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Posted August 6, 2002
In the early and mid-80s, a number of people I knew were ga-ga over their "microcomputers":
But all these seemed like toys to me. For some reason it never struck me that I could use them to write, as "word processors." I was lagging behind the times, still using a pen, college-rule paper and the occasional typewriter!
Then one day I saw a Macintosh for sale in a store in downtown Astoria, Oregon. I went inside and couldn't believe my eyes. The screen imitated the natural world of a secretary's desk, with desktop and file folders. Most astoundingly, documents appeared as sheets of paper, with black type on white background! It looked natural, not weird; it was a long way from the "green" screen; it beckoned, rather than repulsed. The Mac, unlike previous microcomputers, was not a throwback to the mainframes I'd worked around (but not with) before. It was, obviously, better.
The mouse and all it implied was nothing less than a revolution.
And, best of all, you could "process" music with it! I was astounded. But still, I did not buy it. It was more expensive than the harpsichord on my mind. I bought the harpsichord, instead.
A year or so later I changed jobs, helping to start a little magazine. The publisher used KayPros for word processing, but was looking for another desktop computer to do the layout. I suggested the Macintosh. But he ordered an IBM PC. Alas, the thing wouldn't work worth a damn, much less assist in "typesetting." So he sent it back, gritted his teeth and bought a Mac Plus. It was a lot more expensive than the PC. But it was worth it.
He easily talked me into buying one, too. I was dirt poor, but, in an odd economizing measure, he offered to finance my purchase of a Plus so I could use it at home and work. Yes, I had an interest-free loan. But yes, it was truly a work computer: It was supposed to be there while I was on the job. I was so beguiled by the beauty of that Macintosh interface that I did not react as my friends did: what a cheap boss, not providing a work computer! what a crummy deal!
But I could take it home whenever I wanted. I would not have taken home a work computer, for fear of busting it. It was a great deal! My boss may not have been a philanthropist, but hey: I had a Mac!
The Plus was expensive: Over $1900 for the main unit, the keyboard, mouse, and an external floppy drive. My boss had purchased an external SCSI hard drive, but there was no way I could afford that. The two floppy drives on my machine mimicked the KayPros I had used; fortunately, the floppies were protected in a hard case. It certainly seemed like leading-edge technology. ("Floppy" quickly became a misnomer as these little protected disks took over the computer industry.)
We used a layout program that was much praised at the time, but which soon fell by the wayside: Ready,Set,Go! It was far superior to Pagemaker in those days. (In some ways the most recent version is still superior to its competition. But that's another story.) I used Ready,Set,Go! as a word processor, simply to avoid changing disks. The word processor functions, though rudimentary, were integral to the layout functions, and I never complained. Frankly, I never had much cause to. (I've yet to find a strictly word processing application that I like as much!) I learned to use the program in a few hours, and was a whiz at simple layout in no time. It was easy to ape professional typesetting, and our newsletterish style soon approached the quality of professional typesetters. The LaserWriter we printed to, however, was limited to 300 dpi, producing jaggy type for the camera-ready copy we supplied printers. In those days, one could only ape professionalism. Soon, better printing was possible from desktop machines... (That magazine still under-utilizes desktop printing technology, however - still using camera-ready copy printed on laser printers!)
My first Mac was indeed portable, though clumsily so. The main body of the "single-piece" unit had a handle on top, like today's CRT iMac. The keyboard was a bit of a problem, as was my extra floppy drive. But several times per week I'd take the machine home, so I could write articles, reviews, and letters. I did not own a printer, so I printed personal stuff at work (and paid for the paper, when I remembered to).
Over the years our little magazine's publisher bought newer equipment - though rarely the newest models. (Macs were pretty expensive, remember; the person who could wait a year got the better deals, though never the best available technology.) After a while, the publisher finally provided equipment for my workstation. At first I got a hand-me-down Mac II; a little later, a Centris 610, which I used until I left the outfit in 1999!
Not long after liberating my Plus from thrall to my boss, I bought his old external hard drive: it was the same hard drive that he had used with his Plus in 1987: 40MB! Yes, it was past time to retire it. Soon after I bought a Performa 5xx series all-in-one unit, which worked like a dream; a year later I sold that and bought a PowerMac with a DOS card, though I never did use the Windows side, much - what a terrible operating system 3.x was! I sold my poor old Mac Plus for $100; quite a depreciation. (It's worth less today, of course.)
I work on a low-end Mac to this very moment - I really don't need the latest technology. After all, most of what I do qualifies as writing. Why today's fastest computer speeds when my chief speed limitation is digital only in the sense as it applies to my sluggish fingers? (I gotta practice those harpsichord runs and arpeggios...)
Still, there are drawbacks to older machines. For multitasking, and for laying out brochures and Web pages, it is helpful to have multiple screens. The Plus wouldn't do. Fortunately, most Macs after the Plus handle multiple screens very well, and my 7100/80AV does a great job with its three monitors. Though noticeably slow on the Web, nearly everything else works just fine. And the basic "look and feel" of Mac OS 8.6 still reminds me of the Mac that first wowed me - but now it's in color, and easier than ever to use. When circumstances force me to switch over to a Windows machine, I am often annoyed by the remaining quirks and throw-backs to the bad old days of 3.x. (My only non-Mac has a flavor of Linux installed, natch! For me, Microsoft is the maker of Excel, and that's about it.)
Yes, my first Mac was a Plus; but then, nearly every Mac I've used earned a "+"!
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