In the beginning ...

[leoantix]

noticed the discussion over at ambrosia about memory and began to wonder, what was everyone's first mac?

my first was the classic II ... i was 14 years of age and sold on macs ever since

[DonaemouS]

in the spring of 1985, my father bought me an Apple //c as replacement on my Commodore Vic20.



I immediately shown my gaming interest, studying pascal and programming a textual adventure game. I was just 10 years old... what a fucking nerd I am

[slowDan]

what was everyone's first mac?

My first Mac experience was at Art college in 1991ish. Was probably a classic II as well although I knew nothing about them then.

My next course at a different college left me in front of a Quadra 610 running the brand new System 7 one day a week for two years. Then came work and a Powermac 7100/66 with a massive 1 gig hard drive. (what am I going to use all that space for!! )

That became mine when upgrades made it obsolete and it still lives in the cupboard upstairs, fully functional but rarely needed.

[See Flat]

First computers.... Atari 1040 / Mega ST / Atari TT : loved my ataris and they served me well.
Then moved to mac.... It was for me, the most Atari like experienced and at that point. much more sophisticated machines. (actually not the case before. Amigas and Ataris were in many ways better machines.... And many 1000$ less)


My Fist Mac.... 660AV I think it was called. Then got an 840 (think that's what it was called) followed by an 8600 then a 9600, G4 dual 400, G4 Dual 1G, Emac. I then got a G5 Dual 2G which is still my main machine, and I have MacBook Pro.
I still use the 9600 to print my bills (that thing cost 7500$ when I got it) and I use the 8600 to run a slide show at work (that one cost me 5400$) Hindsight makes me think.. too much damn spending... but I have always made money with my computers with the exception of the Macbook Pro...but I do get a bit of work done with it sometimes.

SF

[MaxDamage]

My first Mac was an iMac (Bondiblue) 233mhz (Rev B), which i bought with the money i got from my confirmation when i was 15. I upgraded it with a Voodoo 2 graphic card which was a big challenge for me. (I still cant believe that this big card fit into that tiny little Mac finally a nice and cheap game-machine.

[djpimley]

I came late to the Mac party: the first Mac I owned was actually a 1.25 GHz Powerbook.



My childhood love was my Amiga 500 and then Amiga 1200. This is the computer that taught me what design and engineering excellence was all about... oh, and how to waste sunny summer days in a dark bedroom creating Deluxe Paint masterpieces.



I used Mac OS 7 and 8 several times and I was not impressed. When I accepted that my beloved Amiga could not keep up with the modern world I spent an unhappy few years as a PC owner, then spent some time hacking on Linux before I heard about this newfangled OS X and how it was like Linux except you could actually do some useful work with it - well, by 10.3 you could.

Nowadays I am once again thankfully using a computer and operating system of unequalled engineering and design excellence.

[slow]

my first mac.....actually my first computer ever....macbook pro 2.33ghz.

my mom is a hippie and thinks that a sandbox is better than a computer. not sure if i agree with her or not.

[djpimley]

I immediately shown my gaming interest, studying pascal and programming a textual adventure game. I was just 10 years old... what a fucking nerd I am

And we love ya for it!

[theSnail .@y]

My very first computer was a ZX81 with 1 Ko of RAM (yeah !) which we expanded to ... I cant remember how much
I learnt Basic on that thing. It didnt even have a disk drive - hehe - and needed a tv as a display.

Then came the apple 2s : Apple ][+ later upgraded to Apple //e+ later upgraded to Apple IIGS (with a 5 Mo external hard disk - a real beast !).
I programmed these in basic but most of all assembler (Apple 2s) and C (on the GS) and published many papers in a french apple magazine (I loved that !).

After, I had a Mac se (immediately upgraded to Mac se/30), a Mac IIvi (upgraded to PowerMac 7100/66av - it still worked 2 years ago), an iMac DVse (my daughter's now - to watch dvds, listen to music and play educational games), an eMac (my son's computer now), and a Mac mini (my present mac). I programmed the earlier Macs in Pascal and assembler, the later macs in ObjC, C++, Python ...
My wife uses a G4 12" Macbook.

I still have a pc and an ibm server (a fat cube about 1/2m3) in the garage ... it was fun to hack with linux and use it as a home server for a while, but one of its raid drives is dead now and I dont see the point in maintaining it. I'll dispose of it soon

Call my geek if you want to

And you know where it comes from ? When I was a kid my father showed me the computer he used at work. It didnt even have a screen - the outputs were on paper rolls only

[C14ru5]

My first mac was a Macintosh II from '87. It gave me a wonderful introduction to Mac racing with a game called VETTE!

My most special (rare) Mac was a PowerMac 9100. No typo. Just like a PowerMac 8100, but with a PCI bus. It went into 220V instead of 110V by accident, and was thrown away before I discovered that the model is currently undocumented in the interwebs. The only proof of its existence that I've found later on is a feature in a German edition of MacWorld from early 1995.

My oldest portable is a PowerBook 520, the first one to come with a trackpad. I know it worked two-three years ago. The oldest computer I have that still works is a PowerMac 7100/66AV (upgraded all the way to Mac OS 9.1). Lovely jazz guitar startup chime on that one (why won't apple change those anymore? ). It also has a game of Pong easter egg written in its ROM that you can play if you hold down Apple-Shift-2-3 just after the startup chime. My SE/30 is older and might still work, but I haven't tested it for at least five years.

[NoNameBrand]

When I was 7 or 8 ('88-'89), my family got a Mac Plus, with 1MB of RAM, later upgraded with an external SCSI 40 MB (MB!!!) hard drive and 4MB of RAM. We had a 286 before that (to play Carmen Sandiago: 1. turn it on, 2. wait. 3. cd carmen, 4. carmen).

Long after the family upgraded to an SE/30 and then LC II, LC 475, PowerMac 7200, and PowerMac G3, I used the Mac Plus for writing papers in junior high, upgrading to a used IIsi for high school work ('96-'99).

My first ("I own it") Mac was a grape iMac (rev D) that I got for university in '99, being replaced under warranty a year later with a indigo 350 MHz model, which is still being used by my worse-half's sister. I upgraded from the iMac in early 2004 to a dual G5, which is due to be replaced this winter with a Mac Pro (4, 8 or 16 cores? hmmm). I also own a MacBook.

--

I loved VETTE! C14ru5! - did you know about the warp 9 cheat, including Star Trek: TNG computer symbols on the dash? you had to do something like hit 0-1-9 (neutral, first, "ninth" gear) and you would accelerate to the speed of sound or something. You could launch your car higher than the helicopter on the hill leading from the zoo to the Presidio (along the Great HWY) in Race 1.

[Superslow]

My first and only Mac is a 13" Macbook running Leopard - 2.16 GHz and 1 GB of RAM. I've had it for just over a year and LOVE IT!

[alphonse]

My first computer experience was on apricot computers at school, programming basic et al.
i did not like it too much.

The first computer i owned was a PC 386 with some DOS on it. baeh.
Upgraded to 486 with Win 3.11 for workgroups - this one had a turbo button to double from 33 MHz to 66 MHz - wow. Much money went out.

I first used a mac in 1996, a 7300 used to programming databases and websites.
.

OSses 7,8 and 9 were okay, but just OS X brought me out to be a macian. I remember i had a mac with a pc-processor 386 in it, you could run two osses on two processors...
Before i always had a PC for games (EA Sports, NHL for 3 years, Race-games all around)

The first game i was addicted to on macs was "bolo", a tank game even multiplayer

After some dark times playing too much Civilization and Unreal Trounament i finally settled to Redline.

Currently using a MacPro Quad for working and an MBP for redline and homework.

I really feel happ with the equipment and the OS
and with redline...

alphonse

[DANDY]

I worked for an APL contractor on the help desk servicing mainly Canadian English and French customers, but also some American, British, and EURO-French callers, from 10.0.3/9.1 until about 10.3.5. After that I moved to another city and went to work for Canada's largest (and worst) ISP while I looked for something else, where I was known as the "Mac Daddy." I learned more than I ever meant to at these jobs, but it has all come in handy since then. I got my G4 Ti 400 (8MB VRAM and does run RL) in December 2002. It's still doing reliable duty as my wife's internet terminal. I'm currently running a 2X867 PM and a 2.33 MBP. I'm a cheapskate, so I got all these machines 2nd-hand, and they have performed flawlessly.

[Brook]

The first computer I came in contact with, was the HP2000 at my university in the late 70's / early 80's . It was a time-shared multi user system, which I accessed through a teletype like this one:

Although my study was electrical engineering which didn't do much with computers at that time, I had great fun with it between classes, learning Basic. I also learned the password of the administrator, by looking over his shoulder one time, which gave me the power to give myself more computertime (everyone had a certain limit) and "blocks" (memory) to store my programs in. My actions were, unfortunately, discovered and I was expelled from the computer system.

It was in the early 80's when I bought my own computer, an Acorn BBC B:

Favourite games: Elite (rewritten as Oolite by the honourable Giles Williams) and Revs (formula 3 race game with Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Donington Park, Oulton Park and Snetterton). Revs was revolutionary for it's time, as it was the first racing game to take a serious attempt at simulation.

In 1984, my graduation year, I got a job at a small Apple dealer. I don't think anyone needs to be reminded of the significance of that year, but just in case:


That small Apple dealer was taken over by a larger one which, in turn, teamed up with a pc reseller, what finally grew into a big, nationwide, you're no longer a person, but a number company, which I fled in 2000. It went bankrupt a couple of years later, mainly because of mismanagement.
Being an employee, that period (1984-2000) allowed me to purchase Macs at discounts. Here's my Mac history:
- Mac Plus

- Mac IIci
- Mac Quadra 660AV (got a processor upgrade)
- PowerMac 7100 (got a processor upgrade)
In 2002, I bought a PowerMac G4 2x867MHz. It has 1.5 GB of ram and is still my current system.

[Tomte]

Well, it all started with an C64 in 1989. The Berlin Wall just came down and one of my first purchases in western Germany was this Commodore with a less than 1 MHz CPU. After some years of using that and the school journals PC, I dumped that and had no computer at all for a while. I can't even imagine now how I survived that time.

In 1991 I saw a Mac for the first time in a desktop publishing company. No idea about the model, but they used three screens on it, which I just found amazing.

Before I went to University a couple of years later, I bought a used 486 PC with 66 MHz, running Windows 3.11. In the following years, I upgraded and upgraded whenever parts got cheaper (I always bought the parts just before they were discontinued because it was enought for my needs.)
My only internet connection at that time was in the University, with all available PC's already taken. What was left were two old Macs, one of the flat ones without screen. 8000 something? 9000 something? No idea. But they were running with 2 screens again! So I used them for a bit for browsing and email.
I got slowly more interested, but being a cheapscape, I never had the money to buy a whole system. And I could not get them in parts.

In 2004, I was ready to enter the Mac world, but I wanted to be on the safe side. So I convinced my girlfriends and my family that they should all cough up some cash to buy her a 15" G4 Powerbook with 1.5 GHz.
So I had a good try of all this Mac OS X and I knew what I was going for when I finally bought my second first hand computer from my own money in 2006. Still being a cheapscape, I got a Intel Mac Mini 1.66 GHz. I was just sick of all the updating drivers and the noise and the constantly dropping WLAN on my PC, which still had the floppy drive of the 486 bought 10 years earlier. Not that I ever used that in anger...
But now I feel the time is ripe from something faster... Maybe a Mac Book? I need a laptop for work anyway... Any cheap excuse is welcome.

[JW Barto]

what a fucking nerd I am

LOL! Sorry, that statement is just too damn funny!!

I love it.

[JW Barto]

First computer in our house was an Apple II+. We then got a IIc. At the same time I bought with my own money a Timex Sinclair 1000 (w/ the 16k expansion module, thank you). It used tapes and a little television to work. I also had another computer after that one but I forget the name. It wasn't a Commodore... maybe I'll think of it later.

In 1984 my dad got a Mac. Have used/owned Macs ever since.

Macs in order of appearance...

128K Mac
512K Mac
Mac II
Performa XXXX
Lombard Powerbook
iMac (bondi)
iMac (blueberry)
iBook
iMac (lampshade)
Power Mac G4 867 Mhz (digital audio)
Macbook
Macbook Pro
iMac G5

I think that's it. My next Mac will be an Intel iMac or a Mac tablet... whenever that comes out. But it has to play Redline... and Halo.

Nerd? You bet.

JWB

[leoantix]

I think that's it. My next Mac will be an Intel iMac or a Mac tablet... whenever that comes out.

why wait? modbook

[See Flat]

why wait?

Cause all that is is a macbook with an extra 1000$ tagged on?

[JW Barto]

[quote="leoantix"]why wait? modbook

No, sorry. I want the multitouch version that's thinner than a Macbook Air, has the "screen is a camera" technology, and docks inside an iMac-like display for desktop use! Did I cover all the "patents" floating around out there?

JW

[leoantix]

thus the difference between now and later

[Tuktuk]

First Apple used: Apple II in 1983 in school
First Mac used: Macintoish II in 1989 in company
First Mac owned: Macintosh Performa 5200 in 1995

First PC owned: Sinclair ZX81 in 1983
Second PC owned: Atari ST 1040? in 1986/87

after that:

2002 iBook
2008 Mac Mini & iPhone ;-)

Does someone own some racing games on the iPhone? (I didn't bought some because I have Redline ...)

[JW Barto]

Does someone own some racing games on the iPhone? (I didn't bought some because I have Redline ...)

Yes I do. I first purchased Crash Bandikoot 3D. It is very good and an exact replica of the old Playstation 1 version. The accelerometer works great and it's a lot of fun. The hard part is getting it to drift properly... but the missiles, oil slicks, TNT, etc. make up for that.

Next I got Moto Chaser... which is strictly motorcycle racing. The graphics give you a real sense of speed. The accelerometer is again very precise. The only downfall is you can't really wipe out unless you go off a cliff on some of the harder levels. And the camera stays pointed in one direction... down at the back of the rider... so if you're going up a steep grade you essentially can't see more than about 4 feet in front of you.

Finally I bought Asphalt 4, Elite Racing. This game is very in depth. There are about 9 courses, something like 24 cars, tune-ups, cop chases, crashes, rankings, wi-fi multiplayer (not internet), etc. It is like a little Gran Turismo for the iPhone. The graphics are detailed and fluid. One of the nice things is the 3 modes of steering. Tap left or right, use the accelerometer, and superimposed "mini steering wheel" that you turn with your thumb! The wheel works ok but in long and frantic races the sweat begins to make your thumb stick to the screen and makes steering difficult. I prefer the tapping left and right. You can also drift which is pretty cool. Right now I have a tricked out AMG with tons of racing modifications. It's pretty quick.

After seeing Need For Speed demoed at the iPod event yesterday I am thinking that may be my next racer.

Ambrosia, you listening? Redline for iPhone with web multiplayer... let's have it now. Please.

Hope that helps Tuktuk.

JWB

[Tuktuk]

@JWB

That sounds really interesting. Maybe I will buy one or more someday ... My last "game" was Koi Pond with fantastic water effects.

Later I will watch yesterdays special event and have a look at Need For Speed. Thanks for your detailed descriptions.

[Sponsored content]