. He changed the world, stayed "hungry & foolish"
    Mike, this is a collectors item and in such pristine condition. http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O:AD:E:10295&page_number=1&template_id=1&sort_order=1&utm_source=social&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=stevejobs

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  2. Thank you. I was not aware that the Macintosh 128K was in the Museum of Modern Art!

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  3. I saved ten yers to buy a mac after watching many people tearing their hair out with PC's but everyone with a Mac always seemed calm in charge and having a good time. My first G4 laptop still works though it is showing signs of abuse that comes with living in a back pack on my travels, my i Mac is less than half as old and runs like a freight train and I just got a 3GS the week before the 4GS came out but it matters not that I am behind the curve because these machines created by Mr Jobs are like Volkswagens they run and they run, thats what I love about them. RIP Mr Jobs :-)

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  4. Thanks for the comments Art. I too tended to wait for the second generation product before I bought one.

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