My First Mac

A Mac Plus in 1986 - the Rest Is History

Scott Clausen - 2002.01.02

I first saw computers in the 1970s as a Naval Officer. They were very crude by today's standards, but interesting. I didn't get involved with them, as I had my career and was living a single life.

That all changed in July of 1986. I had transferred to Norfolk, VA, and once again become interested in computers. The IBM PC (AT or XT, I can't remember the model) was the rage at the time, and I was really wanting one. One day, on the way home from work, I saw an Apple dealer and decided to see what their product was like. Other then a few ads, I didn't know a thing about them.

I entered the store, and the rest is history. Three hours later I left with my first computer, a Mac Plus. Seeing how this computer allowed me to get work done sold me instantly on the Macintosh way. Over time the Mac became indispensable. Daily I took it to my office and used it, until I upgraded to an SE/30 and LaserWriter.

Transferred to Germany, it served me well in helping the military base graphics shop complete their tasks. Most importantly, it was the reason for meeting my wife. She was the area representative for a company that sold Macs on American military bases in Europe. We met, and the rest is history.

To make a long story somewhat short, we were married 19 months later and are now retired in Washington state. I'm typing this in OS X on a G4 minitower. I have an 8600 sitting behind me next to my ham radio. (My SE/30 is retired in the garage, but still works.) My wife works for Apple, and I work for a manufacturing company that uses Macs throughout all areas of it's operations.

You can say that the Mac brought us together. As schmaltzy as it sounds, that's exactly what happened. It's been a grand 15 years with Apple, and I hope to have many more.

Join us on Facebook!

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Macintosh Portable, introduced 1989.09.20. The nearly 16 lb. behemoth was innovative but not a smashing success.
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Go to the My First Mac index.

Custom Search

Follow Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac on Facebook

Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler 11 is now in the Mac App Store!! -- Special Introductory Price of $59.95!! -- To Buy From The Mac App Store Click Here Now!! Or buy direct from Strider Software.

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker and Mac Casino applications in minutes.

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The Apple Store
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
GainSaver
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay

Advertise

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2012 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.