My history with Apple products
Oct 06, 2011 Filed in: Mac
To illustrate the effect Steve Jobs has had on my life, here are the Apple hardware products I’ve had over the years.
My parents bought a Macintosh Plus for the family when I started high school. I think someone in my family used this Mac for almost 10 years. We bought it with a 10MB hard disk and an ImageWriter II printer.
When I went off to college in 1990, I got a Macintosh LC, with a color monitor. Around this time, my dad got a PowerBook 100, while my mom and my (younger) sister continued to use the Mac Plus.
I upgraded in my senior year of college (1994) to a Macintosh LC III. I kept this as my home computer for two more years after college, even while I was forced to use Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 at work.
In 1998, after more than 2 years of working full time, I knew I would be going to graduate school, and wouldn’t have to continue using Windows. That—plus the money I was earning—freed me up to start buying higher-end computers. At that time, the G3 Tower was the best you could buy.
In 2000 I got married, and around that time my wife bought an Indigo iMac. Ever since then we’ve tried to maintain a 1:1 or higher ratio of computers to family members.
Also in 2000, I was starting to work on my research and was using the computer intensively almost every waking hour. It was time to shift to a faster upgrade cycle. I sold my G3 and bought a PowerMac G4. I also bought an Apple 17-inch monitor, and have been an aficionado of big monitors ever since.
After a while it became clear that we needed a portable computer in the family. I still needed the desktop for my serious work, but it was too much for both of us to be tied to our desks all the time. So we handed the iMac off to my Mom and bought a white iBook, in 2002 I think. It became my wife’s main computer, but I would use it when giving presentations, particularly when I went on the job market in 2004.
When I started as a professor in 2004, I used my startup research funding to buy a PowerMac G5, along with a 23-inch Cinema Display. We also bought two iPods: the last FireWire iPod (the iPod Photo) for me and a pink iPod Mini for my wife. I still held onto the PowerMac G4 as my home computer.
In 2006 my wife upgraded to the first MacBook, together with a Mighty Mouse. I continued to borrow her computer for presentations.
In 2007 we got the original iPhone, for which I happily paid $599. I ditched my PowerMac G4 for a 15-inch MacBook Pro, and started using it as my main computer at both home and work. At home I hooked it into my 23-inch Cinema Display. At work I bought the 30-inch Cinema Display, which continues to wow people to this day. I kept the PowerMac G5 in my office to run background tasks, and even tried to use it as a server. (That didn’t work out.) We also got an AirPort Extreme at home.
In 2008 I upgraded to the iPhone 3G, and my wife took the original iPhone. My wife upgraded to a unibody MacBook, handing her old one down to her dad.
In 2009 we bought a Mac Mini as a home server, hooking it up to our TV and a Drobo. Also, my existing MacBook Pro turned out to be kind of a lemon, requiring multiple display and logic board replacements. Eventually the Apple Store just gave up on trying to repair it and handed me a brand new unibody MacBook Pro as a warranty replacement.
In 2010 I upgraded to the iPhone 4, handing my 3G over to my father-in-law. I also bought a Magic Mouse.
In 2011, my wife’s original iPhone stopped working, so my wife upgraded to an iPhone 4.
My parents bought a Macintosh Plus for the family when I started high school. I think someone in my family used this Mac for almost 10 years. We bought it with a 10MB hard disk and an ImageWriter II printer.
When I went off to college in 1990, I got a Macintosh LC, with a color monitor. Around this time, my dad got a PowerBook 100, while my mom and my (younger) sister continued to use the Mac Plus.
I upgraded in my senior year of college (1994) to a Macintosh LC III. I kept this as my home computer for two more years after college, even while I was forced to use Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 at work.
In 1998, after more than 2 years of working full time, I knew I would be going to graduate school, and wouldn’t have to continue using Windows. That—plus the money I was earning—freed me up to start buying higher-end computers. At that time, the G3 Tower was the best you could buy.
In 2000 I got married, and around that time my wife bought an Indigo iMac. Ever since then we’ve tried to maintain a 1:1 or higher ratio of computers to family members.
Also in 2000, I was starting to work on my research and was using the computer intensively almost every waking hour. It was time to shift to a faster upgrade cycle. I sold my G3 and bought a PowerMac G4. I also bought an Apple 17-inch monitor, and have been an aficionado of big monitors ever since.
After a while it became clear that we needed a portable computer in the family. I still needed the desktop for my serious work, but it was too much for both of us to be tied to our desks all the time. So we handed the iMac off to my Mom and bought a white iBook, in 2002 I think. It became my wife’s main computer, but I would use it when giving presentations, particularly when I went on the job market in 2004.
When I started as a professor in 2004, I used my startup research funding to buy a PowerMac G5, along with a 23-inch Cinema Display. We also bought two iPods: the last FireWire iPod (the iPod Photo) for me and a pink iPod Mini for my wife. I still held onto the PowerMac G4 as my home computer.
In 2006 my wife upgraded to the first MacBook, together with a Mighty Mouse. I continued to borrow her computer for presentations.
In 2007 we got the original iPhone, for which I happily paid $599. I ditched my PowerMac G4 for a 15-inch MacBook Pro, and started using it as my main computer at both home and work. At home I hooked it into my 23-inch Cinema Display. At work I bought the 30-inch Cinema Display, which continues to wow people to this day. I kept the PowerMac G5 in my office to run background tasks, and even tried to use it as a server. (That didn’t work out.) We also got an AirPort Extreme at home.
In 2008 I upgraded to the iPhone 3G, and my wife took the original iPhone. My wife upgraded to a unibody MacBook, handing her old one down to her dad.
In 2009 we bought a Mac Mini as a home server, hooking it up to our TV and a Drobo. Also, my existing MacBook Pro turned out to be kind of a lemon, requiring multiple display and logic board replacements. Eventually the Apple Store just gave up on trying to repair it and handed me a brand new unibody MacBook Pro as a warranty replacement.
In 2010 I upgraded to the iPhone 4, handing my 3G over to my father-in-law. I also bought a Magic Mouse.
In 2011, my wife’s original iPhone stopped working, so my wife upgraded to an iPhone 4.