My First Mac
From Fat Mac to iMac
Wayne Crannell
I was in college when the Mac first came out, and it was about six
months or so when I was able to afford one. I went to my local
electronics superstore and got my Macintosh 512Ke. The "e" stood for
"enhanced," which meant it could read both sides of a floppy.
Except mine was mislabeled 
by the PC types at the store, and I
got one that couldn't. I had to take it back and get a replacement. Two
years later, I strapped myself to a wall outlet, used my Torx driver to
loosen the screws - oooh, we weren't supposed to do that -- and put in
a 1 MB memory chip to replace the 1/2 MB that the computer came with. I
was so proud. Add to that a 20 MB external hard drive and a 2400 baud
(!) modem, and I was set. I still have the original 512Ke startup
disks!
Yesterday, I just bought my 5th Mac - a grape iMac DV with 128 MB memory and a DVD drive. Incredible, but still not quite the same as downloading from a bulletin board just so the computer could use more than 5 fonts.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: Mac IIfx, introduced 1990.03.19. This 'wicked fast' 40 MHz Mac trumped the 33 MHz DOS world.
- Support Low End Mac
Recent Content
- PowerBook 165c: 19 Years of Color to Go, Chris Carson, Building Bridges, 2012.02.14. Until 1993, all of Apple's notebook computers had black and white displays. The 165c gave us a color PowerBook for the first time.
- Mac and iOS Browsers: Options Galore, Freeware Forum, 2012.02.10. Safari is adequate on Mac and great on iOS, but the range of good alternatives is stunning. LEM writers share their favorites.
- White MacBook Goes End-of-Life, Logitech Touch Mouse Supports Gestures, Firmware Updates, and More, The 'Book Review, 2012.02.10. Also MacBook Air better than any Ultrabook, docks for MacBook Pro models, Intel offers improved SSDs, and more.
- Fix Home Button Delay, Tablet the Ultimate Mobile PC, iPad Notebook a Possibility, and More, iOS News Review, 2012.02.10. Also using your iPad at work, two photo editors, a new iPad text editor, Macally's magnetic iPad 2 stand, and more.
- Apple's Support Lead Shipping, Smartphones Outsell PCs, OS X Ported to ARM by Intern, and More, Mac News Review, 2012.02.10. Also the power of Tex-Edit Plus, Google and Twitter are already censoring the Web, Snow Leopard Security Update, and more.
- LogMeIn: Remote Screen Sharing for the Rest of Us, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac, 2012.02.09. Configuring the Mac's built-in screen sharing to work over the Internet can be difficult or impossible. LogMeIn makes it easy.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
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.
Favorite Sites
MacSurfer
Cult of Mac
Shrine of Apple
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac Museum
DealMac
Deal Brothers
Mac2Sell
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End Mac FAQ
Affiliates
Amazon.com
The Apple Store
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
GainSaver
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay
