Computing Preferences,
Opinions, and Such
Opinions, and Such
Opinions, and Such |
Links:
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There have been a few events of importance in my computing life (up until 2000, when I stopped paying attention and just began using whatever I needed...). To get details, follow the links to the left. A summary is written below... |
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First experiences: BASIC and DOSThe beginning was in about 1980 or 1981 or thereabouts. I must have been 10, and the first computer I got my hands on was an Apple II. My brother and I then learned how to program on an IBM PC. We wrote Donkey Kong in BASIC using ASCII characters to draw images on the screen (Mario was a headless omega symbol, go figure). After that, I had some computing in high school, using mainframes about which I know nothing. We didn't do email yet, I don't think, at least I didn't. I knew some guys who did things which I now know are BBSes, but I knew nothing about them at the time. I played a lot of strategy games on the computers, that's about it. My first GUIGoing off to college, I met and fell in love with the NeXT interface and machine. What a mind blast that thing was. It did things I'd never thought of before. I'd played with Macs, but this went way beyond anything Mac like. Wow, were they cool. Move to the MacI used the NeXT and a few other old PCs (and Wordstar on an old PC AT, ugh) through most of college. Once I got to grad school at UMD, I began using Windows, first 3.1 and then 95, right when that buggy thing came out. A few years later, my wife needed a Mac and I was unable to talk her out of the PC that I was used to using. She needed the Mac, she wanted the Mac, she didn't want the PC, and I wasn't going to win this one (pun intended). Why? She needed it for school, and I knew that my software was compatible (at least the files were, as long as we had Office for the Mac), so we got one. Apple Watching as a disease...That slowly and undeniably led me down the path of Apple watching where I still am. I also learned that the Mac was a much simpler and more powerful OS than Windows, at least for my needs. May the greats debate the details, I merely acknowledge my preferences. 'Nuff said. Portable Simplicity: Tandy Model 102Moving through graduate school, I heard about the Apple eMate, and that it one-upped the old TraSH 80's. I'd forgotten all about those, but an old housemate had at one point had a Tandy WP-2. So they were there, they were cheap, and I was wanting an instant-on computer. I bought myself a Tandy Model 102 personal portable computer. My Model T came from 1987, and its instant on and easy text editing made for an insanely convenient machine. Let's face it, Apple's eMate was insanely great and insanely cool, but insanely expensive, too. The Model T wasn't. Read more about it at the links above. After getting a bit annoyed at the Model T's bulk and lousy screen size, I moved on to the WP-2. This ended up being a mistake. That machine's quirks were enough to defeat the purpose of the whole idea (instant-on, ease-of-writing), but thankfully, a new solution appeared on the horizon... Portable Simplicity Refined: Newton MessagePad 2000Having learned that it's really not important to have a machine that is SUPPORTED by its company, I moved on to the Newton. This machine whips the Tandy into submission due to additional power, ease of use, and all sorts of other things. It has since become an integral part of my life, what with a date book and notes and database and all that, though I'm staying away from using it as an email and web platform.... for now. |