Q: What Were the First Apple Computers Like?
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Sep 6, 2013 5:11 PMby stevena1,Mactracker, a multi platform app for the Mac OS, iOS has been around for a while. I like the iOS app in case I find a Mac in a store or in a yardsale and want to know the vital stats on a specific model.
The Mac platform has a history of probably well over 300 different models in its almost 30 year history. Apple produced other models like the famous Apple II, but there was only a handful in that franchice. Also Apple made printers, input devices like joysticks, speakers, etc. They tried to get into the digital photography with the "QuickTake" camera but didn't do well.
I was too young for the Lisa too, but they only made 10,000 of them, many unsold went into a dump in Utah, they are the second to the Apple I in terms of collective value. The Lisa was SO ahead of its time, the NeXT Cube was probably the second most high tech computer ahead of the real world market.
I've used Macs since I was very young (actually first computer was ether a Mac II or LC w IIe emulator) and I use PCs as well as Macs today. The Mac has slowly been more business friendly (I do a lot of business and enterprise IT stuff) and I hear you about the self destructiveness of their reliablity. I have had my MacBook run for months without a need to shut down or even a restart - wished my iPad or PC can do that!
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Sep 9, 2013 11:38 PMby Appaloosa mac man,Post back with the name of a large city near you. The thing to do is to find a Mac User Group near you.
We have hundreds of older Macs for historical and educational reasons. RE-PC in Seattle, WA has a small museum, not just Apple, that is nice to visit. We are in Spokane, Washington and host computer activities for youth groups.
Ji~m
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Sep 10, 2013 3:17 PMby Niteshooter,When you say 'old' Apple computers do you mean the original Apple computers or the newer Macintosh lineup?
To me the original Apple computers were more hobbiest oriented, especially the I since you did have to do some building.
Once you got to the Mac lineup they came ready to go out of the box.
As Ji~m says a local MUG would be a good choice, granted I guess that they are now more geared towards the newer stuff and not the really old hardware I collect.
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Sep 10, 2013 4:48 PMby stevena1,The Apple II (and other models onward) wasn't hobbiest. They were prebuilt with a built-in keyboard and integrated RCA video out. You had to buy cards for tape/disk drives and other peripherals and do that yourself, but if you know basics of PC components, it was easy. The II+, the IIe, and the IIe Enhanced all shared the same setup. III had a built in floppy drive, though you had to do a "two inch drop" often to get that d**n thing to work.
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Sep 11, 2013 5:23 PMby Sheliebe12,Thank you all for your responses. I am enjoying the MacTracker. I love my Mac as it was expensive,but it runs really well! My last PC was a total dissaster! Within a year of purchase, I needed a new hard drive and a new CPU. The cost of fixing it was the same as the cost to purchase. Luckily I had a warrenty. It continued to slow up to the point that I got tired of it, sold it, and got my Mac. It's a shame the Lisas were just thrown away. I'd love to have one as a collector item. If you haven't seen the movie Jobs already, I highly reccemend it.
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Sep 12, 2013 10:51 AMby Sasay,I love my old Apples...I have an LCii (circa 91/92) that still runs like a top (which I know because there is a game on it that I still love!), as well as a working first generation "Power PC"--the PC side has been defunct for a while, but the Mac portion of the computer still works fine.
My memory of discovering Apple was in 1987 as a freshman in college. I was working for the PBS member TV station, creating the station guide on a program that was CALLED Windows, but was really just a glorified version of DOS. I needed to work on a flyer one day and tried to get into the computer lab, but it was busy so they sent me over to the Mac lab. It was like a scene from a movie--it was in a cool white, round room (seriously) with 20 foot ceilings. The OS had a windowed screen, the software programs had full WYSIWYG interface and...get this...the computer had a MOUSE! Completely intuitive, user friendly, and straightforward...I never looked back.
Through the years, I've had to use PCs for jobs and clients, but I do my real day to day work on a Mac. Over 20+ years, I've owned 5, four of which I still have and can still use (although only my MacBook and MacBook Pro are modern enough to use for my work today). They do last forever, and they just work.
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Apr 12, 2014 11:00 AMby Joe from Hamburg (GER),You username indicates you're maybe a German national. http://www.knubbelmac.de is very informative about squared Macs from a Mac lover.
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