My First Personal Computer

1984: I see the commercial. I think, if I ever get a computer, it will be a Macintosh.

But what the heck will I ever need a computer for, anyway?

1998-1999: The Internet really takes off, but I don't notice. Bondi blue iMac in Best Buy looks cute, catches my eye, but I'm broke, as usual.

2000: I see the PowerMac G4 Cube on the cover of Time Magazine. CPU the size of a tissue box.. very cool. I want one. But Mom dies and funeral/travel sucks up all my $$$.

Fall 2000: I start working in a dept that uses Wintel PCs to service customers instead of mainframe CRTs. Windows OS is so bland, I actually get homesick for the 4 color, text-only CRTs.

2001: Sprint cellphone gets wireless internet. I get my first email account and the Google emulator on the phone makes the minibrowser actually useful. No graphics=no pop-ups. I start spending hundreds of $$/mo in overage charges.

2002: Cellphone overage charges are killing me! (99% web/1% voice) My thumbs are tired of typing on a dial-pad. My teenager needs a computer to do her homework, and it costs me $13/hour to rent time on the PCs at Kinkos, just so she can get decent grades on her assignments. ... The pressure's on, but...

I'm concerned about security: I don't want to even be tempted to use my credit card number for online purchases. Virus issues of PCs make it to my awareness radar.

Summer 2002: My credit card company installs software on its website called Virtual Account Numbers which generates random temporary, disposable credit card numbers you can use online or over the phone. During 2 years of testing, not one single fraud incident.

I'm sold. It's finally safe enough to buy a personal computer...

...and, besides, it will save me hundreds of $$/mo on my cellphone bill.

October 2002: Armed with a tax refund check that came late due to my (occasionally blessed habit of) procrastination, I actually have the $$ at the right time for the right machine with the right OS. I purchase my very first personal computer: a 17" flat-panel G4 800MHz iMac that lets me put the screen exactly where my short stature needs it.

And no viruses.

On the Internet in no time flat, I make my very first online purchase with a Virtual Account Number: my .Mac account. (Never had the chance to get spoiled with free iTools.)

When I buy my iMac, I don't even know what an OS is, much less what Unix is. Apple makes it all so easy. But Mac OS X is so visually appealing compared to the Windows pablum on the screen I use at work, I start learning about some of the stuff "under the hood" real fast.

Three months later, Safari comes out and I'm posting in the KDE Konqueror forums words I didn't even know existed 3 months before.

The more I learn, the more I'm compelled to send emails to every friend, relative, and loved one about how great it is to be virus-free on a Mac and how much fun it is to use OS X.

2003: Panther upgrade. Instant speed boost.

2004: Friend, relatives, and loved ones are getting fed up with my pro-Mac emails. They've got their Spybot S&D and Ad-aware and Norton AV, and a buddy who works in IT to fix their constant problems. So who needs a Mac? they say. What do I know anyway? I've only owned a computer for 2 years, and they've been using PCs for 10 years.

So I'm shutting up. When their their PCs get so weighed down with viruses, worms, and spyware faster than they can remove them, when their PCs become completely unusable, then they just might start asking questions.

And I won't even say, I told you so.

First Mac -- first love!!

— Posted by MacSmiley on Wed Oct 27  at  05:47 pm