All my Macs

So this isn't about Steve Jobs, but it is about Apple. The first computer I paid for was a Mac IIsi in 1991, and it was one of the very first things I bought when I got a job that summer after graduating from college. (Note that back then I was only recently-converted to the Apple universe; I was a die-hard Atari computer fan during the 8-bit wars of the 1980's). I got a color monitor and a 2400 baud modem, and immediately started downloading... ahem well anyway some things haven't changed.

Through the '90s I got my parents a Mac Performa, and later a ruby red iMac, and all the while ridiculed Microsoft well beyond the intro of Windows 95 and its revolutionary long filenames. That first Mac got me onto the fledgling internet, and I learned FTP and gopher from the W.E.L.L. during one very droughted winter in San Francisco. I did end up getting a Win95 PC in graduate school so I could have a cheap copy of SPSS for my statistics-heavy thesis, but even then I was trying out alternative OS'es including Linux and even BeOS; I never was really that into Windows.

But something changed in the early 2000's. My ex-husband and I both agreed that the world would be even more draconian and horrible if Apple had actually beaten Microsoft in the '90s: more vendor lock-in, fewer choices, etc. I bought my last Mac in 2005, one of the original Mac Minis. It was a horrible, slow machine, and I sold it to a friend within months. Such a disappointment!! I then built my own PC and tried every flavor of Linux possible, all while trying to resist using Windows whenever I didn't need to. Installing and re-installing countless versions of Ubuntu, Fedora, and MS operating systems became a bit of a joke between me and my ex; it seemed every Saturday I had to do hours of computer maintenance just to get my video or sound working. Meanwhile he just played Everquest all day, waiting for me to be ready to play. I think eventually he gave up.

I still haven't forgiven Apple for my Mac Mini disaster. Meanwhile I skipped Vista and have been very functional with Windows 7, although it's a low bar to be impressed just because it doesn't crash and the sound & printer drivers all seem to work. Maybe Windows 8 will be a revolution; I hope so.

As for the vendor lock-in, I think everyone who's joined the Apple ecosystem knows what I'm talking about. It's a great system as long as you stay inside the garden and only use Apple products: their computers, tablets, phones, and even streaming TV boxes all work in glorious harmony together. Just don't ever ask for a black laptop, because they only come in one color.

Now I've got a Windows 7 PC, an Ubuntu laptop, a Chromebook, and an Android phone. I hope Apple rediscovers innovating instead of litigating. They keep the whole tech sector chasing taillights when they try their hardest, and I'd love to feel that magic again someday.