My only Apple computer was a G3 Powermac, which I got used from the resale store at the University I used to work at, which means I got it real cheap.
Compared to the boring and clunky Windows XP machine I had, I loved the design of the hardware and the software. I loved that to access the mobo to upgrade the RAM I just had to lift up a latch on the side of the case (my Modern case isn’t even as easy as that to get into). I liked the colors and the ‘handles’ that made moving the tower around easy if you needed to. I had a very tacky aesthetic back in the day where if something was made of clear blue plastic I would buy it, so that Mac fit right in with my ‘decor’ lol
Compared to XP the UI was a lot more sleek and modern imo, the dock was a game changer because I rarely used more than a handful of programs so having them always available was cool. Plus my simple minded ass was impressed by the animations. The “hot corners” were super useful. as was resizing the windows by dragging them to the edges of the screen. The overall look was just much more nice to look at. I think it was 10.3 Panther if I recall correctly.
At the time I was just starting to learn about Free and Open Source software, so I thought the fact that they based OS X on Unix was pretty cool. The first DE I ever installed was on that Mac (LXDE?) and the first FOSS programs I installed was on there, VLC and The GIMP I believe. I also loved how easy it was to install programs. You would just download the file and drag it into a folder called ‘Apps’, and to uninstall you just deleted or moved the file out of there. Compared to the ‘install wizards’ and the ‘add/remove’ control panel on Windows, it felt like actual wizardry.
I think more than anything the geek in me just liked learning a new set of skills and a different way of doing things, but overall I loved the experience. When they announced the iPhone I was excited. I was actually one of those people who carried around a mobile phone, MP3 player and Digital Camera at the same time. So the thought of just having to carry around 1 device to do all those things was like a dream come true. Then I heard about the price and was less excited (it was almost $1000 in today’s money adjusted for inflation). I was a working class stiff after all. Then I found out about the lack of apps and thought that was weird. But still I was pretty much on board.
I got a iPod Touch to replace my Nano and kept my flip phone. That’s when I realized that I had to jailbreak it to fully unlock the functionality. That’s where they finally lost me. I had been planning on buying another Mac but I figured if they were willing to lock down their phones like that- it was only a matter of time before they did the same thing with their computers.
It ended up being a good decision because on my next (Windows Vista) PC I learned to install Linux and I could do some really tacky things with the UI then! lol. Compiz anyone :D
All this to say I think Apple was actually in fairly decent (if still too expensive) place prior to the iPhone, but their whole ‘walled garden’ approach to computing just wasn’t my bag at all.
My only Apple computer was a G3 Powermac, which I got used from the resale store at the University I used to work at, which means I got it real cheap.
Compared to the boring and clunky Windows XP machine I had, I loved the design of the hardware and the software. I loved that to access the mobo to upgrade the RAM I just had to lift up a latch on the side of the case (my Modern case isn’t even as easy as that to get into). I liked the colors and the ‘handles’ that made moving the tower around easy if you needed to. I had a very tacky aesthetic back in the day where if something was made of clear blue plastic I would buy it, so that Mac fit right in with my ‘decor’ lol
Compared to XP the UI was a lot more sleek and modern imo, the dock was a game changer because I rarely used more than a handful of programs so having them always available was cool. Plus my simple minded ass was impressed by the animations. The “hot corners” were super useful. as was resizing the windows by dragging them to the edges of the screen. The overall look was just much more nice to look at. I think it was 10.3 Panther if I recall correctly.
At the time I was just starting to learn about Free and Open Source software, so I thought the fact that they based OS X on Unix was pretty cool. The first DE I ever installed was on that Mac (LXDE?) and the first FOSS programs I installed was on there, VLC and The GIMP I believe. I also loved how easy it was to install programs. You would just download the file and drag it into a folder called ‘Apps’, and to uninstall you just deleted or moved the file out of there. Compared to the ‘install wizards’ and the ‘add/remove’ control panel on Windows, it felt like actual wizardry.
I think more than anything the geek in me just liked learning a new set of skills and a different way of doing things, but overall I loved the experience. When they announced the iPhone I was excited. I was actually one of those people who carried around a mobile phone, MP3 player and Digital Camera at the same time. So the thought of just having to carry around 1 device to do all those things was like a dream come true. Then I heard about the price and was less excited (it was almost $1000 in today’s money adjusted for inflation). I was a working class stiff after all. Then I found out about the lack of apps and thought that was weird. But still I was pretty much on board.
I got a iPod Touch to replace my Nano and kept my flip phone. That’s when I realized that I had to jailbreak it to fully unlock the functionality. That’s where they finally lost me. I had been planning on buying another Mac but I figured if they were willing to lock down their phones like that- it was only a matter of time before they did the same thing with their computers.
It ended up being a good decision because on my next (Windows Vista) PC I learned to install Linux and I could do some really tacky things with the UI then! lol. Compiz anyone :D
All this to say I think Apple was actually in fairly decent (if still too expensive) place prior to the iPhone, but their whole ‘walled garden’ approach to computing just wasn’t my bag at all.